UK Government communications: Full circle in the 21st century?

On 19th January 2004, the UK government published An Independent Review of Government Communications (Phillis, 2004) known as the Phillis Review, and announced that it would implement the recommendations in full. In the early 2000s, under the Government of the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, there was some blurring of the lines between the role of impartial government communicators who were members of the Government Information and Communication Service (GICS) and politically appointed Special Advisors. In 1997, Alistair Campbell, Director of Communication, and Blair's Special Advisor, had been given the power to direct government communicators and subsequently there were a number of incidents that reinforced the view that propriety lines were being breached. It was felt that the GICS was being increasingly politicised. The Phillis Review led to far reaching change, the most important being the appointment of a Permanent Secretary, a civil servant of the most senior rank to lead GICS.The impact on the GICS was significant. It re-established its independence from political advisors, its numbers increased and it found a renewed confidence and role in Government and public life. This apparent progress came to an abrupt halt in 2010. As part of its austerity measures to address the budget deficit, Government spending on communications was frozen and in January 2011, Matt Tee, the incumbent Permanent Secretary was made redundant and left Government service in March 2011. In June and December 2011, the Government made announcements that there would be far reaching changes to Government communications which will be implemented by the Spring of 2012. This includes the appointment of a civil servant of lesser grade to head the service. So, what does this mean for Government communications? This paper reflects on the changes in Government communications in the first decade of the 21st century and concludes that in many ways it has come full circle – history is in danger of repeating itself.

► Reflects on the changes in Government communications over the first decade of the 21st century and offers some views on the future.
► Outlines the events that led to the Phillis review of 2004.
► Highlights the importance of the appointment of a permanent secretary for government communication and the dangers of the loss of this post.
► Speculates that after 10 years of growth and status improvement of public relations in government in the UK, it is under threat once more.