One factor that has received little attention in the debate about the civil service (The Guardian view on the civil service: besieged by ideology, 3 May) is the enormous churn of ministers that there has been in many departments. Since 1981, the year I qualified as a teacher, there have been 23 secretaries of state responsible for education – 10 since 2010.
A child entering school at four will have been subject to policies promoted by an average of seven secretaries of state by the age of 16. Few of them have attended state schools and even fewer have any professional background in education. Despite that, they all arrive with their own magic bullet that will “fix” the problems they believe exist. Almost inevitably, they have gone long before the consequences of those policies are felt – if they ever get delivered.
Education is certainly not alone in experiencing such constant disruption. Both schools and government departments need certainty and stability to operate effectively. There are no magic solutions to the challenges faced by schools, so it unsurprising that a stream of headline-seeking policies promoted by a revolving cast of ministers, rooted in ideology rather than real subject knowledge or experience, get a less than warm welcome.
Peter Foale
Tollerton, Nottinghamshire
• As a former senior civil servant and now emeritus professor of public policy, it seems clear to me that our traditional model of a neutral, independent civil service cannot stand if we continue to have ministers who are ruled by ideology. Perhaps the time has come to move to political appointments at the senior level, with the permanent secretary replaced by a political director accountable only to the minister.
Prof Roger Brown
Southampton
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