The former Chair of the United Kingdom’s Vaccine Taskforce has accused the Public Service of a “devastating lack of skills and experience in science, industry and manufacturing” and a culture of group-think that “stifles initiative and encourages foot-dragging”.
Former Chair, Dame Kate Bingham said the “normal obstacles of decision-making” were firmly embedded in Government and needed to be overcome as a matter of urgency to build capacity for dealing with major health threats.
Dame Kate (pictured) called for a rapid influx of science skills into the Public Service and for the creation of new post of pandemic security adviser.
“Currently there are very few with science or operating backgrounds at all levels of Government; there are very few Ministers with a scientific background,” Dame Kate said.
“This would not matter if we had senior Civil Servants with scientific and technical understanding needed to be operationally effective, but we don’t,” she said.
“Some measures are being taken to recruit more scientists as Civil Servants, but not nearly enough.”
Dame Kate has had a 30-year career as a venture capitalist specialising in biotech innovation.
Her comments provoked a firestorm of criticism from defenders of the Public Service, with former Editor-in-Chief of the Independent newspaper, Simon Kelner saying Dame Kate did not understand that the Public Service worked for the public good and was not as a private company.
“Shooting first and asking questions later is not in the Civil Service handbook,” Mr Kelner wrote in a column for his old employer.
“In fact, the Code of Conduct for Civil Servants contains some very different aspirations: Integrity, honesty, impartiality and objectivity.
“The Civil Service, for all its faults, exists exclusively for our benefit. In serving [Prime Minister] Boris Johnson, Kate Bingham also did the country tremendous service, but she shouldn’t automatically think the principles of private enterprise would improve the quality of public service,” he said.
However, Cabinet Secretary, Simon Case said Dame Kate was “correct in her assessment” of the capabilities of officials and Ministers which formed part of a stinging opinion piece in The Times newspaper.
“Her criticism is also one that the Civil Service has recognised itself. Improving our technical and specialist knowledge is at the heart of implementing our post-pandemic reform plans,” Mr Case said.
Dame Kate’s criticisms came shortly after Mr Johnson launched a bizarre attack on the Public Service in a shambolic speech to the Confederation of British Industry that saw him suggest officials would be incapable of creating a children’s television phenomenon like Peppa Pig.
London, 28 November 2021
