Civil Service Live News
Brown thanks civil service
Monday 07 April 2008 12:35
The prime minister used his speech to Civil Service Live to express his profound gratitude to civil servants for their service to the country, telling them that individual public servants were the government’s greatest asset in achieving change.
'Feel inspired' about 2012, Jowell tells civil servants
Thursday 03 April 2008 17:18
Olympic minister Tessa Jowell urged delegates at Civil Service Live to embrace the “once in a lifetime opportunity” offered by the 2012 Olympics to change the lives of millions of people.
The power of the civil service pound
Thursday 03 April 2008 17:07
Procurement is about much more than just saving the government money, its buying chief has told a public service conference.
Civil service values in the spotlight
Thursday 03 April 2008 14:35
The values embodied in the civil service code should run through civil servants like “a stick of rock”, claimed Sir Gus O’Donnell at a discussion at Civil Service Live.
Sir Gus calls for ideas from civil servants
Thursday 03 April 2008 14:13
Officials with ideas about how the civil service should change in order that they can do their jobs better have been told to take them right to the top.
The pursuit of perfection
Thursday 03 April 2008 13:25
Delivering ‘21st century public services’ comes down to three core objectives, according to Lesley Strathie, the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Capability reviews for beginners
Thursday 03 April 2008 13:22
The capability reviews team at the Cabinet Office ran a workshop for delegates at Civil Service Live, allowing civil servants from across the country an insight into the mechanisms used to assess the effectiveness of individual departments.
Miliband champions frontline innovation
Wednesday 02 April 2008 20:09
The government needs to pay more attention to the mass of knowledge held by front line staff and help them put their innovative ideas into action, a minister has said.
Leading through relationships
Wednesday 02 April 2008 19:37
Inspirational leadership is the basis on which any successful department or team will be built, director general of leadership and people strategy Gill Rider has explained
DFID minister salutes role of civil servants
Wednesday 02 April 2008 19:33
Civil servants and ministers should always seek to work as a team, according to DFID minister Gillian Merron.
A government on message
Wednesday 02 April 2008 19:28
The government's safe driving campaign Think! encouraged millions of people to buckle up in the back seat and thousands of lives were saved as a direct result, civil servants heard this week.
Getting out of the starting gate
Wednesday 02 April 2008 19:19
Major procurement projects need to be externally assessed almost before they began if they are to avoid failure, one such reviewer has said.
Diversity in the spotlight
Wednesday 02 April 2008 19:18
The civil service diversity champion has urged Whitehall departments to “re-double their efforts” to make government a more diverse organisation.
Leadership lessons from a world cup winner
Wednesday 02 April 2008 19:09
In the dying minutes of the 2003 rugby world cup final, with the score excruciatingly poised at 17 points all, Matt Dawson made the most important decision of his career as a scrum-half, spotting a gap in the Australian pack and advancing the ball a few yards to enable Jonny Wilkinson a greater chance of kicking England to glory.
From TV Dragon to Government Lion
Wednesday 02 April 2008 18:38
When civil servant, Kash Walayat from the Department for Children, Schools and Families submitted his big idea for government to the 'Lions Lair', he knew he was in for a rough ride.
Sharing thoughts
Wednesday 02 April 2008 18:27
The tax payer has reaped the benefits of their joined up thinking, according to the heads of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
'Civil Service West Midlands'
Wednesday 02 April 2008 18:16
'Civil Service West Midlands', to be launched this Thursday in Birmingham, promises to be a ground-breaking pilot scheme aimed at making the civil service “the employer of choice in the West Midlands”, the woman behind it has said.
IBM host workshop on green government
Wednesday 02 April 2008 18:07
IBM’s series of mini-workshops on the management of carbon reduction within organisations proved a popular feature of Civil Service Live, with Mike Stephenson hosting contributors with experience of implementing green strategies across government.
Promoting UK plc
Wednesday 02 April 2008 18:06
The UK must promote itself as a “springboard to global growth” to companies both at home and abroad, according to UK Trade and Investment's marketing chief.
Crossing the divide
Wednesday 02 April 2008 17:51
The knowledge and expertise of civil servants working within delivery agencies has to be utilised if policies are to be successful, a panel of chief executives has said.
Borders chief launches new body
Wednesday 02 April 2008 17:36
On the day that the government’s new border organisation officially came into being, the woman in charge has outlined the successes already achieved and the challenges ahead.
Brown pledges continued public spending
Wednesday 02 April 2008 17:25
The government will stick to its public spending plans for the next three years, the prime minister has said.
Cleveland urges staff ‘to keep raising the bar’
Wednesday 02 April 2008 17:22
Civil servants should aim high in their attempts to transform the way government delivers its services to citizens, Alexis Cleveland said on Tuesday.
NI peace process ‘the ultimate cross-cutting project’, says award winner
Wednesday 02 April 2008 17:09
The winners of the Civil Service Leadership Award, the peace process team at the Northern Ireland Office, were engaged in “the ultimate cross-cutting project” according to the prime minister’s security advisor at the Cabinet Office.
Civil servants discuss social innovation
Tuesday 01 April 2008 13:09
Delegates at the first day of Civil Service Live attended a session detailing the potential rewards and pitfalls of innovation in the public sector.
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Pundits Corner
The issues facing today’s senior civil service are both diverse and challenging. But what do top pundits and commentators think? Find out here...
Peter Riddell
Chief political commentator of The Times
The civil service is going to have to change as never before. That was the running theme of the three day Civil Service Live conference, and, in particular, of the speech by Sir Gus O’Donnell, in his role more as head of the home civil service than cabinet secretary.
The dilemma he highlighted was that public expectations of what public services should provide are increasing - in areas such as climate change and obesity - at the same time as resources are being squeezed.
Presumably by coincidence, the conference came just before the start of the new financial year when the rate of public spending growth will slow from the average of more than four per cent so far this decade in real terms to around two per cent a year. And, as Alistair Darling indicated in the Budget, this rate is likely to continue for not only this review period of three years but into the next one. The tightness of public finances shows that there is no room for manoeuvre.
Sir Gus came under pressure at his session from civil servants complaining about the difficulties of motivating staff when departments are facing round after round of personnel cuts each year. While numbers of staff are being cut, he was told, the workload and demands are not being reduced.
This underlines the problem of trying continually to improve efficiency - eliminating what the politicians like to call waste - while preserving the same functions. In the private sector, it is easier to eliminate functions.
As Sir Gus said: “You ask ministers ‘Okay you’ve asked this department to live with say minus five per cent real in their budget, so what do you want them to stop doing?’ It is very difficult to get an answer to that”. The answers are not going to get any easier and the civil service is going to face belt tightening for a long period ahead.