Reforming the Civil Service and revising the role of the mandarin in Britain
A view from the perspective of a study of eight permanent secretaries at the Ministry of Education between 1976 and 2011
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6112866 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Peter Ribbins (University of Birmingham, corresponding author), Brian Sherratt (University of Birmingham) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 21-44 |
| Publication date | 2014-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Public Policy and Administration (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0952-0767 • E-ISSN: 1749-4192 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0952076713502216 |
| OpenAlex | W2117331443 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 15 |
This article summarises some problems currently faced by the Civil Service and considers how the June 2012 Reform Plan would address them. It focuses on what the Plan might mean for permanent secretaries and their future role in policy making. It seeks to supplement the research on which this aspect of the Plan and its recommendations can be reviewed. For this purpose it draws on a longitudinal study of the eight permanent secretaries at the Department for Education between 1975 and 2011. All were interviewed twice along with 35 relevant others involved in the policy process in education nationally. Following a discussion of the limited literature on permanent secretaries, aspects of the background and career of the eight are examined. Given the importance of “dual leadership” to the Plan, the time in office they had with the 16 Secretaries of State they served was often short – 8 less than a year. To facilitate scrutiny of such issues an analytical framework of types is proposed varying according to how far a permanent secretary takes an active or passive part in policy. Examples of each type – making, resisting, shaping, sharing and taking – are discussed. The article concludes with suggestions for future research
Business · Christian ministry · Civil service · Mandarin Chinese · Political science · Public relations · Public service · Scrutiny · Sociology · Law · Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering · Public Administration · Public Policy and Administration Research · Social Work Education and Practice
Procedural Rationality in Westminster Systems
Reading the mindset of the secretary of state
Enhancing policy delivery
Biography in the study of public administration
Portrait of an ‘outsider’ as permanent secretary in Whitehall
Tales of a model permanent secretary; Sir David Normington
Centrism and the mandarin class
New Labour and the Civil Service
Statesmen in Disguise
Everyday Life in a Ministry
Britain's Administrative Elite
Understanding Leadership in Education
The permanent secretary as policy-maker, shaper, taker, sharer, and resister in education – reflections on Sir James Hamilton as a centralising outsider
Through the looking-glass
The Permanent Secretaries
Permanent Secretaries and Policy-Making in the 1980s
The managerial imperative
What Whitehall
Educational Administration as a Historical Discipline
| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0.64 |
| Citation span | 2015 - 2025 (11) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |