A Unified Civil Service - csrenewal.per.gov.ie

We will manage the Civil Service as a single unified organisation.

Specific actions that will be addressed in reaching this goal include:

We will:

Establish an Accountability Board as envisaged in the Report of the Independent Panel. This will be chaired by the Taoiseach and balanced with ministerial, Civil Service and external membership.
Focus the work of the Accountability Board on a limited number of priority items to provide oversight over: (a) the implementation of cross-cutting priorities set by the Government and (b) the capacity and capability of the Civil Service to deliver, including performance management for Secretaries General.
Publish an annual report on the work of the Accountability Board.

We will:

Establish a Civil Service Management Board chaired by the Secretary General to the Government.
Assign responsibility to the Board working in groups or as individuals to (a) manage the performance and operation of the Civil Service, including overseeing talent management and performance management systems for senior managers, (b) support the Government on the implementation of policy initiatives that involve multiple departments, offices or agencies, including managing the assignment of staff to these projects, and (c) identify and manage strategic and operational risks on a short, medium and long term horizon.
Assign collective responsibility to the Board to drive the implementation of the Civil Service Renewal Plan under the leadership of the Secretaries General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Department of the Taoiseach.
Publish an Annual Report for the Civil Service that details the work of the Board in the past year, key outcomes for the year ahead and a business plan to achieve it.

We will:

Formalise the role of the Management Board in Departments and support greater ministerial and managerial interaction in jointly and regularly reviewing priorities and performance.
Introduce a single governance standard for all Management Boards drawing on international best practice in corporate governance.
Establish an annual assessment for all Management Boards to measure delivery and performance.
Pilot a process of appointing non-executive external members on 3 Management Boards to evaluate the potential of this model, ensuring it is underpinned by a robust selection process and clear evaluation criteria.
Devise a clear policy on the establishment of agencies and ensure the governance structure of agencies is consistent with their legislative underpinning.

We will:

Streamline the Statement of Strategy planning cycle with the Programme for Government planning cycle so that business planning is aligned.
Mandate the Civil Service Management Board to review and challenge each Statement of Strategy prior to finalisation to ensure that these integrate cross-cutting initiatives and link effectively to Programme for Government commitments.
Develop a single Statement of Strategy for the Civil Service that focusses exclusively on the strategy for delivering cross-cutting initiatives involving multiple departments, offices and agencies.
Establish the expectation that each Secretary General meets annually with the relevant Oireachtas Committee to discuss progress in delivery of published objectives outlined in each Department’s Statement of Strategy.
Initiate regular strategic horizon scans to identify long-term risks, challenges and opportunities for Ireland over the longer term (10, 20, 30 years into the future).

We will:

Mandate the Civil Service Management Board to drive implementation of a small number of cross-cutting priorities set by the Government.
Assign formal delegated authority and accountability to a named senior responsible officer for the delivery of each cross-cutting project.
Create a multi-disciplinary project pool involving staff with a range of experience and expertise who can tackle specific government projects and priorities or long-term strategic issues as required.
Pilot a new model for delivering whole-of-Government projects by setting up two pathfinder projects with the remit to apply critical success factors, including pooled budgets and resources.
Incorporate explicit recognition for cross-cutting work within the performance management process and examine ways to incorporate into the recruitment processes.

We will:

Create shared resources and professional networks in key areas, (project management, change management, data management and communications) that can be commissioned to work on projects for set periods so that Departments can more readily access and share the available expertise depending on requirements.
Continue to develop and expand the programme of sharing corporate services and exploring alternative models of service delivery as outlined in the Government’s Public Service Reform Plan, for example through the National Shared Services Office, the Office of Government Procurement, and the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer.
Ensure common processes and systems and shared resources underpin this approach.

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