The Civil Service needs “innovators and disrupters”, a Cabinet minister said as he called for it to follow the “test and learn” approach of tech firms and start-ups.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden recalled Dominic Cummings’ drive to recruit “misfits and weirdos” into the ranks of government advisers during a speech in east London.
Mr McFadden said “world-class technologists” could come into central government for “a six or a 12-month tour of duty and use their digital and data experience to help us tackle a number of challenges” through a Number 10 fellows programme.
He cited Airbnb, WhatsApp and Spotify as examples of start-ups the Civil Service could emulate in its approach.
Mr McFadden said: “You might remember a few years ago, there was a call for weirdos and misfits in the system.
“Well, whatever term you want to use, we do want innovators and disrupters and original thinkers.
“My message to creative thinkers is this is your chance to serve your country, use your brain power, your technological talents, to fix some of the biggest problems we face today.
“Britain needs you, and if you choose to serve I want government to empower you to help us deliver, to move fast and build things.”
He acknowledged that “tour of duty” salaries would not match what people can earn in tech and start-up jobs.
“Many of the people probably could earn more work in private sector, so they are appealing to their sense of public service,” he said.
He said the reform was about bringing in faster decision-making, cutting waste, eliminating or speeding up repetitive tasks and using data.
Asked if he would take inspiration from Elon Musk’s department of government efficiency in the US, Mr McFadden said “Let’s see how he gets on.”
“One thing that’s clear is, in the technological world and in the industrial world, he’s been an incredible innovator, and he’s managed to do things in new ways. So let us see how that works out,” he said.
Mr McFadden said earlier that there are “a lot of good people caught in bad systems” in the Civil Service.
He told Times Radio: “What I’m talking about today is reform of the state, and I think reform of the state is essential.”
He said firms such as Spotify have “changed our lives”, adding that the Government has not changed in the same way and that Westminster has “got to take the learning from what’s happening” in other sectors.
“We all depend on the state for lots of different services, but in some ways it does things in the same way as it’s done for a long time and we’re in a world where things have changed very rapidly in the private sphere.
“We’re very creative in this country on technology and start-ups, and I want to bring some of that creativity into government to help us produce better results for citizens.”
He is launching a £100 million “innovation fund” to underpin plans to launch “test and learn” teams in public services around the country.
The test and learn approach is used across the business world and allows new ideas to be tried out on a small scale to see their impact before being rolled out more widely if they are successful.
Under the plans, the test and learn teams will be set a challenge and allowed to experiment and try new things to meet it.
Two projects on family support and temporary accommodation will be the first outing for the test and learn approach.
These will begin in January 2025, with teams deployed in Manchester, Sheffield, Essex and Liverpool.
