OOH, YOU ARE

AWFUL

Whitehall wants Peter Mandelson to have an even bigger role

WHITEHALL'S attitude to ministerial reshuffles is like that of a grizzled sergeant-major towards a foolhardy officer cut down in battle. 'Don't be too upset, lads,' the sergeant tells his troops. 'There's plenty more where 'e came from.'

Yet this time it is different. Reports of Tony Blair's forthcoming reshuffle have shaken top civil servants from their usual world-weary approach to the exits and entrances of ministers. They know that this reshuffle could change the face of White- hall. Well-trailed plans to revamp the Cab- inet Office do not do justice to the scale of the reforms that Labour has in mind. It will be a quiet revolution carried out with the kind of stealthiness that Labour has already shown in sidelining the democratic processes of the House of Commons. For example, reports this week that Tony Blair has 'abandoned' plans to create a powerful Prime Minister's department in Whitehall are finespun exaggeration, on two counts. In the first place there was never much chance of formally setting up a central department working exclusively for the Prime Minister. Such a move would cause far too much fluttering in the Whitehall dovecote — among ministers as well as top civil servants.

And why bother when an enlarged, recharged Cabinet Office can do the job just as well without putting civil service noses out of joint? This is what we should expect. The old titles will be retained but with a new, more vigorous and much more centralised thrust. As with the Commons there is little reason to expect safeguards against too much power being concentrat- ed in the hands of too few.

What can be expected is that Whitehall will be reshaped with ruthless efficiency, for the odds are shortening on Peter Man- delson, the Minister without Portfolio, being promoted to the Cabinet as White- hall's new overlord. So how are the man- darins squaring up to such a prospect? Better than outsiders might expect. One of Whitehall's axioms is that a minister described by officials as 'nice' cannot be up to the job. Nobody in Whitehall ever describes Mr Mandelson as 'nice'. Waspish is more the word. Some say he is not that bad to deal with, even a good listener, but they say it quietly. The Prince of Wales may invite the Prince of Darkness to sup at Sandringham; Whitehall is more circum- spect.

Yet civil servants agree that Mr Mandel- son is able. And ability is the only thing they care about in a minister. No amount of niceness will endear a poor performer to them, nor will the lack of it stem their enthusiasm for a minister who can deliver. At present there is enough enthusiasm for Mr Mandelson to want him to be promot- ed to a bigger job. The question is which one.

Some say that he himself would like to replace Chris Smith as Minister for Luvvies, Lotteries and Likely-lad Foot- ballers — a job that would allow him to remain keeper of the Dome. The general view in Whitehall is that overseeing domes, baby domes and statues of uncer- tain sex is not a proper job for a serious politician. Besides, Mr Mandelson does not excel at it. He bullies where he should cajole. However brilliant a spin doctor in opposition, he is not a great front man in government.

What has impressed Whitehall is his approach to organisation and policy- making — that and the huge political Influence he enjoys because of his close- ness to Tony Blair. Other ministers may loathe him, but as long as he has Blair's backing they will co-operate. The word has been put out that Mr Mandelson will become Mr Blair's enforcer', which sounds as if the Prime Minister had a pack of policies up his sleeve that the rest of Whitehall opposes. This is a travesty. Certainly Mr Blair's gov- ernment needs to get a better grip on poli- cy at the centre, but the job to be done is both bigger and more subtle than bullying other departments, skilled though Mr Mandelson may be in that field. What is needed is to break down the old depart- mental fiefdoms and make Whitehall more flexible and better attuned to the needs of both the public and the policy-makers themselves.

Mr Mandelson himself has complained that Whitehall is divided into boxes that do not communicate with each other or with the public. Liam Byrne, former adviser to Mr Blair, says that 'the civil service cannot deliver Labour's plans for Britain' because It is 'too fragmented'. Single mothers, for example, are helped by no fewer than seven separate government outlets. Labour's own bid to bypass Whitehall's traditional compartments by setting up dozens of interdepartmental reviews has been shambolic. Labour boasts that these reviews are 'not constrained by the existing structure of government'. Certainly nobody is in charge. There are several dozen reviews and the Cabinet Office, the Prime Minister's policy unit, the Treasury and other major departments are all vying with each other to call the tune. The effect is like Prince Rupert on a civil war battle- field — very dashing in all directions.

A comprehensive review of Whitehall designed to reshape the Cabinet Office and strengthen the government at the cen- tre has just landed on Tony Blair's desk. It has been carried out by Sir Richard Wil- son, the Cabinet Secretary and Whitehall's top civil servant. His proposals will need to do more than tinker if they are to satisfy the Blairites. But a thoroughgoing review is likely to gain general support from senior officials, for inside Whitehall itself there is growing recognition that the old departmental baronies must change.

One idea discussed by leading civil ser- vants as long ago as last spring is to set up a new core unit, almost a mini-ministry, under the aegis of the Cabinet Office. Officials from different departments would work together under one roof to tackle policy questions that transcend traditional Whitehall boundaries. They would be answerable through the head of the unit to the Prime Minister. Once a particular pro- ject was finished, officials could be dis- banded and replaced by others working on different issues. Mr Mandelson is already running a small central policy unit. It is called the Social Exclusion Unit, it cuts across traditional departments and is housed in the Cabinet Office. It could be a blueprint for the future, and more effec- tive than inter-departmental committees where officials defend entrenched posi- tions.

The greatest barony of them all is the Treasury, at present trying to use the com- prehensive spending review to exert its own control over Whitehall. Many have dreamt of setting up a counterweight to its perva- sive power. Labour's George Brown tried in the 1960s, as did Michael Heseltine in the 1990s. They failed. Today the uneasy relationship between Blair and his Chan- cellor has made the Treasury more vulner- able. Rarely has there been a better opportunity to set up a rival power base close to the Prime Minister. If Mr Mandel- son could bring that off, he would earn golden opinions in the rest of Whitehall.

Blairite plans for centralising Whitehall raise questions about accountability and the concentration of power — issues that will worry many civil servants. But in the short term they accept the need for change. With the ground prepared by Sir Richard Wilson, Mr Mandelson could expect support for major changes. Certainly Whitehall would see him as the man to take on the Treasury with no fear of his being too nice in his methods. Some impartial officials even see him as being almost 'one of us'. Almost but not quite. `Mandelson's good — could have been a top-flight civil servant if he hadn't been corrupted,' remarked one Whitehall insider. Corrupted?

`Yes, corrupted,' was the insistent reply. `Corrupted into joining a political party.'

And there's a slim possibility you might catch BSE from your helmet and go crackers.'