Its authors are frank about the consequences: “Public-sector productivity has stalled, digital transformation has been neglected, and businesses struggle to invest in a system that finds reasons to say no rather than yes.”
Many of these ideas are familiar. Conservative ministers and thinkers have floated them for much of the past 20 years. Indeed, I’ve espoused various of these solutions in this column over the years.
They aren’t alone. A couple of weeks ago Sir Keir Starmer argued that while “the state employs more people than it has in decades… it’s weaker than it’s ever been. Overstretched, unfocused, trying to do too much, doing it badly.”
The battle over the Sentencing Council provides another good example. The Opposition criticised the Council’s new justice guidelines – which recommend that pre-sentence reports should be considered if an offender belongs to one or more groups, including a racial, faith or cultural minority – when they came out in early March.
Mahmood was obviously right that those accountable to the people should control how crime is punished. She was understandably frustrated that instead an unaccountable body wields these powers, and did so poorly, bringing criticism down on her head.
On Sunday night, the Sentencing Council at last agreed to suspend the new guidelines before they came into force. But the Government was ready to legislate to overrule one of its own official bodies; a short bill was to be introduced this week, simply to allow the Government to govern.
It’s positive that there’s now a consensus to sort it out. But given that this issue has been around for years, the fact that it hasn’t yet happened is a reason to worry.
square MARK WALLACE
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Read MoreThe challenge for the Conservatives, therefore, is twofold: will they, in turn, resist that same temptation to oppose for Opposition’s sake, passing up those easy point-scoring opportunities? And will they have the magnanimity to do instead what Labour didn’t do, and back the Government when it moves in the right direction, despite its past record?
This is only an early skirmish over state reform. There will be much more to come if the job is to be done properly, as the Labour Growth Group make clear. In particular, it seems evident that there is a titanic battle yet to begin over judicial reviews, which are increasingly exploited for the purposes of wasteful lawfare by activist groups.
If our state is ever to function properly, to deliver the high performance, value for money and ambition that we deserve, then we cannot afford to stay stuck in this mire any longer.
Mark Wallace is Chief Executive of Total Politics Group
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