It’s all very well to talk about acting like a ‘start-up’ but Pat McFadden’s jargon can’t hide the risk of ‘experimental’ government.
The Cabinet Office minister has echoed PM Keir Starmer’s frustration with what they describe as “old-fashioned” methods used by senior civil servants. They say they want government to adopt a “test and learn” culture that is used by many technology companies (for example).
McFadden says the government is putting £100 million into a project to find “innovative ways” of solving problems, starting with two projects in January – to improve the delivery of temporary accommodation to homeless families in Essex and Liverpool, and family support in Manchester and South Yorkshire.
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According to the BBC, “the model will then be deployed to help the government hit new ‘milestones’ set out by the prime minister last week, including ending hospital backlogs and improving neighbourhood policing.”
It seems to This Writer that McFadden already has a plan that he wants to impose on the civil service, whether it works or not.
And this is the drawback of his “start-up” thinking: start-ups are often associated with a large amount of risk. Start-up companies can and do lose a lot of investors’ money in failed attempts to prove that their product or service is viable and can generate revenue, when in fact it can’t.
That is not to say that senior civil servants who are said to rely on “old-fashioned” processes should not be made to accept an influx of fresh ideas; these are people who survived the Tory purges of the last decade-and-a-half, most probably by agreeing to adhere to Tory policies and procedures that simply won’t work for a government run by a different party.
But we need a guarantee that the new ideas being pushed by McFadden won’t continue to be pushed if they fail.
Personally, I would like to see government opening up this process to the public – especially to entrepreneurs who are successful, with prize cash going to ideas that prove to be successful.
Or how about examining what works in foreign countries that have had to tackle or prevent similar problems, bringing back and trying out the processes that work there?
It is clear that McFadden has been provided with ideas that he wants to put into practice, but this should be a rolling process of improvement by innovation, that is capable of accepting that people in suits, in offices in Whitehall or Tufton Street, don’t have all the answers.
If this is just a silo from which to deliver pre-packaged party-approved pap, then it will fail. Let’s see the process of modernising government opened up to the people it is supposed to be serving.
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Pat McFadden’s jargon can’t hide the risk of ‘experimental’ government
It’s all very well to talk about acting like a ‘start-up’ but Pat McFadden’s jargon can’t hide the risk of ‘experimental’ government.
The Cabinet Office minister has echoed PM Keir Starmer’s frustration with what they describe as “old-fashioned” methods used by senior civil servants. They say they want government to adopt a “test and learn” culture that is used by many technology companies (for example).
McFadden says the government is putting £100 million into a project to find “innovative ways” of solving problems, starting with two projects in January – to improve the delivery of temporary accommodation to homeless families in Essex and Liverpool, and family support in Manchester and South Yorkshire.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
According to the BBC, “the model will then be deployed to help the government hit new ‘milestones’ set out by the prime minister last week, including ending hospital backlogs and improving neighbourhood policing.”
It seems to This Writer that McFadden already has a plan that he wants to impose on the civil service, whether it works or not.
And this is the drawback of his “start-up” thinking: start-ups are often associated with a large amount of risk. Start-up companies can and do lose a lot of investors’ money in failed attempts to prove that their product or service is viable and can generate revenue, when in fact it can’t.
That is not to say that senior civil servants who are said to rely on “old-fashioned” processes should not be made to accept an influx of fresh ideas; these are people who survived the Tory purges of the last decade-and-a-half, most probably by agreeing to adhere to Tory policies and procedures that simply won’t work for a government run by a different party.
But we need a guarantee that the new ideas being pushed by McFadden won’t continue to be pushed if they fail.
Personally, I would like to see government opening up this process to the public – especially to entrepreneurs who are successful, with prize cash going to ideas that prove to be successful.
Or how about examining what works in foreign countries that have had to tackle or prevent similar problems, bringing back and trying out the processes that work there?
It is clear that McFadden has been provided with ideas that he wants to put into practice, but this should be a rolling process of improvement by innovation, that is capable of accepting that people in suits, in offices in Whitehall or Tufton Street, don’t have all the answers.
If this is just a silo from which to deliver pre-packaged party-approved pap, then it will fail. Let’s see the process of modernising government opened up to the people it is supposed to be serving.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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