The Prime Minister has written to civil servants praising their work after a backlash to remarks that too many of them are “comfortable in the tepid bath of managed decline”.
But the head of the FDA, the union that represents senior civil servants, said that Sir Keir Starmer needs to go further and “should not underestimate the damage his remarks last week made”.
Sir Keir made the comments about the “tepid bath of managed decline” during a major speech last week as he set out his “plan for change”, saying also that he did not think there was a “swamp to be drained here”.
FDA general secretary Dave Penman wrote to Sir Keir afterwards describing the remarks as “so disappointing” and that he invoked “Trumpian language”.
In a letter circulated to everyone in the Civil Service, Sir Keir said his “appreciation of your service to this country has only grown” since he became Prime Minister but that they face “far too many obstacles” and “needless bureaucratic impediments”.
The Prime Minister wrote in his letter: “From my time as director of public prosecutions, I know first-hand just how fortunate this country is to have a Civil Service that is admired across the world.
“I saw it every day; I depended on it every day; I was proud to be a part of it every day. And from all I have seen during my first five months as Prime Minister, my appreciation of your service to this country has only grown.”
He said he understood that civil servants have a “strong sense of public service in everything you do”.
“Put simply, I believe we all share the same goal – we have all followed a path towards public service to serve our country.
“But if we are honest, we all know that there are far too many obstacles in your way. Too often, needless bureaucratic impediments, silos, processes about processes, all impede your ability – and therefore also my ability – to deliver for the people we are here to serve.
“And from the conversations that I have had with many of you over the past five months, I know these barriers frustrate you every bit as much as they frustrate me.”
FDA chief Mr Penman posted on X in response to Sir Keir’s letter.
He wrote: “Civil servants will welcome the PM’s recognition of the challenges they face delivering the govt’s agenda.
“But he needs to to go further. The PM should not underestimate the damage his remarks last week made.”
FDA assistant general secretary Lauren Crowley said it had been “hugely damaging” for civil servants to be publicly “denigrated”.
“Few other workforces get treated with the disrespect that is shown to civil servants. Half a million workers denigrated on TV with sweeping statements by their boss. Hugely damaging,” she posted on X.
Mr Penman had written to Sir Keir after last week’s speech, saying the union’s members are as “impatient for change” as ministers.
The union chief said: “Invoking the Trumpian language of ‘draining the swamp’, qualifying it, but then going on to say that ‘too many people in Whitehall are comfortable in the tepid bath of managed decline’ is, I fear, far more damaging than you had considered when you chose those words.”
Downing Street denied there was a contradiction between the Prime Minister’s attack on the civil service last week and his praise for officials on Tuesday.
Asked if his letter was an attempt to repair relations, a No 10 spokesman said: “No, I think it’s consistent with his message from last week.
“We want a more innovative public sector, more decisive, less hostile to devolution, letting things go, more creative and harnessing its power to rethink services.”
The Cabinet Office has recommended that pay increases next year for senior civil servants should also be kept to no more than 2.8%.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden said he wanted to foster a “culture of curiosity about why some things work and some things don’t” in the Civil Service.
He answered questions from a government committee about his call for the Civil Service to follow the “test and learn” approach of tech firms and start-ups.
He said a planned fellows programme that would see tech sector workers come in for a six or 12-month “tour of duty” could “perhaps help us crack a problem”.
Mr McFadden had said on Monday that the Civil Service needs “innovators and disrupters”, recalling Dominic Cummings’ drive to recruit “misfits and weirdos” into the ranks of government.
Sir Keir added in his letter to the Civil Service that they have lacked “political direction” in recent years.
He pledged that his Cabinet would give “clear direction, take on the vested interests in Westminster and beyond, and put an end to the chopping and changing of political priorities.”
Civil servants should feel “emboldened to challenge” the things they see that are holding them back from delivering change, he added.
“Whether it is outdated processes, room for improvement, sluggishness or wrongheadedness, I want you to take them on. Change will not be delivered if we are content or if we worry about upsetting the apple cart”, he wrote.
