23 January 2007

Home Office: The Self-Preservation Society?

John Reid and associated cronies are briefing about the plans to split the Home Office into two.

Presumably the Senior Civil Servant in the Home Office will transfer to one or other of the new Departments. Will he also have a salary reduction because of the lesser level of responsibility, or will a new post at the same grade be created in each new office? I was a Civil Servant for 14 years, I know what I think.

Whilst splitting the Home Office has been muted before, I have my suspicions as to whether the recent briefings are about what is right for the Country or right for the Home Secretary. Dr Reid is seeing the possibility that he will be forced out of office if failings keep emerging, blowing his chances of becoming the next PM. Splitting the department inevitably means that future scandals can be justified using the "need to time to settle" argument. That settling in time will give Dr Reid until beyond the probable date of Blair's departure.

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15 January 2007

Crime Spin

Given the Home Office's recent record, the Government's record on spin and what we see every day on our streets, it will come as no surprise to anyone that New Labour's successes on Law and Order are being seriously called into question.

Unfortunately despite pouring money into Law and Order, we are not seeing any improvements. That might be because more and more of that money is being spent on bureaucracy. This means more Civil Servants to complicate management structures and more jobs that don't solve Law and Order problems, but which do create additional burdens for those that do.

Another sector of the Civil Service that needs a cull and a "Front Line First" policy.

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