Date: 2008-10-06 18:28 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public

Political thought for the day.

The National Party has a policy of capping numbers in the core public service, and trying to spend more on front line services.

Having spent some time in the UK, where a similar policy has been applied to the UK civil service, here are a few likely consequences of that policy.

First, in the short term (i.e. before the election is done), an awful lot of vacancies will be advertised, as managers realise they need to fill that empty slot now or risk an ongoing understaffing problem. I am certainly seeing far more policy vacancies at the moment than I was expecting.

Second, in the medium term, the policy sector will increasingly become a closed shop. There will be fewer new jobs, and more transfers and secondments of personell. As the policy workforce grows older, it will grow staler and less creative in its policy solutions. This also works against National's goal of stopping young educated people from going overseas to find careers.

Third, hiring practices in the policy sector will become increasingy founded on risk minimisation. Screwing up a new hire means you could be stuck with them for years.

Fourth, the work does not go away when you refuse to hire new people. If anything, public demand for goods and services provided by government will continue to increase. The solution here is to hire independent contractors, thus avoiding any boost in the numbers of permanent staff. Of course, you have to pay contractors a premium of at least 25% over and above standard salary costs. But thats a problem for whoever is Ministerof your portfolio a couple of years downstream.

Fifth, your perspective changes once you occupy the Treasury benches, all those evil advisors who used to be working for your political foes are now working for you. Your initial conviction that you know all the answers tends to wither once it becomes apparent that the public are otraged when your clever idea is implemented. Its oh so conveniant to have some policy advice around to cover your ass with, or some flunkies to expend as ablative shielding mid-scandal.

Finally, wave goodbye to any foreigners working in the public sector, excluding people on citizenship grounds will be one of the eaiest ways of culling the number of applications to new vacancies. Which just exacerbates the problem of isolation and reduces the chances of new policy solutions.