Sections of the UK civil service are to be privatised. Unions have raised concerns about the impact on staff pay and conditions. Such a move also raises serious questions about accountability to the public and democracy.
Sections of the UK civil service are to be privatised. Unions have raised concerns about the impact on staff pay and conditions. Such a move also raises serious questions about accountability to the public and democracy.
The Behavioural Insights Team – known as the ‘nudge unit’ – is to become a “profit-making joint venture”, the Cabinet Office announced. A competition has been launched “to find a commercial partner… the new business will be a collaboration between the government, the employees and a third party partner, which will bring additional commercial capability and investment.”
This is only the beginning: “The government is committed to encouraging and supporting new commercial models for public services across central government and the wider public sector. This involves a diverse range of models such as joint ventures and mutuals.”
According to the Independent, “Eventually as many as one in six civil servants – or 75,000 staff – could be transferred into the private sector with the Government maintaining a minority stake and offering long-term contracts to the new companies to encourage investment.”
“This is privatisation by stealth,” said UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis. “The government is stretching the definition of mutuals to the limit – genuine co-ops and mutuals will be up in arms.” He warned that “Staff will be plunged into confusion and could face being taken out of public sector pension schemes and having their pay and conditions seriously harmed.”
Mark Serwotka, head of the Public and Commercial Services Union, also condemned the plan, saying that “The route to improving public services is investment, not gimmicks and back-door privatisation.”
Decisions taken and information provided by the civil service can profoundly affect people’s lives. In theory civil servants are expected to be neutral and open to evidence and, though (like others) they may be influenced by the prevailing ideology in society, there is an expectation that they will take at least some account of different views and be open to reason. Reducing their accountability and giving private firms excessive power could have grave consequences.
The ‘nudge unit’ aims to encourage people to make better lifestyle choices. Allegedly it devised a fake psychometric test which some jobseekers were recently forced to take on threat of having their benefits cut, though the results were the same whatever they answered.
In future, ordinary people subjected to unjust decisions on matters for which the state has responsibility may find it even harder to have their concerns heard. In some situations, lack of objectivity and accountability on the part of units carrying out civil service responsibilities, or difficulties in coordinating their activities, may have disastrous consequences. The move towards privatisation has serious potential consequences for democracy.
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(c) Savitri Hensman is a regular Christian commentator on politics, social justice, welfare and religion. She works in the care and equalities sector and is an Ekklesia associate.