Francis Maude: Send civil servants to an academy to reform Whitehall Mr Maude, one of David Cameron's closest allies, said that civil servants must work to implement ministers" priorities. "One of the things we're seeking to address is that the resources are deployed on what ministers" priorities are," Mr Maude said. All ministers will occasionally find things going on that have nothing to do with what they've asked to be done and that needs to be changed. Nick Herbert, the former minister for policing and criminal justice, has said Yes Minister, the television comedy, is an "essential training manual" for members of the government. Mr Herbert said his experience of the Civil Service while serving as a minister made him "question whether the model still works." Mr Herbert, the Conservative MP for Arundel and South Downs, is undertaking a cross-party project on how to improve relations between civil service and ministers. Nick Hurd, the Minister for Civil Society, said: "Commissioners spend billions of pounds of our money every year, and have a huge responsibility. The Academy is about supporting really intelligent commissioning that delivers maximum economic and social value to communities and the taxpayer.