Now Ministers must decide their priorities, and the Treasury must decide the financial constraints. Willing the end is insufficient without getting the detail right.
It’s almost there, but with a little help from re-categorisations.
Number 10, Matthew Hancock, the Whips, Ministers themselves: all must ensure that Sir Humphrey’s grip is loosened.
The appointment of ministers following the election in May 2015 will be a critical indication of whether the necessary political drive is still there.
Reducing the number of ministers does little in itself to shrink the state – in fact, it may be counter-productive.
Maude’s work in delivering serious savings has been crucial and radical – Labour can’t be relied on to continue or preserve that legacy.
They should have to show that changes to the civil service’s departmental structures serve the public interest rather than party political or personnel management goals.
Public spending on health has risen by 344 per cent over the past 30 years. Is it time to look for money from elsewhere?
All of the three main parties have frustrations with government. Nick Herbert’s GovernUp is there to help.
Total departmental spending has declined by about 13 per cent. But in some departments it’s been cut by much more.
Individual politicians come and go, but political parties – if they are to democratically control the functions of government – need an institutional memory.
He will deliver about a quarter of this year’s spending scaleback. Why not let him co-plan the post-election spending review – and get yet more value for money?
Loneliness is a killer, but the absence of solitude deadens the mind.
It would bring coherence and skill to project implementation and management – and there are plenty of others to be abolished or amalgamated.
The people working on the NHS frontline might not be perfect, but they are in a better position to know what’s what than ministers and officials.