ABSTRACT
At first sight at least the most spectacular change in civil service structure in the United Kingdom in the twentieth century has been the creation of ‘Next Steps’ agencies. Announced in February 1988, the Next Steps programme has introduced executive agencies which are essentially the operating arms of Government departments. Old-style departments are being divided into small policy-making ‘cores’ with the operational effort being transferred to a clutch of satellite agencies which implement policy. In April 1991, in launching the Benefit and Contribution Agencies of the Department of Social Security (DSS), Prime Minister John Major argued:
What we are seeing at the moment . . . is, frankly, nothing less than a revolution in management . . . that will make it more responsive, more open, more effective, more rewarding for the clientele of the Civil Service’s operations . . .
