United Kingdom Public Administration
Content
UNITED KINGDOM
Public Administration Country Profile
Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM) Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) United Nations February 2006
All papers, statistics and materials contained in the Country Profiles express entirely the opinion of the mentioned authors. They should not, unless otherwise mentioned, be attributed to the Secretariat of the United Nations. The designations employed and the presentation of material on maps in the Country Profiles do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
Table of Contents Table of Contents........................................................................................... 1 Country ........................................................................................................ 2 1. General Information ................................................................................... 4 1.1 People.................................................................................................. 4 1.2 Economy .............................................................................................. 4 1.3 Public Spending ..................................................................................... 5 1.4 Public Sector Employment and Wages....................................................... 5 2. Legal Structure .......................................................................................... 6 2.1 Legislative Branch.................................................................................. 6 2.2 Executive Branch ................................................................................... 7 2.3 Judiciary Branch .................................................................................... 7 2.4 Local Government.................................................................................. 8 3. The State and Civil Society .........................................................................10 3.1 Ombudsperson .....................................................................................10 3.2 Civil Society .........................................................................................10 4. Civil Service .............................................................................................11 4.1 Legal basis...........................................................................................11 4.2 Recruitment .........................................................................................11 4.3 Promotion............................................................................................12 4.3 Remuneration ......................................................................................12 4.4 Training...............................................................................................13 4.5 Gender and Diversity.............................................................................13 5. Ethics and Civil Service ..............................................................................14 5.1 Corruption ...........................................................................................14 5.2 Ethics..................................................................................................14 6. e-Government ..........................................................................................16 6.1 e-Government Readiness .......................................................................16 6.2 e-Participation ......................................................................................17 7. Links .......................................................................................................18 7.1 National sites .......................................................................................18 7.2 Miscellaneous sites................................................................................18
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United Kingdom
Country Click here for detailed map Government type parliamentary democracy Independence England has existed as a unified entity since the 10th century; the union between England and Wales, begun in 1284 with the Statute of Rhuddlan, was not formalized until 1536 with an Act of Union; in another Act of Union in 1707 Constitution consists of a series of legal documents, including certain acts of the UK and New Zealand Parliaments, as well as The Constitution Act 1986, which is the principal formal charter; adopted 1 January 1987. Legal system common law tradition with early Roman and modern continental influences; has nonbinding judicial review of Acts of Parliament under the Human Rights Act of 1998; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations Administrative divisions 16 regions and 1 territory
Source: The World Factbook – United Kingdom
Source: The World Factbook – United Kingdom
The UK is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In mid-2003 the UK was home to 59.6 million people. The average age was 38.4 years, an increase on 1971 when it was 34.1 years. In mid-2003 one in five people in the UK were aged under 16 and one in six people were aged 65 or over.
Source: Direct Government UK - Overview of the UK government (2006)
Great Britain, the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century. At its height, the British Empire stretched over one-fourth of the earth's surface. The first half of the 20th century saw the UK's strength seriously depleted in two World Wars. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous European nation. As one of five permanent members
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of the UN Security Council, a founding member of NATO, and of the Commonwealth, the UK pursues a global approach to foreign policy; it currently is weighing the degree of its integration with continental Europe. A member of the EU, it chose to remain outside the Economic and Monetary Union for the time being. Constitutional reform is also a significant issue in the UK. The Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, and the Northern Ireland Assembly were established in 1999, but the latter is suspended due to wrangling over the peace process.
Source: The World Factbook – United Kingdom
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1. General Information
1.1 People
Population Total estimated population (,000), 2003 Female estimated population (,000), 2003 Male estimated population (,000), 2003 Sex ratio (males per 100 females), 2003 Average annual rate of change of pop. (%), 2000-2005 Youth and Elderly Population Total population under age 15 (%), 2003 Female population aged 60+ (%), 2003 Male population aged 60+ (%), 2003 Human Settlements Urban population (%), 2001 Rural population (%), 2001 Urban average annual rate of change in pop. (%), ‘00-‘05 Rural average annual rate of change in pop/ (%), ‘00-‘05 Education Total school life expectancy, 2000-2001 Female school life expectancy, 2000-2001 Male school life expectancy, 2000-2001 Female estimated adult (15+) illiteracy rate (%), 2000 Male estimated adult (15+) illiteracy rate (%), 2000 Employment Unemployment rate (15+) (%), 2000 Female adult (+15) economic activity rate (%), 2001 Male adult (+15) economic activity rate (%), 2001
Notes:i 1998/1999,ii Months of March-May, iii Month of March,
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UK
59,251 30,388 28,863 95 0.31 18 23 19 90 10 0.25 -0.5 16.3 16.7 15.8 .. .. 5.5 ii 53 71
a a
France
60,144 30,845 29,299 95 0.47 19 23 18 76 24 0.58 -0.34 15.4 15.7 15.1 .. .. 8.8 iii 48 62
b b
Germany
82,476 42,177 40,299 96 0.07
1 a
b
15 27 21
c
88 12 0.17 -1.55
d
15.3i 15.1 .. .. 7.9iv 49 66
i i
1 1 1 2 2
15.4
e
1 2 2
Month of April, a Age 16+ years, B 2000.
1.2 Economy
GDP GDP total (millions US$), 2002 GDP per capita (US$), 2002 PPP GDP total (millions int. US$), 2002 PPP GDP per capita(int. US$), 2002 Sectors Value added in agriculture (% of GDP), 2003 Value added in industry (% of GDP), 2003 Value added in services (% of GDP), 2003 Miscellaneous GDP implicit price deflator (annual % growth), 2004 Private consumption (% of GDP), 2003 Government consumption (% of GDP), 2003
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UK
1,552,437 26,376 1,510,997 25,672 1.0 26.6 72.4 3.2 65.6 21.1
France
1,409,604 i 23,714 1,554,483 26,151 2.7 24.5 72.8 1.2 55.6 iii 24.3
ii
Germany
1,976,240 23,956 2,171,624 26,324
2 a
b
1.1ii 29.4ii 69.4ii
c
19.3 58.6 19.3
2003 , 1994.
iii ii ii
Notes: Data include the French overseas departments of French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Réunion,
1 a
United Nations Statistics Division: Statistics Division and Population Division of the UN Secretariat; b Statistics Division and Population Division of the UN Secretariat; c Population Division of the UN Secretariat; d1 UNESCO ; d2 UNESCO; e1 ILO; e2 ILO/OECD 2 World Bank - Data and Statistics: a Quick Reference Tables; b Data Profile Tables ; c Country at a Glance
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1.3 Public Spending
Public expenditures Education (% of GNP), 1985-1987 Education (% of GNP), 1995-1997 Health (% of GDP), 1990 Health (% of GDP), 1998 Military (% of GDP), 1990 Military (% of GDP), 2000 Total debt service (% of GDP), 1990 Total debt service (% of GDP), 2000
i
UK
4.8 5.3i 5.1 5.8ii 3.9 2.5 .. ..
France
5.5 6i 6.7 7.3 ii 3.5 2.6 .. ..
ii
Germany
3
.. 4.8i 5.9 7.9ii 2.8 iii 1.5 .. ..
iii
a a
b b
Notes: .Data may not be strictly comparable with those for earlier years as a result of methodological changes, Data refer to 1999, Data refer to the Federal Republic of Germany before reunification.
1.4 Public Sector Employment and Wages
Data from the latest year available
United Kingdom 1991-1995
United Kingdom 1996-2000
European Union Average4 1996-2000
High income OECD average4 1996-2000
High income group average4 1996-2000
Employment
Civilian Central Government5 Sub-national Government5 (,000) (% pop.) (,000) (% pop.) (,000) (% pop.) (,000) (% pop.) (,000) (% pop.) (,000) (% pop.) (,000) (% pop.) (,000) (% pop.) 747 1.3 1,300 2.2 990 1.7 1,010 1.7 201 0.3 303 0.5 759 1.3 5,310 9.14 1,804 3.1 1,989 3.4 813 1.4 968 1.6 .. .. 211 0.4 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 0.5 .. 0.5 .. .. .. 1.2 .. 1.1 1.2 .. 1.3 4.1 .. 2.8 4.1 .. 2.8
Education employees
Health employees
Police
Armed forces
SOE Employees
Total Public Employment
Total Central gov't wage bill Total Central gov’t wage bill Average gov't wage Real ave. gov’t wage ('97 price)
(% of GDP) (% of exp) (,000 LCU) (,000 LCU)
1.5 7.1 14 16 1.4
.. 5.9 19 19 1.4
3.6 12.8
.. ..
4.2 16.4
Average gov’t wage to per capita GDP ratio
..
..
..
Source: World Bank - Public Sector Employment and Wages
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a b
UNDP - Human Development Report 2002 Data refer to total public expenditure on education, including current and capital expenditures. As a result of a number of limitations in the data, comparisons of military expenditure data over time and across countries should be made with caution. For detailed notes on the data see SIPRI (2001). 4 Averages for regions and sub regions are only generated if data is available for at least 35% of the countries in that region or sub region. 5 Excluding education, health and police – if available (view Country Sources for further explanations).
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2. Legal Structure
The United Kingdom is a parliamentary democracy, based on universal suffrage. It is also a constitutional monarchy in which ministers of the Crown govern in the name of the Sovereign, who is both Head of State and Head of the Government. There is no ‘written constitution’. Instead, the relationship between the State and the people relies on statute law, common law and conventions. Following devolution, the responsibilities of the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland changed considerably, although they retain their positions in the UK Cabinet. They ensure that the reserved interests of the countries they represent are properly considered in central government and they lead the presentation of government policy in their parts of the UK. They are also responsible for safeguarding and promoting the devolution settlements of their respective countries.
Source: Direct Government UK - Overview of the UK government (2006)
2.1 Legislative Branch
bicameral Parliament comprised of House of Lords (consists of approximately 500 life peers, 92 hereditary peers and 26 clergy) and House of Commons (646 seats since 2005 elections; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms unless the House is dissolved earlier)6 Women in parliament: lower house 127 out of 646 seats (19.7%) and 126 out of 721 (19.7%)7
Parliament at Westminster in London can legislate for the UK as a whole and has powers to legislate for any parts of it separately. However, it will not normally legislate on devolved matters in Scotland and Northern Ireland without the agreement of the Scottish Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly respectively. There are three parts of Parliament – the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the sovereign. The House of Commons consists of 646 elected MPs. Of the 646 seats, 529 represent constituencies in England, 40 in Wales, 59 in Scotland, and 18 in Northern Ireland. The chief officer of the House of Commons is the Speaker, elected by MPs to preside over the House. Other officers include the Chairman of Ways and Means and two deputy chairmen, who may all act as Deputy Speakers. They are elected by the House as nominees of the Government, but may come from the Opposition as well as the government party. The House of Commons Commission, a statutory body chaired by the Speaker, is responsible for the administration of the House. The House of Lords is the second chamber of the UK Parliament and consists of the Lords Spiritual and the Lords Temporal. The Lords Temporal consist of hereditary peers, life peers, and life peers created to help carry out the judicial duties of the House (up to 12 Lords of Appeal in Ordinary - or
6 7 8
Fact box: elections: House of Lords - no elections (note - in 1999, as provided by the House of Lords Act, elections were held in the House of Lords to determine the 92 hereditary peers who would remain there; pending further reforms, elections are held only as vacancies in the hereditary peerage arise); House of Commons - last held 5 May 2005 (next to be held by May 2010) election results: seats by party - Labor 356, Conservative 197, Liberal Democrat 62, other 31; note - as of 30 September 2005 the seats by party - Labor 354, Conservative 196, Liberal Democrat 62, other 34. 8
Source of fact boxes if nothing else stated: The World Factbook – United Kingdom Inter-Parliamentary Union - Women in National Parliaments Source of fact boxes if nothing else stated: The World Factbook – United Kingdom
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Law Lords - and a number of other Lords of Appeal).
Source: Direct Government UK – House of Commons & House of Lords (2006)
As there are no legal restraints imposed by a written constitution, Parliament may legislate as it pleases as long as the UK meets its obligations as a member of the European Union. It can make or change law, overturn established conventions or turn them into law. It can even legislate to prolong its own life beyond the normal period without consulting the electorate.
Source: Direct Government UK – Parliament’s power (2006)
2.2 Executive Branch
cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the prime minister elections: none; the monarchy is hereditary; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually the prime minister
The Executive is made up of the Prime Minister, Cabinet and the public sector. In her role as Monarch, the Queen is head of the executive and plays an integral part in the legislature. She heads the judiciary. Her Majesty's Government consists of those ministers responsible for the conduct of national affairs. The Queen alone appoints the Prime Minister and all other ministers are appointed by her on the Prime Minister's recommendation. Most ministers are members of the Commons, although the Government is also fully represented by ministers in the Lords.
Fact box: chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); Heir Apparent Prince CHARLES (son of the queen, born 14 November 1948) head of government: Prime Minister Anthony (Tony) BLAIR (since 2
May 1997) The Prime Minister presides over the Cabinet, is responsible for allocating functions among ministers and, at regular meetings with the Queen, informs her of the general business of the Government. The Prime Minister's other responsibilities include recommending a number of appointments to the Queen. These include high-ranking members of the Church of England, senior judges and certain civil appointments. He also recommends appointments to several public boards and institutions, as well as to various royal and statutory commissions.
The cabinet is not a body established by statute. Its power comes from longrecognised convention. The Executive Council, which is formally constituted, does not have the power to make policy decisions. It gives legal effect to decisions made elsewhere, e.g. regulations, Orders and Notices. The Executive Council is presided over by the Governor-General and in practice the other members are the Cabinet of the day.
Source: Direct Government UK – The Government and the Prime Minister (2006)
2.3 Judiciary Branch
House of Lords (highest court of appeal; several Lords of Appeal in Ordinary are appointed by the monarch for life); Supreme Courts of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland (comprising the Courts of Appeal, the High Courts of Justice, and the Crown Courts); Scotland's Court of Session and Court of the Justiciary
In her role as Monarch, the Queen is head of the executive and plays an integral part in the legislature. She heads the judiciary. The UK has three legal systems, operating in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and three systems of criminal
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justice. There is no single criminal or penal code, but rather an emphasis on the independence of prosecuting authorities and the judiciary. The ultimate source of law is statutes passed by the Westminster or Scottish Parliaments, but there is a legal duty to comply with European Community law. UK courts must apply the latter in cases where the two conflict. A statute can give power to a minister, local authority or other executive body to make delegated legislation. The House of Lords is the final point of appeal and a small number of cases each year may be referred to the European Court of Justice, which has jurisdiction on matters of European Community law. All appeals to the House of Lords are about the meaning of the law, rather than the evidence in a case. The Appellate Committee of the House of Lords receives appeals from the courts in England and Wales and Northern Ireland, and in civil cases from Scotland; in addition, they sit as the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council to hear appeals from those Commonwealth countries whose legal systems are still linked to the UK The Court of Appeal also sits at the Royal Courts of Justice. The Criminal Division hears appeals from Crown Court cases, while the Civil Division receives appeals from the High Court, tribunals and, in certain cases, county courts. The work is handled by three divisions: (i) chancery division: equity, trusts, tax, bankruptcy; (ii) queen's bench division: contract, tort, commercial matters; and (iii) family Division: divorce, children, probate. In addition, there are county courts, division courts and administrative courts.
Source: Direct Government of UK: Introduction to the judicial System & Department of Constitutional Affairs (edited)
2.4 Local Government Local authorities work within the powers laid down under various Acts of Parliament. Their functions are far-reaching. Some are mandatory, which means that the authority must do what is required by law. Others are discretionary, allowing an authority to provide services if it wishes. The main link between local authorities and central government is the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. However, other departments, such as the Department for Education and Skills, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department of Health and the Home Office, are also concerned with various local government functions. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, local authorities now deal mainly with the devolved Parliament and Assemblies. About two million people are employed by local authorities in the UK. These include school teachers, the police, firefighters and other non-manual and manual workers. Education is the largest locally-provided service, with 0.9 million full-time equivalent jobs. Councils are individually responsible, within certain legislative requirements, for deciding the structure of their workforces. Every part of the UK is covered by a local authority fire service. Each of the 59 fire authorities must by law provide a firefighting service and must maintain a brigade to meet all normal requirements. Each fire authority appoints a Chief Fire Officer, or Firemaster in Scotland, who has day-to-day control of operations. In June 2003, responsibility for the overall management of relations between the UK Government and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has moved from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) to the
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Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA). ODPM remains responsible for the English region. The highest priority was given to the creation of a Parliament in Scotland and a National Assembly for Wales because the demand for decentralisation in these countries was strong.
Source: Direct Government of UK: Local Government Powers (edited)
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3. The State and Civil Society
3.1 Ombudsperson The office of Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (Parliamentary Ombudsman) was created in 1967. During the next ten years other public sector ombudsmen were appointed, so that by the end of the 1970s there were parliamentary, health and local government ombudsmen services in each country of the British Isles. In 1981 the Insurance Ombudsman Bureau, the first private sector ombudsman scheme, which was followed by many others in the private sector. In 2001 a number of voluntary schemes (banking, building societies, insurance and investment) were brought together to form a statutory Financial Ombudsman Service. There are many public and private ombudsman that have been incorporated in the United Kingdom Ombudsman Association and became the British and Irish Ombudsman Association when membership was extended to include ombudsmen from the Republic of Ireland in 1994.
Source: British and Irish Ombudsman Association (2002)
3.2 Civil Society Non-governmental organizations in Britain are numerous. There is no overriding legal context for all of them. They include: (i) charities – organizations of volunteers regulated by the government (“The Charities Commission”) and receiving tax benefits to carry out public services, e.g., the Royal National Lifeboat Institution; (ii) trades unions – which represent the labour interests of members, e.g., Unison, the union for public sector workers in local authorities; (iii) professional bodies – such as the Law Society that regulates the profession of lawyers; (iv) pressure groups – that stand for economic interests, e.g., the Confederation of British Industry; (v) thinktanks – such as the Fabian Society– that argue specific policy lines; (vi) nondepartmental public bodies – that use public money in a public context but are only loosely controlled by Ministers, such as the Sports or Arts Councils.
Source: Profile of National Public Administrations: United Kingdom (2000)
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4. Civil Service
The civil service has no separate constitutional responsibility. The constitutional and practical role of the cvil service in Great Britain is to help the Government of the United Kingdom, the Scottish Executive and the National Assembly for Wales formulate their policies, carry out decisions and administer public services for which they are responsible. A separate Northern Ireland Civil Service was created in 1921 to serve the local administration. Its present role is to support the Northern Ireland Executive in the administration of public services for which it has responsibility.
Source: Direct Government of UK: the civil service commission (2006)
The UK Civil Service commissioners derive their responsibilities and powers from the Civil Service Order in Council 1995 and the Diplomatic Service Order in Council 1991, as amended. They have two responsibilities: (i) to maintain the fundamental principle in recruitment to the Civil Service of selection on merit on the basis of fair and open competition, including the approval of appointments by recruitment to the most senior levels in the Civil Service; and (ii) to hear and determine appeals under the Civil Service Code.
Source: Profile of National Public Administrations: United Kingdom (2000)
4.1 Legal basis The public administration is entirely subject to the law but there is no specific Civil Service Act or legal provision that prescribes specific duties or rights to public servants. The Civil Service Code, introduced in 1996, is a concise statement of the role and responsibilities of civil servants. It was revised in 1999 to take account of devolution. The Code includes an independent line of appeal to the Civil Service Commissioners on alleged breaches of the Code
Source: Profile of National Public Administrations: United Kingdom (2000) & Direct Government of UK: the civil service commission (2006)
The Commissioners derive their responsibilities and powers from the Civil Service Order in Council 1995 and the Diplomatic Service Order in Council 1991, as amended.
Source: UK Civil Service Commissioner (2006)
4.2 Recruitment Recruitment is the responsibility of individual departments, with the exception of senior civil servants. The role of the Civil Service Commission is to provide a framework based on the civil service recruitment principles. Recruitment into the Civil Service is regulated by the Civil Service Order in Council 1995 and the Diplomatic Service Order in Council 1991. Both of these Orders have been amended. The Orders in Council require the Civil Service Commissioners to: (i) maintain the principle of appointment on merit on the basis of fair and open competition in recruitment to the civil service; (ii) prescribe and publish a recruitment code on the interpretation and application of the principle; (iii) incorporate in the code certain restricted circumstances in which exceptions to the principle can be made; approve
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appointments at the most senior levels in the Civil Service; and (iv) audit the recruitment systems of departments and agencies for compliance with the code. In addition, the Commissioners are empowered by the Orders to require departments and agencies to publish information about their recruitment. Furthermore. a new system of recruitment audits –the Recruitment Compliance Monitoring – following a review in 2003-2004 of our approach to audit and the retendering of the audit contract.
Source: UK Civil Service Commissioner (2006) & Civil Service Commissioner Annual Report (2004-2005)
4.3 Promotion Promotion of junior officers are the responsibility of Department or agencies. However, there are fast career tracks such as the In-Service Fast Stream which aims at people currently working in the Civil Service - those with the potential to rise to the highest levels of management.
Source: Department of Finance and Personnel (2004)
Recruitment is by department, after examination and interview in many cases. There is no educational restriction but to reach the higher levels usually requires university training. The United Kingdom has no class system for officials, but there is a series of grades (varying in detail between departments) from Administrative Assistant up to Permanent Secretary. Usually a lower number signifies a higher grade (a Permanent Secretary is grade one) and any official may in theory rise to the top of the system the Senior Civil Service. There is also a “fast stream” of specially selected and trained officials.
Source: Profile of National Public Administrations: United Kingdom (2000)
4.4 Remuneration All Government departments and executive agencies have responsibility for their own pay and grading systems for all civil servants outside of the Senior civil service. In addition to this departments also have responsibility for their own recruitment although there are some websites that deal with recruitment across the civil service as a whole.
Source: Civil Service Commissioner Annual Report (2004-2005)
The Performance and Reward Division is situated within the Civil Service Corporate Management group of the Cabinet Office. It supports best practice personnel management policies within the Civil Service. The division is organised into three branches. The first deals with delegated Civil Service performance management and pay systems. The second deals with future performance management and pay systems for the Senior Civil Service, and the third deals with the maintenance of Senior Civil Service pay systems, Special Advisors pay and Parliamentary pay.
Source: The UK Civil Service – Civil Service Performance and reward division (2005)
The current median starting salary in London is £23,700. Starting salaries depends the location of work and the overall package can vary from department to
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department. There is also a pension provision, which costs maximum of 3.5% of salary.
Source: Civil Service Fast stream (2006)
4.5 Training The Cabinet Office’s Corporate Development Group acts as a central coordination centre for training to ensure standards across the Civil Service and supports government departments’ training requirements. In addition, the National School of Government is responsible for providing the public sector with core skills training and professional development aligned to the requirements of the Government. There are also e-learning possibilities as well as European Awareness Network.
Source: The Cabinet Office – Public Sector Training (edited) (2005)
The Public Sector Leader Scheme (PSLS) organises learning events which bring people together from across all parts of the Public Sector. This network enables members to share good practice and develop leadership skills for the Public Sector. It is the only scheme that embraces the whole of the Public Sector and seeks to develop individuals and organisations. The scheme is open to individuals in the Public Sector organisations within the UK. Learning about different cultures is given further impetus through the Interchange module where participants have the opportunity to work in a different part of the Public Sector. This scheme is based on action learning underpinned with theoretical study.
Source: Public Sector Leadership Scheme (2005)
4.6 Gender and Diversity The Civil Service is promoting equality opportunity and has action plans for women, ethnic minority staff and disabled staff, including guidance on age diversity. There is a clear policy to be followed in dealing with complaints. There must be no unfair discrimination on the basis of age, disability, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, religion or belief, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, or (in Northern Ireland) community background, working pattern, employment status, gender identity (transgender), caring responsibility, trade union membership. Whilst Departments themselves determine their diversity priorities, and are accountable for their own decisions and actions, Cabinet Office is responsible for ensuring that the Civil Service as a whole meets the Government's commitment to achieving greater representation of minority ethnic staff, women and staff with disabilities at senior levels. On diversity meeting the specific targets of: • • • • 37% women in the Senior Civil Service (29.1% at April '05); 30% women in top management posts (25.5% at April '05); 4% ethnic minority staff in the SCS (2.8% at April '05); 3.2% disabled staff in the SCS (2.9% at April '05);
and, in the longer term, work to ensure that the Civil Service at all levels reflects the diversity of the population.
Source: The UK Civil Service – Civil Service Diversity (2005)
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5. Ethics and Civil Service
5.1 Corruption 2003 CPI Score relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts and ranges between 10 (highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt).
Corruption Perceptions Index
2003 CPI Score Surveys Used Standard Deviation High-Low Range Number Inst. 90 percent confidence range 9.5 - 9.9 8.5 - 8.9 0.9 - 1.7
Rank
1 11 133
Country
Highly clean United Kingdom Highly corrupt 9.7 8.7 1.3 8 13 8 0.3 0.5 0.7 9.2 - 10.0 7.8 - 9.2 0.3 - 2.2 4 9 6
Source: Transparency International - Corruption Perceptions Index 2003 Surveys Used: Refers to the number of surveys that were used to assess a country's performance. 17 surveys were used and at least 3 surveys were required for a country to be included in the CPI. Standard Deviation: Indicates differences in the values of the sources. Values below 0.5 indicate agreement, values between 0.5 and c. 0.9 indicate some agreement, while values equal or larger than 1 indicate disagreement. High-Low Range: Provides the highest and lowest values of the sources. Number Institutions: Refers to the number of independent institutions that assessed a country's performance. Since some institutions provided more than one survey. 90 percent confidence range: Provides a range of possible values of the CPI score. With 5 percent probability the score is above this range and with another 5 percent it is below.
Accountability and control are the tasks of the Westminster Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee which has a large office (1,000 staff) – the National Audit Office (NAO) – to check on ministries’ spending, propriety and value-for-money. The role of the National Audit Office (NAO) is to audit the financial statements of all government departments and agencies, and many other public bodies. The NAO also report to Parliament on the value for money with which these bodies have spent public money. As well as providing accountability to Parliament, it aims to bring about real improvements in the delivery of public services. Under the law the NAO are responsible for auditing the accounts of all Government departments and agencies and to report the results to Parliament. Individual accounts can range from the Department for Work and Pensions, to the Passport Agency. The NAO also audits over half of the 'arms-length' public bodies (known as non-Departmental public bodies), In total, we audit over 550 accounts per year, and total expenditure and revenue of over £700 billion.
Source: Profile of National Public Administrations: United Kingdom (2000) & UK National Audit Office (2006) (edited)
5.2 Ethics There are a number of safeguards in place to ensure the integrity of individuals in carrying out their public duties. The role of the Committee on Standards in Public Life (known as the Wicks Committee) is to examine the standards of conduct of all holders of public office.
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Recommendations in a 1995 report led to the appointment of a Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and a Commissioner for Public Appointments. Other reports have resulted in: • • • • • changes in the ethical framework for local government, including the establishment in 2001 of a new Standards Board for England; a new regulatory regime for political party funding in the UK, overseen by an independent Electoral Commission; new rules governing the conduct and discipline of MPs and strengthened guidance on lobbying; the introduction of new Codes of Conduct for government ministers and special advisers; and the mandatory registration of all peers' relevant financial interests and a short code of conduct for members of the House of Lords.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, who is independent of government, can advise MPs on matters of standards, and hold initial investigations into complaints about alleged breaches of the rules by Members. The Commissioner reports to the House of Commons Select Committee on Standards and Privileges. The Commons has a public register of Members of Parliaments' financial - and some non-financial - interests. Members with a financial interest must declare it when speaking in the House or in Committee and must indicate it when giving notice of a question or motion. They must also disclose any relevant financial interest in other proceedings of the House and in dealings with other Members, ministers or civil servants. The House of Lords has its own register on similar lines to that for MPs. The Commissioner for Public Appointments is independent of government and is responsible for monitoring, regulating and auditing ministerial appointments to a range of public bodies.
Source: Direct Government of UK - Introduction to the judicial System (2006)
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6. e-Government
e-Government Readiness Index: The index refers to the generic capacity or aptitude of the public sector to use ICT for encapsulating in public services and deploying to the public, high quality information (explicit knowledge) and effective communication tools that support human development. The index is comprised of three sub-indexes: Web Measure Index, Telecommunications Infrastructure Index and Human Capital Index.
6.1 e-Government Readiness
e-Government Readiness Index
1 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0
pa n an y SA K ce U Fr an G er m an a
Human Capital Index
SA
Ja
U
Web Measure Index: A scale based on progressively sophisticated web services present. Coverage and sophistication of stateprovided e-service and e-product availability correspond to a numerical classification.
Source: United Nations – World Public Sector Report 2003
Web Measure Index 1 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0
K nc e
Telecom. Infrastructure Index
Telecommunications Infrastructure Index: A composite, weighted average index of six primary indices, based on basic infrastructural indicators that define a country's ICT infrastructure capacity. Primary indicators are: PC’s, Internet users, online population and Mobile phones. Secondary indicators are TVs and telephone lines.
Ja pa n
m an y
C
Source: United Nations – World Public Sector Report 2003
U
Fr a
G er
Human Capital Index: A composite of the adult literacy rate and the combined primary, secondary and tertiary gross enrolment ratio, with two thirds of the weight given to adult literacy and one third to the gross enrolment ratio.
16
C
an a
U
da
da
e-Participation Index: Refers to the willingness, on the part of the government, to use ICT to provide high quality information (explicit knowledge) and effective communication tools for the specific purpose of empowerring people for able participation in consultations and decision-making both in their capacity as consumers of public services and as citizens.
6.2 e-Participation
e-Participation Index
1 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0
U K
Ja pa n
SA
G
er m
e-information: The government websites offer information on policies and programs, budgets, laws and regulations, and other briefs of key public interest. Tools for disseminating of information exist for timely access and use of public information, including web forums, e-mail lists, newsgroups and chat rooms.
Source: United Nations – World Public Sector Report 2003
e-information 30 25 20 15 10
e-decision making
e-consultation
e-decision making: The government indicates that it will take citizens input into account in decision making and provides actual feedback on the outcome of specific issues.
5 0
Fr an ce
Ja pa n
US A
UK
an y
G er m
Source: United Nations – World Public Sector Report 2003
e-consultation: The government website explains e-consultation mechanisms and tools. It offers a choice of public policy topics online for discussion with real time and archived access to audios and videos of public meetings. The government encourages citizens to participate in discussions.
17
Ca n
ad a
C an ad a
Fr an ce
an y
U
7. Links
7.1 National sites Authority Topic http://www.civilservicecommissioners.gov.uk/ http://www.bioa.org.uk/ http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/ http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/ http://www.direct.gov.uk/ http://www.nao.org.uk/
UK Civil Service Commissioner British and Irish Ombudsman Association UK Civil Service The UK Cabinet Office Website of the UK Government UK National Audit Office
7.2 Miscellaneous sites Institution Topic http://www.oecd.org http://www.worldbank.org http://www.europa.eu.int
OECD World Bank European Union
18
Public Administration Country Profile
Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM) Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) United Nations February 2006
All papers, statistics and materials contained in the Country Profiles express entirely the opinion of the mentioned authors. They should not, unless otherwise mentioned, be attributed to the Secretariat of the United Nations. The designations employed and the presentation of material on maps in the Country Profiles do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
Table of Contents Table of Contents........................................................................................... 1 Country ........................................................................................................ 2 1. General Information ................................................................................... 4 1.1 People.................................................................................................. 4 1.2 Economy .............................................................................................. 4 1.3 Public Spending ..................................................................................... 5 1.4 Public Sector Employment and Wages....................................................... 5 2. Legal Structure .......................................................................................... 6 2.1 Legislative Branch.................................................................................. 6 2.2 Executive Branch ................................................................................... 7 2.3 Judiciary Branch .................................................................................... 7 2.4 Local Government.................................................................................. 8 3. The State and Civil Society .........................................................................10 3.1 Ombudsperson .....................................................................................10 3.2 Civil Society .........................................................................................10 4. Civil Service .............................................................................................11 4.1 Legal basis...........................................................................................11 4.2 Recruitment .........................................................................................11 4.3 Promotion............................................................................................12 4.3 Remuneration ......................................................................................12 4.4 Training...............................................................................................13 4.5 Gender and Diversity.............................................................................13 5. Ethics and Civil Service ..............................................................................14 5.1 Corruption ...........................................................................................14 5.2 Ethics..................................................................................................14 6. e-Government ..........................................................................................16 6.1 e-Government Readiness .......................................................................16 6.2 e-Participation ......................................................................................17 7. Links .......................................................................................................18 7.1 National sites .......................................................................................18 7.2 Miscellaneous sites................................................................................18
1
United Kingdom
Country Click here for detailed map Government type parliamentary democracy Independence England has existed as a unified entity since the 10th century; the union between England and Wales, begun in 1284 with the Statute of Rhuddlan, was not formalized until 1536 with an Act of Union; in another Act of Union in 1707 Constitution consists of a series of legal documents, including certain acts of the UK and New Zealand Parliaments, as well as The Constitution Act 1986, which is the principal formal charter; adopted 1 January 1987. Legal system common law tradition with early Roman and modern continental influences; has nonbinding judicial review of Acts of Parliament under the Human Rights Act of 1998; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations Administrative divisions 16 regions and 1 territory
Source: The World Factbook – United Kingdom
Source: The World Factbook – United Kingdom
The UK is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In mid-2003 the UK was home to 59.6 million people. The average age was 38.4 years, an increase on 1971 when it was 34.1 years. In mid-2003 one in five people in the UK were aged under 16 and one in six people were aged 65 or over.
Source: Direct Government UK - Overview of the UK government (2006)
Great Britain, the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century. At its height, the British Empire stretched over one-fourth of the earth's surface. The first half of the 20th century saw the UK's strength seriously depleted in two World Wars. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous European nation. As one of five permanent members
2
of the UN Security Council, a founding member of NATO, and of the Commonwealth, the UK pursues a global approach to foreign policy; it currently is weighing the degree of its integration with continental Europe. A member of the EU, it chose to remain outside the Economic and Monetary Union for the time being. Constitutional reform is also a significant issue in the UK. The Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, and the Northern Ireland Assembly were established in 1999, but the latter is suspended due to wrangling over the peace process.
Source: The World Factbook – United Kingdom
3
1. General Information
1.1 People
Population Total estimated population (,000), 2003 Female estimated population (,000), 2003 Male estimated population (,000), 2003 Sex ratio (males per 100 females), 2003 Average annual rate of change of pop. (%), 2000-2005 Youth and Elderly Population Total population under age 15 (%), 2003 Female population aged 60+ (%), 2003 Male population aged 60+ (%), 2003 Human Settlements Urban population (%), 2001 Rural population (%), 2001 Urban average annual rate of change in pop. (%), ‘00-‘05 Rural average annual rate of change in pop/ (%), ‘00-‘05 Education Total school life expectancy, 2000-2001 Female school life expectancy, 2000-2001 Male school life expectancy, 2000-2001 Female estimated adult (15+) illiteracy rate (%), 2000 Male estimated adult (15+) illiteracy rate (%), 2000 Employment Unemployment rate (15+) (%), 2000 Female adult (+15) economic activity rate (%), 2001 Male adult (+15) economic activity rate (%), 2001
Notes:i 1998/1999,ii Months of March-May, iii Month of March,
iv
UK
59,251 30,388 28,863 95 0.31 18 23 19 90 10 0.25 -0.5 16.3 16.7 15.8 .. .. 5.5 ii 53 71
a a
France
60,144 30,845 29,299 95 0.47 19 23 18 76 24 0.58 -0.34 15.4 15.7 15.1 .. .. 8.8 iii 48 62
b b
Germany
82,476 42,177 40,299 96 0.07
1 a
b
15 27 21
c
88 12 0.17 -1.55
d
15.3i 15.1 .. .. 7.9iv 49 66
i i
1 1 1 2 2
15.4
e
1 2 2
Month of April, a Age 16+ years, B 2000.
1.2 Economy
GDP GDP total (millions US$), 2002 GDP per capita (US$), 2002 PPP GDP total (millions int. US$), 2002 PPP GDP per capita(int. US$), 2002 Sectors Value added in agriculture (% of GDP), 2003 Value added in industry (% of GDP), 2003 Value added in services (% of GDP), 2003 Miscellaneous GDP implicit price deflator (annual % growth), 2004 Private consumption (% of GDP), 2003 Government consumption (% of GDP), 2003
i
UK
1,552,437 26,376 1,510,997 25,672 1.0 26.6 72.4 3.2 65.6 21.1
France
1,409,604 i 23,714 1,554,483 26,151 2.7 24.5 72.8 1.2 55.6 iii 24.3
ii
Germany
1,976,240 23,956 2,171,624 26,324
2 a
b
1.1ii 29.4ii 69.4ii
c
19.3 58.6 19.3
2003 , 1994.
iii ii ii
Notes: Data include the French overseas departments of French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Réunion,
1 a
United Nations Statistics Division: Statistics Division and Population Division of the UN Secretariat; b Statistics Division and Population Division of the UN Secretariat; c Population Division of the UN Secretariat; d1 UNESCO ; d2 UNESCO; e1 ILO; e2 ILO/OECD 2 World Bank - Data and Statistics: a Quick Reference Tables; b Data Profile Tables ; c Country at a Glance
4
1.3 Public Spending
Public expenditures Education (% of GNP), 1985-1987 Education (% of GNP), 1995-1997 Health (% of GDP), 1990 Health (% of GDP), 1998 Military (% of GDP), 1990 Military (% of GDP), 2000 Total debt service (% of GDP), 1990 Total debt service (% of GDP), 2000
i
UK
4.8 5.3i 5.1 5.8ii 3.9 2.5 .. ..
France
5.5 6i 6.7 7.3 ii 3.5 2.6 .. ..
ii
Germany
3
.. 4.8i 5.9 7.9ii 2.8 iii 1.5 .. ..
iii
a a
b b
Notes: .Data may not be strictly comparable with those for earlier years as a result of methodological changes, Data refer to 1999, Data refer to the Federal Republic of Germany before reunification.
1.4 Public Sector Employment and Wages
Data from the latest year available
United Kingdom 1991-1995
United Kingdom 1996-2000
European Union Average4 1996-2000
High income OECD average4 1996-2000
High income group average4 1996-2000
Employment
Civilian Central Government5 Sub-national Government5 (,000) (% pop.) (,000) (% pop.) (,000) (% pop.) (,000) (% pop.) (,000) (% pop.) (,000) (% pop.) (,000) (% pop.) (,000) (% pop.) 747 1.3 1,300 2.2 990 1.7 1,010 1.7 201 0.3 303 0.5 759 1.3 5,310 9.14 1,804 3.1 1,989 3.4 813 1.4 968 1.6 .. .. 211 0.4 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 0.5 .. 0.5 .. .. .. 1.2 .. 1.1 1.2 .. 1.3 4.1 .. 2.8 4.1 .. 2.8
Education employees
Health employees
Police
Armed forces
SOE Employees
Total Public Employment
Total Central gov't wage bill Total Central gov’t wage bill Average gov't wage Real ave. gov’t wage ('97 price)
(% of GDP) (% of exp) (,000 LCU) (,000 LCU)
1.5 7.1 14 16 1.4
.. 5.9 19 19 1.4
3.6 12.8
.. ..
4.2 16.4
Average gov’t wage to per capita GDP ratio
..
..
..
Source: World Bank - Public Sector Employment and Wages
3
a b
UNDP - Human Development Report 2002 Data refer to total public expenditure on education, including current and capital expenditures. As a result of a number of limitations in the data, comparisons of military expenditure data over time and across countries should be made with caution. For detailed notes on the data see SIPRI (2001). 4 Averages for regions and sub regions are only generated if data is available for at least 35% of the countries in that region or sub region. 5 Excluding education, health and police – if available (view Country Sources for further explanations).
5
2. Legal Structure
The United Kingdom is a parliamentary democracy, based on universal suffrage. It is also a constitutional monarchy in which ministers of the Crown govern in the name of the Sovereign, who is both Head of State and Head of the Government. There is no ‘written constitution’. Instead, the relationship between the State and the people relies on statute law, common law and conventions. Following devolution, the responsibilities of the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland changed considerably, although they retain their positions in the UK Cabinet. They ensure that the reserved interests of the countries they represent are properly considered in central government and they lead the presentation of government policy in their parts of the UK. They are also responsible for safeguarding and promoting the devolution settlements of their respective countries.
Source: Direct Government UK - Overview of the UK government (2006)
2.1 Legislative Branch
bicameral Parliament comprised of House of Lords (consists of approximately 500 life peers, 92 hereditary peers and 26 clergy) and House of Commons (646 seats since 2005 elections; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms unless the House is dissolved earlier)6 Women in parliament: lower house 127 out of 646 seats (19.7%) and 126 out of 721 (19.7%)7
Parliament at Westminster in London can legislate for the UK as a whole and has powers to legislate for any parts of it separately. However, it will not normally legislate on devolved matters in Scotland and Northern Ireland without the agreement of the Scottish Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly respectively. There are three parts of Parliament – the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the sovereign. The House of Commons consists of 646 elected MPs. Of the 646 seats, 529 represent constituencies in England, 40 in Wales, 59 in Scotland, and 18 in Northern Ireland. The chief officer of the House of Commons is the Speaker, elected by MPs to preside over the House. Other officers include the Chairman of Ways and Means and two deputy chairmen, who may all act as Deputy Speakers. They are elected by the House as nominees of the Government, but may come from the Opposition as well as the government party. The House of Commons Commission, a statutory body chaired by the Speaker, is responsible for the administration of the House. The House of Lords is the second chamber of the UK Parliament and consists of the Lords Spiritual and the Lords Temporal. The Lords Temporal consist of hereditary peers, life peers, and life peers created to help carry out the judicial duties of the House (up to 12 Lords of Appeal in Ordinary - or
6 7 8
Fact box: elections: House of Lords - no elections (note - in 1999, as provided by the House of Lords Act, elections were held in the House of Lords to determine the 92 hereditary peers who would remain there; pending further reforms, elections are held only as vacancies in the hereditary peerage arise); House of Commons - last held 5 May 2005 (next to be held by May 2010) election results: seats by party - Labor 356, Conservative 197, Liberal Democrat 62, other 31; note - as of 30 September 2005 the seats by party - Labor 354, Conservative 196, Liberal Democrat 62, other 34. 8
Source of fact boxes if nothing else stated: The World Factbook – United Kingdom Inter-Parliamentary Union - Women in National Parliaments Source of fact boxes if nothing else stated: The World Factbook – United Kingdom
6
Law Lords - and a number of other Lords of Appeal).
Source: Direct Government UK – House of Commons & House of Lords (2006)
As there are no legal restraints imposed by a written constitution, Parliament may legislate as it pleases as long as the UK meets its obligations as a member of the European Union. It can make or change law, overturn established conventions or turn them into law. It can even legislate to prolong its own life beyond the normal period without consulting the electorate.
Source: Direct Government UK – Parliament’s power (2006)
2.2 Executive Branch
cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the prime minister elections: none; the monarchy is hereditary; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually the prime minister
The Executive is made up of the Prime Minister, Cabinet and the public sector. In her role as Monarch, the Queen is head of the executive and plays an integral part in the legislature. She heads the judiciary. Her Majesty's Government consists of those ministers responsible for the conduct of national affairs. The Queen alone appoints the Prime Minister and all other ministers are appointed by her on the Prime Minister's recommendation. Most ministers are members of the Commons, although the Government is also fully represented by ministers in the Lords.
Fact box: chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); Heir Apparent Prince CHARLES (son of the queen, born 14 November 1948) head of government: Prime Minister Anthony (Tony) BLAIR (since 2
May 1997) The Prime Minister presides over the Cabinet, is responsible for allocating functions among ministers and, at regular meetings with the Queen, informs her of the general business of the Government. The Prime Minister's other responsibilities include recommending a number of appointments to the Queen. These include high-ranking members of the Church of England, senior judges and certain civil appointments. He also recommends appointments to several public boards and institutions, as well as to various royal and statutory commissions.
The cabinet is not a body established by statute. Its power comes from longrecognised convention. The Executive Council, which is formally constituted, does not have the power to make policy decisions. It gives legal effect to decisions made elsewhere, e.g. regulations, Orders and Notices. The Executive Council is presided over by the Governor-General and in practice the other members are the Cabinet of the day.
Source: Direct Government UK – The Government and the Prime Minister (2006)
2.3 Judiciary Branch
House of Lords (highest court of appeal; several Lords of Appeal in Ordinary are appointed by the monarch for life); Supreme Courts of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland (comprising the Courts of Appeal, the High Courts of Justice, and the Crown Courts); Scotland's Court of Session and Court of the Justiciary
In her role as Monarch, the Queen is head of the executive and plays an integral part in the legislature. She heads the judiciary. The UK has three legal systems, operating in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and three systems of criminal
7
justice. There is no single criminal or penal code, but rather an emphasis on the independence of prosecuting authorities and the judiciary. The ultimate source of law is statutes passed by the Westminster or Scottish Parliaments, but there is a legal duty to comply with European Community law. UK courts must apply the latter in cases where the two conflict. A statute can give power to a minister, local authority or other executive body to make delegated legislation. The House of Lords is the final point of appeal and a small number of cases each year may be referred to the European Court of Justice, which has jurisdiction on matters of European Community law. All appeals to the House of Lords are about the meaning of the law, rather than the evidence in a case. The Appellate Committee of the House of Lords receives appeals from the courts in England and Wales and Northern Ireland, and in civil cases from Scotland; in addition, they sit as the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council to hear appeals from those Commonwealth countries whose legal systems are still linked to the UK The Court of Appeal also sits at the Royal Courts of Justice. The Criminal Division hears appeals from Crown Court cases, while the Civil Division receives appeals from the High Court, tribunals and, in certain cases, county courts. The work is handled by three divisions: (i) chancery division: equity, trusts, tax, bankruptcy; (ii) queen's bench division: contract, tort, commercial matters; and (iii) family Division: divorce, children, probate. In addition, there are county courts, division courts and administrative courts.
Source: Direct Government of UK: Introduction to the judicial System & Department of Constitutional Affairs (edited)
2.4 Local Government Local authorities work within the powers laid down under various Acts of Parliament. Their functions are far-reaching. Some are mandatory, which means that the authority must do what is required by law. Others are discretionary, allowing an authority to provide services if it wishes. The main link between local authorities and central government is the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. However, other departments, such as the Department for Education and Skills, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department of Health and the Home Office, are also concerned with various local government functions. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, local authorities now deal mainly with the devolved Parliament and Assemblies. About two million people are employed by local authorities in the UK. These include school teachers, the police, firefighters and other non-manual and manual workers. Education is the largest locally-provided service, with 0.9 million full-time equivalent jobs. Councils are individually responsible, within certain legislative requirements, for deciding the structure of their workforces. Every part of the UK is covered by a local authority fire service. Each of the 59 fire authorities must by law provide a firefighting service and must maintain a brigade to meet all normal requirements. Each fire authority appoints a Chief Fire Officer, or Firemaster in Scotland, who has day-to-day control of operations. In June 2003, responsibility for the overall management of relations between the UK Government and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has moved from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) to the
8
Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA). ODPM remains responsible for the English region. The highest priority was given to the creation of a Parliament in Scotland and a National Assembly for Wales because the demand for decentralisation in these countries was strong.
Source: Direct Government of UK: Local Government Powers (edited)
9
3. The State and Civil Society
3.1 Ombudsperson The office of Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (Parliamentary Ombudsman) was created in 1967. During the next ten years other public sector ombudsmen were appointed, so that by the end of the 1970s there were parliamentary, health and local government ombudsmen services in each country of the British Isles. In 1981 the Insurance Ombudsman Bureau, the first private sector ombudsman scheme, which was followed by many others in the private sector. In 2001 a number of voluntary schemes (banking, building societies, insurance and investment) were brought together to form a statutory Financial Ombudsman Service. There are many public and private ombudsman that have been incorporated in the United Kingdom Ombudsman Association and became the British and Irish Ombudsman Association when membership was extended to include ombudsmen from the Republic of Ireland in 1994.
Source: British and Irish Ombudsman Association (2002)
3.2 Civil Society Non-governmental organizations in Britain are numerous. There is no overriding legal context for all of them. They include: (i) charities – organizations of volunteers regulated by the government (“The Charities Commission”) and receiving tax benefits to carry out public services, e.g., the Royal National Lifeboat Institution; (ii) trades unions – which represent the labour interests of members, e.g., Unison, the union for public sector workers in local authorities; (iii) professional bodies – such as the Law Society that regulates the profession of lawyers; (iv) pressure groups – that stand for economic interests, e.g., the Confederation of British Industry; (v) thinktanks – such as the Fabian Society– that argue specific policy lines; (vi) nondepartmental public bodies – that use public money in a public context but are only loosely controlled by Ministers, such as the Sports or Arts Councils.
Source: Profile of National Public Administrations: United Kingdom (2000)
10
4. Civil Service
The civil service has no separate constitutional responsibility. The constitutional and practical role of the cvil service in Great Britain is to help the Government of the United Kingdom, the Scottish Executive and the National Assembly for Wales formulate their policies, carry out decisions and administer public services for which they are responsible. A separate Northern Ireland Civil Service was created in 1921 to serve the local administration. Its present role is to support the Northern Ireland Executive in the administration of public services for which it has responsibility.
Source: Direct Government of UK: the civil service commission (2006)
The UK Civil Service commissioners derive their responsibilities and powers from the Civil Service Order in Council 1995 and the Diplomatic Service Order in Council 1991, as amended. They have two responsibilities: (i) to maintain the fundamental principle in recruitment to the Civil Service of selection on merit on the basis of fair and open competition, including the approval of appointments by recruitment to the most senior levels in the Civil Service; and (ii) to hear and determine appeals under the Civil Service Code.
Source: Profile of National Public Administrations: United Kingdom (2000)
4.1 Legal basis The public administration is entirely subject to the law but there is no specific Civil Service Act or legal provision that prescribes specific duties or rights to public servants. The Civil Service Code, introduced in 1996, is a concise statement of the role and responsibilities of civil servants. It was revised in 1999 to take account of devolution. The Code includes an independent line of appeal to the Civil Service Commissioners on alleged breaches of the Code
Source: Profile of National Public Administrations: United Kingdom (2000) & Direct Government of UK: the civil service commission (2006)
The Commissioners derive their responsibilities and powers from the Civil Service Order in Council 1995 and the Diplomatic Service Order in Council 1991, as amended.
Source: UK Civil Service Commissioner (2006)
4.2 Recruitment Recruitment is the responsibility of individual departments, with the exception of senior civil servants. The role of the Civil Service Commission is to provide a framework based on the civil service recruitment principles. Recruitment into the Civil Service is regulated by the Civil Service Order in Council 1995 and the Diplomatic Service Order in Council 1991. Both of these Orders have been amended. The Orders in Council require the Civil Service Commissioners to: (i) maintain the principle of appointment on merit on the basis of fair and open competition in recruitment to the civil service; (ii) prescribe and publish a recruitment code on the interpretation and application of the principle; (iii) incorporate in the code certain restricted circumstances in which exceptions to the principle can be made; approve
11
appointments at the most senior levels in the Civil Service; and (iv) audit the recruitment systems of departments and agencies for compliance with the code. In addition, the Commissioners are empowered by the Orders to require departments and agencies to publish information about their recruitment. Furthermore. a new system of recruitment audits –the Recruitment Compliance Monitoring – following a review in 2003-2004 of our approach to audit and the retendering of the audit contract.
Source: UK Civil Service Commissioner (2006) & Civil Service Commissioner Annual Report (2004-2005)
4.3 Promotion Promotion of junior officers are the responsibility of Department or agencies. However, there are fast career tracks such as the In-Service Fast Stream which aims at people currently working in the Civil Service - those with the potential to rise to the highest levels of management.
Source: Department of Finance and Personnel (2004)
Recruitment is by department, after examination and interview in many cases. There is no educational restriction but to reach the higher levels usually requires university training. The United Kingdom has no class system for officials, but there is a series of grades (varying in detail between departments) from Administrative Assistant up to Permanent Secretary. Usually a lower number signifies a higher grade (a Permanent Secretary is grade one) and any official may in theory rise to the top of the system the Senior Civil Service. There is also a “fast stream” of specially selected and trained officials.
Source: Profile of National Public Administrations: United Kingdom (2000)
4.4 Remuneration All Government departments and executive agencies have responsibility for their own pay and grading systems for all civil servants outside of the Senior civil service. In addition to this departments also have responsibility for their own recruitment although there are some websites that deal with recruitment across the civil service as a whole.
Source: Civil Service Commissioner Annual Report (2004-2005)
The Performance and Reward Division is situated within the Civil Service Corporate Management group of the Cabinet Office. It supports best practice personnel management policies within the Civil Service. The division is organised into three branches. The first deals with delegated Civil Service performance management and pay systems. The second deals with future performance management and pay systems for the Senior Civil Service, and the third deals with the maintenance of Senior Civil Service pay systems, Special Advisors pay and Parliamentary pay.
Source: The UK Civil Service – Civil Service Performance and reward division (2005)
The current median starting salary in London is £23,700. Starting salaries depends the location of work and the overall package can vary from department to
12
department. There is also a pension provision, which costs maximum of 3.5% of salary.
Source: Civil Service Fast stream (2006)
4.5 Training The Cabinet Office’s Corporate Development Group acts as a central coordination centre for training to ensure standards across the Civil Service and supports government departments’ training requirements. In addition, the National School of Government is responsible for providing the public sector with core skills training and professional development aligned to the requirements of the Government. There are also e-learning possibilities as well as European Awareness Network.
Source: The Cabinet Office – Public Sector Training (edited) (2005)
The Public Sector Leader Scheme (PSLS) organises learning events which bring people together from across all parts of the Public Sector. This network enables members to share good practice and develop leadership skills for the Public Sector. It is the only scheme that embraces the whole of the Public Sector and seeks to develop individuals and organisations. The scheme is open to individuals in the Public Sector organisations within the UK. Learning about different cultures is given further impetus through the Interchange module where participants have the opportunity to work in a different part of the Public Sector. This scheme is based on action learning underpinned with theoretical study.
Source: Public Sector Leadership Scheme (2005)
4.6 Gender and Diversity The Civil Service is promoting equality opportunity and has action plans for women, ethnic minority staff and disabled staff, including guidance on age diversity. There is a clear policy to be followed in dealing with complaints. There must be no unfair discrimination on the basis of age, disability, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, religion or belief, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, or (in Northern Ireland) community background, working pattern, employment status, gender identity (transgender), caring responsibility, trade union membership. Whilst Departments themselves determine their diversity priorities, and are accountable for their own decisions and actions, Cabinet Office is responsible for ensuring that the Civil Service as a whole meets the Government's commitment to achieving greater representation of minority ethnic staff, women and staff with disabilities at senior levels. On diversity meeting the specific targets of: • • • • 37% women in the Senior Civil Service (29.1% at April '05); 30% women in top management posts (25.5% at April '05); 4% ethnic minority staff in the SCS (2.8% at April '05); 3.2% disabled staff in the SCS (2.9% at April '05);
and, in the longer term, work to ensure that the Civil Service at all levels reflects the diversity of the population.
Source: The UK Civil Service – Civil Service Diversity (2005)
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5. Ethics and Civil Service
5.1 Corruption 2003 CPI Score relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts and ranges between 10 (highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt).
Corruption Perceptions Index
2003 CPI Score Surveys Used Standard Deviation High-Low Range Number Inst. 90 percent confidence range 9.5 - 9.9 8.5 - 8.9 0.9 - 1.7
Rank
1 11 133
Country
Highly clean United Kingdom Highly corrupt 9.7 8.7 1.3 8 13 8 0.3 0.5 0.7 9.2 - 10.0 7.8 - 9.2 0.3 - 2.2 4 9 6
Source: Transparency International - Corruption Perceptions Index 2003 Surveys Used: Refers to the number of surveys that were used to assess a country's performance. 17 surveys were used and at least 3 surveys were required for a country to be included in the CPI. Standard Deviation: Indicates differences in the values of the sources. Values below 0.5 indicate agreement, values between 0.5 and c. 0.9 indicate some agreement, while values equal or larger than 1 indicate disagreement. High-Low Range: Provides the highest and lowest values of the sources. Number Institutions: Refers to the number of independent institutions that assessed a country's performance. Since some institutions provided more than one survey. 90 percent confidence range: Provides a range of possible values of the CPI score. With 5 percent probability the score is above this range and with another 5 percent it is below.
Accountability and control are the tasks of the Westminster Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee which has a large office (1,000 staff) – the National Audit Office (NAO) – to check on ministries’ spending, propriety and value-for-money. The role of the National Audit Office (NAO) is to audit the financial statements of all government departments and agencies, and many other public bodies. The NAO also report to Parliament on the value for money with which these bodies have spent public money. As well as providing accountability to Parliament, it aims to bring about real improvements in the delivery of public services. Under the law the NAO are responsible for auditing the accounts of all Government departments and agencies and to report the results to Parliament. Individual accounts can range from the Department for Work and Pensions, to the Passport Agency. The NAO also audits over half of the 'arms-length' public bodies (known as non-Departmental public bodies), In total, we audit over 550 accounts per year, and total expenditure and revenue of over £700 billion.
Source: Profile of National Public Administrations: United Kingdom (2000) & UK National Audit Office (2006) (edited)
5.2 Ethics There are a number of safeguards in place to ensure the integrity of individuals in carrying out their public duties. The role of the Committee on Standards in Public Life (known as the Wicks Committee) is to examine the standards of conduct of all holders of public office.
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Recommendations in a 1995 report led to the appointment of a Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and a Commissioner for Public Appointments. Other reports have resulted in: • • • • • changes in the ethical framework for local government, including the establishment in 2001 of a new Standards Board for England; a new regulatory regime for political party funding in the UK, overseen by an independent Electoral Commission; new rules governing the conduct and discipline of MPs and strengthened guidance on lobbying; the introduction of new Codes of Conduct for government ministers and special advisers; and the mandatory registration of all peers' relevant financial interests and a short code of conduct for members of the House of Lords.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, who is independent of government, can advise MPs on matters of standards, and hold initial investigations into complaints about alleged breaches of the rules by Members. The Commissioner reports to the House of Commons Select Committee on Standards and Privileges. The Commons has a public register of Members of Parliaments' financial - and some non-financial - interests. Members with a financial interest must declare it when speaking in the House or in Committee and must indicate it when giving notice of a question or motion. They must also disclose any relevant financial interest in other proceedings of the House and in dealings with other Members, ministers or civil servants. The House of Lords has its own register on similar lines to that for MPs. The Commissioner for Public Appointments is independent of government and is responsible for monitoring, regulating and auditing ministerial appointments to a range of public bodies.
Source: Direct Government of UK - Introduction to the judicial System (2006)
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6. e-Government
e-Government Readiness Index: The index refers to the generic capacity or aptitude of the public sector to use ICT for encapsulating in public services and deploying to the public, high quality information (explicit knowledge) and effective communication tools that support human development. The index is comprised of three sub-indexes: Web Measure Index, Telecommunications Infrastructure Index and Human Capital Index.
6.1 e-Government Readiness
e-Government Readiness Index
1 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0
pa n an y SA K ce U Fr an G er m an a
Human Capital Index
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Web Measure Index: A scale based on progressively sophisticated web services present. Coverage and sophistication of stateprovided e-service and e-product availability correspond to a numerical classification.
Source: United Nations – World Public Sector Report 2003
Web Measure Index 1 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0
K nc e
Telecom. Infrastructure Index
Telecommunications Infrastructure Index: A composite, weighted average index of six primary indices, based on basic infrastructural indicators that define a country's ICT infrastructure capacity. Primary indicators are: PC’s, Internet users, online population and Mobile phones. Secondary indicators are TVs and telephone lines.
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Source: United Nations – World Public Sector Report 2003
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Human Capital Index: A composite of the adult literacy rate and the combined primary, secondary and tertiary gross enrolment ratio, with two thirds of the weight given to adult literacy and one third to the gross enrolment ratio.
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e-Participation Index: Refers to the willingness, on the part of the government, to use ICT to provide high quality information (explicit knowledge) and effective communication tools for the specific purpose of empowerring people for able participation in consultations and decision-making both in their capacity as consumers of public services and as citizens.
6.2 e-Participation
e-Participation Index
1 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0
U K
Ja pa n
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e-information: The government websites offer information on policies and programs, budgets, laws and regulations, and other briefs of key public interest. Tools for disseminating of information exist for timely access and use of public information, including web forums, e-mail lists, newsgroups and chat rooms.
Source: United Nations – World Public Sector Report 2003
e-information 30 25 20 15 10
e-decision making
e-consultation
e-decision making: The government indicates that it will take citizens input into account in decision making and provides actual feedback on the outcome of specific issues.
5 0
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Ja pa n
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UK
an y
G er m
Source: United Nations – World Public Sector Report 2003
e-consultation: The government website explains e-consultation mechanisms and tools. It offers a choice of public policy topics online for discussion with real time and archived access to audios and videos of public meetings. The government encourages citizens to participate in discussions.
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7. Links
7.1 National sites Authority Topic http://www.civilservicecommissioners.gov.uk/ http://www.bioa.org.uk/ http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/ http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/ http://www.direct.gov.uk/ http://www.nao.org.uk/
UK Civil Service Commissioner British and Irish Ombudsman Association UK Civil Service The UK Cabinet Office Website of the UK Government UK National Audit Office
7.2 Miscellaneous sites Institution Topic http://www.oecd.org http://www.worldbank.org http://www.europa.eu.int
OECD World Bank European Union
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