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Train government ministers properly and leave them in post, says ex-cabinet secretary
(www.theguardian.com)
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Mark Sedwill, who ran the civil service for Boris Johnson and Theresa May, said effective government needed “longevity of personnel”, rather than a stream of new ministers without expertise in their portfolios.
Speaking to a parliamentary committee on strategic thinking in government, Sedwill criticised the “tendency to reset the clocks and have a year zero” every time new ministers are appointed.
In 2021, Johnson announced he would “invest in training for civil servants and for ministers, with high standards for online provision as well as the creation of a new physical campus”.
In written evidence to the committee, the former head of GCHQ, Sir David Omand, called for an end to the government handling crises over WhatsApp, saying the platform might suit gossip and informal exchanges but was inappropriate for important decision-making.
He said in his evidence that ministers and officials often engaged in “gossip” and “informal exchanges” as they gathered for cabinet meetings, which helped let off steam when pressure had built up.
“But to judge by the evidence now made public by the Covid-19 inquiry, such exchanges (leaving aside the vile misogyny) had become the foreground means of forcing outcomes, not just sharing background mood music.
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