Senior Civil servants have had there own way for too long, tail has been wagging the dog for too long . Sack em all.Senior civil servants are quite happy to play their own games and work against their bosses if it suits them.
My older brother was posted to MoD up in Whitehall for a couple of years. His take on dealing with senior civil servants in the MoD, FCO and a few other organisations was “Yes Minister is a documentary, not a comedy”.