Alex Thomas

@alexgathomas

Executive Director, Institute for Government. Ex-Cabinet Office, Defra, Dept of Health. Interested in all things good government

851 Siguiendo4979 Seguidores1599 Publicaciones

Website Bluesky

¿Es tu perfil?Reclámalo y alexgathomas.dirty.social es tuyo.Reclamar perfil

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· Jun 20

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· May 25

Bond villain; photos already on phone #WhitehallMonitor

Former IfG colleague Sameer in his Whitehall Monitor 2024 outfit (title pages taped together to make a top)

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· May 13

Really exciting news in the King’s Speech - delighted to see the govt adopting our ideas to legislate to strengthen and improve the civil service. Amid the political turbulence this should be a massive moment for government reform

"My Government will bring forward proposals that strengthen the delivery, accountability, innovation and productivity of the Civil Service. These proposals will also seek to safeguard its impartiality and core values, to enhance trust and confidence in the institutions of government.”

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· May 6

Sir Keir Starmer has attempted to rebuild relations with the civil service after he sacked the most senior official in the Foreign Office by urging staff in a letter to
"speak truth to power".
The prime minister acknowledged that the public removal of Sir Olly Robbins in a row over the vetting of Lord Mandelson may have been "unsettling" to some.

Starmer continued: "To those who feel exposed by recent scrutiny, let me say this:
I value the 'speaking truth to power' that is the hallmark of our system.
"I want a culture where information flows freely, where risks are flagged early, and where we work together to solve problems before they become crises.
"The relationship between a minister and their officials relies on a bedrock of total transparency. Without that trust, the partnership that sits at the heart of our constitution cannot function. We are fixing the processes that have failed, but we are not changing the fundamental value we place on your role."

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· Apr 25

Think mine was an even worse night

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· Apr 18

Very much not the main point, but has there been a more reliable interim/acting perm sec in recent years than Nick Dyer?

Extract from FT article

A short message was sent to all FCDO employees on Friday morning from Nick Dyer, the department's second permanent under-secretary, stating that Robbins had been "asked to step down".
Cooper "has asked that I take on the position on an interim basis while we work through this period of change, Dyer said, adding: "I thank you all for your continued hard work."

Extract from Nick Dyer’s gov.uk page

Biography
Nick Dyer is Interim Permanent UnderSecretary at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).
Nick was the Director General, Humanitarian and Development at the FCDO from March 2022 to July 2023. The Foreign Secretary appointed Nick Dyer as the UK's first Special Envoy for Famine Prevention and Humanitarian Affairs in September 2020.
Nick Dyer was the Acting Permanent Secretary of the Department for International Development (DFID) from March until August 2020. Before taking on that role, Nick was the Director General for Economic Development and International.
His previous positions within DFID including:
• Interim Permanent Secretary (2017 to 2018)
• Director General for Policy and Global
Programmes (2013 to 2017)
• Director of Policy Division (2009 to 2013)
• Head of DFID Malawi (2006 to 2009)

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· Mar 29

Probably not the best policy

Sky News push notification: “countless horror stories linked to social media, but is banning children the right idea?”

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· Feb 19

Fwiw this in the Playbook evening email is not me…(am quoted later on) The Mountbatten-Windsor arrest is a challenge alright, but neither the biggest for a new cab sec nor historically challenging for the cab sec Maurice Hankey started in the middle of the First World War! Edward Bridges in 1938!

No biggie: "Handling the implications of a royal arrest is undoubtedly the biggest challenge for a new cabinet secretary since the post was created 110 years ago," one former aide to a cabinet secretary told Playbook PM.

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· Feb 19

So the new cabinet secretary will indeed be Antonia Romeo Here’s what we think she needs to prioritise www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/next...

First, they must be able to re-legitimise the civil service in the eyes of the ministers it serves.
While this means rebuilding core capabilities, it also requires instilling lost political confidence in civil servants. Too many ministers have lost trust that the civil service will actively pursue the government's goals, and the new cabinet secretary must restore a dynamic institution that works alongside ministers for the success
of their plans.

Second, a new cabinet secretary must lead the civil service more openly and more confidently.
Many things in government must happen in private, and civil servants need to navigate a delicate balance to maintain the confidence of
future governments. But impartiality should not be confused with passivity. The next cabinet secretary's appointment is even more important because Wormald's tenure itself followed the underwhelming term of Simon Case. After too many years of missing leadership, the UK's half a million civil servants need a figurehead they can see charting a clear course and actively pursuing the government's agenda

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· Feb 10

Two massive priorities for the next cabinet secretary - and our conclusion

No civil service appointment - however well chosen - can fill a political vacuum or solve the prime minister's troubles, and it is ministers who must set out a concrete vision for the state. But the cabinet secretary can, and must, push at the boundaries of state reform.
Starmer's next choice as cabinet secretary must learn from recent history - getting it right will be of existential importance for the civil service.

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· Feb 9

5. Operate more in the open
One change to the job in recent years is that the cabinet secretary is now much more of a public figure, and so the successful candidate will need to be someone who can confidently and sure-footedly operate in front of an audience.
This, of course, does not mean briefing the media, taking an active public platform or making policy pronouncements. But the leader of half a million people, and someone in whom there is intense lobby and media (if not always public) interest, needs to be able to present government policy and navigate speeches and select committee hearings with assurance. They also need to understand that this is now part of the job of being a modern cabinet secretary and to welcome the scrutiny that comes with the territory.
The top official being a semi-public figure also gives the civil service a release valve for when the institution is under fire. Other civil servants, including very senior ones, should not be briefing or leaking to the media - but can sometimes convince themselves that it is necessary if there is nobody at the top presenting the civil service's case. The cabinet secretary, in close alignment with the prime minister, should be that person.

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· Jan 22

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· Jan 20

In west London for @darrenpjones.bsky.social speech on reforming government An audience of politicians, the media, think tankers and the like. As far as I can see no cabinet secretary or perm secs… not a great signal for what comes next

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· Jan 17

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· Jan 3

My bit in this article from @rowenamason.bsky.social @kiranstacey.bsky.social Govt should talk to more people to develop & implement good policy. So “stakeholder blob” (paraphrase) isn’t a good way to think about addressing policy trade-offs & creating authority & incentive to make the system work

Alex Thomas, the programme director at the Institute for Government, said: "I don't think he's wrong on it being hard to get stuff done, but am not sure the 'stakeholder' framing is helpful.
"Government should be talking to people ... and we know what the problems with government are - a weak centre in a highly centralised state, a lack of expertise because of political and civil service churn, and poor performance management. What's needed to address those is sustained focus and political agency."

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· Nov 14

Incredible monkfish head we had there earlier this year

Monkfish head served at Fiskebaren restaurant in Copenhagen

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· Nov 10

Sorry for earnest post. Here is Marc Jacobs for the few people unfamiliar

Label: Jacobs by Marc Jacobs for Marc by Marc Jacobs in collaboration with Marc Jacobs for Marc by Marc Jacobs

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· Oct 26

Nothing worrying about it - am fully embracing middle age

Blood spattered room with text: “caption this with the 2nd to last text you sent”

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· Oct 23

Write up in Politico London Influence from @masonboyowen.bsky.social here www.politico.eu/newsletter/p...

MINISTER, REMOVE MY GAG: Top Whitehall wonk shop the Institute for Government went studs-up after ministers effectively banned civil servants and other public officials from doing public panels and outward-facing events earlier this year. Now it's claiming at least a partial victory.

How come? Cabinet Office Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds wrote back to the think tank after it fired off a missive making clear that "it is important for civil servants to speak in public about matters for which they have responsibility." New guidance referenced by Thomas-Symonds in his letter - shared with Influence — also stresses that "civil servants are able to take part in stakeholder engagement and sector engagement activity." Read the full take from the IfG here.

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· Oct 21

Not good all round. But where *on earth* did this come from? Just made up

Extract from Times story

“Senior advisers in Downing Street are sympathetic to that critique, but have found their room for manoeuvre constrained by an
"unwritten rule", which dictates that cabinet secretaries cannot be dismissed until they have spent a year in the post.”

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· Oct 5

Obviously easy to dunk, but it is a good sign if new politicians are getting to grips with finance and trade-offs and wrestling with them. Denying reality is the danger, not trying to balance the budget

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· Aug 21

One of these things is not like the other… How can anyone seriously suggest people with a medical condition like IBS shouldn’t gather, discuss and make sure their workplace is set up well so that they can work?!

Quote from a spokesperson in a Times article:

"While supporting diversity in the workplace is important, people will question the proliferation of such groups - including one to support those with irritable bowel syndrome.”

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· Aug 18

What a way to do business

Map of Ukraine and occupied territory Trump shows Zelensky in his Oval Office meeting

Map says “Names and boundary representation are not necessarily authoritative”

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· Aug 10

Was going to say something about Karl Kennedy / Alan Fletcher and medical advice but thought instead I’d share my discovery today that Sam Nivola (White Lotus, incest storyline etc) is John Mortimer’s grandson

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· Aug 1

I have tonight come back from Cornwall where I enjoyed beaches and tiny roads leading to my dad’s burst tyres. Broken Britain, secession now

A tyre with a 2-3 inch rip and very much flat

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· Aug 1

There is a problem with socio-economic (SEB) background in the civil service 42% of the most junior grades are from a lower SEB; just 19% of the most senior 70% of the SCS are from high SEB Unlike other characteristics (sex, ethnicity, disability) which have been growing, SEB has remained stable

Chart showing socio-economic background of civil service staff by grade. The more senior the grade, the higher the SEB

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· Jul 17

[Rocking in a chair on the stoop] I recall George McGovern’s famous youth-quake victory of 1972

Although the McGovern campaign believed that its candidate had a better chance of defeating Nixon because of the new Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution that lowered the national voting age to 18 from 21, most of the youth vote went to Nixon.

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· Jul 13

Somewhat ambiguous government response here Lots of words… and changing guidance to be clearer is good. But the govt needs to say more straightforwardly that civil servants can participate in Q&A stakeholder, trade and similar events

about gagging civil servants. "As the civil service management code released in 2016 makes clear, civil servants must clear in advance material for publication, broadcast or other public discussion which draws on official information or experience," she said.
"The government continues to approve public activity by civil servants on a case-by-case basis, and civil servants, such as permanent secretaries, continue to be accountable to parliamentary select committees in the usual way."
The cabinet office said it had been a "core principle, under successive governments, that ministers are publicly accountable for government decisions. This is why ministers answer for the government in the media and parliament."
They said they were tweaking the new rules to give more flexibility to departments. "If the department feels there is a strong case for them to proceed with the activity fronted by civil servants, then they should be gridded through the usual process."

Alex Thomas@alexgathomas· Jul 13

Story tonight about our joint open letter to The Times We’re calling for the guidance that is preventing civil servants from participating in public and stakeholder events to be withdrawn www.thetimes.com/article/2e4f...