In this booklet we argue the general case in favour of a thriving, sustainable, and
efficient public sector. A strong and vibrant civil service has a key role to play, not only in the delivery of public services, but also in changing them. We argue that the road towards improving the efficiency of public services is not through piecemeal cuts and privatisation but through planned growth.

Reckless cuts and unplanned changes selected for short-term party political
advantage will not deliver a future efficient delivery of complex and socially critical services. We argue instead that an independent, well-trained, well-resourced, andaccountable civil service is essential for the workings of both our politicaldemocracy and our mixed private/public economy.

Rather than castigate bureaucracy as wasteful, we propose that it is the best
guarantor of efficiency and fairness in the application of government policy.
In the four sections of this booklet we develop our vision: the case for the civil
service in more detail.

By Professor Roger Seifert and Mike Ironside,
Centre for Industrial Relations, Keele University

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