How a civil servant got away with juggling five jobs for so long

A recent survey of 1,700 civil servants by the independent think tank Re:State found 76% of respondents thought it did not do a good job of tackling poor performers.

An ex-senior civil servant told the BBC that much of the Civil Service is culturally averse to performance management.

"Whitehall's known for ages it has to be less risk averse. Shrinking the Civil Service and the adoption of artificial intelligence technology make that more vital," they said.

"But don't underestimate the fear factor: fear of drawn-out grievances and fear of being accused of wasting taxpayers' money if the Civil Service was to do what big private sector firms do, which is cut to get rid of poor performers by offering some money and a settlement agreement."