BACK TO THE FUTURE ©WOTACO Ltd 2010 Ian Beesley 9 th November 2010.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

©WOTACO Ltd 2010

Ian Beesley9th November 2010

© WOTACO LTD 2010

Politicians are from?

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CIVIL SERVANTS AND MINISTERS IN 2020

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HONG KONG 2020

CHIEF EXECUTIVE

CODE FOR POLITICALLY APPOINTED OFFICIALS

PRINCIPAL OFFICIALS

UNDER-SECSPOLITICAL ASSts

SENIOR CS

LEGCO

CIVIL SERVICE CODE

CITIZENS

PUBLIC SERVICE

COMMISSION

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GOOD GOVERNMENT

“One of the hallmarks of a modern sustainable democratic state is the existence of a merit-based civil service, free from political interference. Creating such a civil service is one of the key tasks in state building.”

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HOW MUCH POLITICAL NEUTRALITY?

Sir Burke Trend (British Cabinet Secretary 1963-1973). Would go into the polling booth and come out without having voted.

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PERCEPTIONS

POLITICIANS• Live on publicity• Make empty promises• Tell you what they

think you want to hear• Fight the civil service• Line their pockets

CIVIL SERVANTS• Drink tea• Thwart Ministers• Cover up • Think the public are a

nuisance• Can’t wait for their

pensions

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REALITY

MINISTERS• In a hurry for results• Slow to rise, quick to fall• Members of a political

class • Head of the food chain• Publicly accountable• All political careers end

in failure

CIVIL SERVANTS• Process matters• Relatively secure• Members of an

intellectual elite• Indispensible yet

unnecessary• Increasingly accountable• Most careers end with

reduced status

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OUR PERCEPTIONS OF EACH OTHER

IN THE LOOP

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MINISTERS AND CIVIL SERVANTS

A Minister is a person elected or chosen to take the blame

Civil servant = Mandarin

.

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2020 VISION

Bureau/Dept

Exco

Media

Legco

[Party/constituents]

Chief Executive

Close associates &family

PO

Adapted from Working With Ministers CMPS 2004

PO

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TRUE FRIENDS STAB YOU IN THE FRONTOscar Wilde

2001 Election campaign

Source: Radice, Trio

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• Politicians set the course• Civil servants

link political power to the vehicle of delivery

IN THE SAME BOAT

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• "You had to make Churchill feel that you were on his side, that you sympathised with his general views, and that any criticism you made was genuinely intended to be helpful”

• “He was [then] full of candour and willingness to expose the rough workings of his mind”

Edward Bridges

MINISTERS MUST FEEL YOU ARE ON THEIR SIDE

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THE TWO FACES OF A CIVIL SERVANT

CONFIDENTIAL• Ideas• Options• Recommend• Advise• Warn• Plan• Implement

PUBLIC• Present

& defend policy in the best light while sticking to the facts

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• Senior civil servants may occasionally have to decide where the boundary between the administrative and the political lies and whether to cross it.

ON THE CUSP

Source: Michael Frith, Kitchen Cabinet, Financial Times

Gus O’Donnell, Press Secretary,Appointed Cabinet Secretary 2005

John Major

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• If you were them:–What would you

know already?–What would you

want to know?• How can you be:– Accurate– Brief– Clear

PUT YOURSELF IN THEIR SHOES

BACK TO THE FUTURE ©WOTACO Ltd 2010 Ian Beesley 9 th November 2010.

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Transcript of BACK TO THE FUTURE ©WOTACO Ltd 2010 Ian Beesley 9 th November 2010.