State administration gets polite overhaul (5,7)
I believe the answer is:
civil service
'state administration' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'polite overhaul' is the wordplay.
'polite' becomes 'civil' (synonyms).
'overhaul' becomes 'service' (synonyms).
'civil'+'service'='CIVIL SERVICE'
'gets' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for civil service that I've seen before include "State administration" , "Sir Humphrey & Co?" , "State administrators" , "The government's workers" .)