Civil service review to urge Treasury break-up

A government-commissioned review into the civil service is expected to suggest scrapping the post of cabinet secretary and breaking up the Treasury.

Former Cabinet Office minister Lord Maude was tasked last year with finding ways to improve government efficiency,

His report, with the Cabinet Office, will also recommend giving ministers more say in the appointment of civil servants, the Times reports.

It is expected to be published this autumn – potentially in a few weeks.

The recommendations reported by the newspaper include to replace the post of cabinet secretary with two new jobs: one to advise the prime minister and the other to head up the civil service.

Simon Case is the current cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, after being appointed in 2020. The cabinet secretary is the prime minister’s most senior policy adviser, and is responsible to all ministers for the running of the cabinet – the PM’s top team.

Lord Maude is also understood to have advised that a new ministry be given responsibility to allocate spending. The Treasury would retain control of tax and macro-economic policy.

And the newspaper says he will recommend ministers get more of a say in the appointment of civil servants, but that they should undergo “360 assessments” – where a range of colleagues review their performance.

Lord Maude was asked to lead the review into Civil Service governance and accountability last summer.

The government said the independent review would look at the “efficiency and effectiveness of how government works and decisions are enacted”.