Keir starmer, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, has outlined six milestones for improving life in the UK. He also raised the issue on public sector productivity. And he put pressure on civil service staff to be’mission-led.’
Starmer, in a speech delivered at Pinewood Studios in Slough, said that the government would work to improve the living standards of every region in the country. He also pledged to build 1.5 million homes and increase the number of police officers on the streets.
I don’t believe there is a swamp here that needs to be drained. Keir starmer: “I do believe that too many Whitehall officials are content to remain in the tepid water of managed decline.”
Many commentators said that his speech appeared to be aimed at Whitehall officials as well as the civil service in general. Starmer cited Office for National Statistics statistics when he said that productivity in the public service was 2.6% lower this time last year and 8.5% less than before the pandemic. He said that this would not be accepted in any other industry and his government would not subsidise it with “ever-rising taxes on the British public”.
He said he would like to focus Whitehall on the “long term good of our nation” and commit civil service employees to mission-led governance.
The prime minister warned: “Make no mistake, this plan will be on the desks of Whitehall with the heavy thud that comes from a gauntlet thrown.”
He said: “I do not think that there is a swamp here to be drained.” “I don’t think there is a swamp to be drained here.”
He said that the six milestones were the right time to be set because Labour was able to move forward with its policies, which had already been in place to create a “strong basis” for economic stability.
Reform UK cited the absence of an immigration milestone as the Conservative opposition’s response to the speech.
The UK civil service was ranked sixth globally in a global index of civil service around the globe.
The Blavatnik index of Public administration, published on Wednesday by the Blavatnik Institute, places Singapore’s civil servant at the top, followed by Norway, Canada, Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, and the UK, who are all in the same sixth place. Australia, Spain France Germany USA and Sweden are among the countries that were below the UK.
The results are based upon 82 metrics from 18 different data sources.
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The UK civil services received an index of 0.80, out of a possible maximum score of 1. Singapore’s 0.85 was the highest and Sudan’s 0.17 was the lowest.
Leo Yip said that he felt “humiliated” by Singapore’s ranking as the world’s best.
