Reform of the civil service
A series of events looking at the government's plans to reform the civil service.
Civil service reform: this time is different
Watch the event
What makes this round of civil service reform different from efforts that have gone before? What’s missing from the plans and where is this government getting it wrong? The government’s targets aren’t new – why do the same issues keep coming up? How do you actually get the civil service to change? What can government learn from past rounds of civil service reform?
Panellists:
- Baroness Simone Finn, former Special Adviser, and Non-Executive Director at the Cabinet Office
- Ravi Gurumurthy, Chief Executive of Nesta
- Jane Dudman, Public Leadership Editor for the Guardian
- Dame Sue Owen, former Permanent Secretary at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
Chaired by Bronwen Maddox, Director of the Institute for Government.
Finding and keeping the right people
Watch the event
How can the civil service recruit, retain and reward the right people? What needs to change on pay and opportunities for promotion to reduce staff turnover? What skills and expertise do civil servants need? What type of quantitative skills should the civil service be developing and where do they need to be deployed? What are the barriers to recruiting and retaining engineers, mathematicians and economists? How do different professions fit in? What difference would it make to the quality of policy advice?
Panellists:
- Catherine Baxendale, author of How to best attract, induct and retain talent recruited into the Senior Civil Service
- Edwina Dunn, CEO of Starcount and Commissioner at the Geospatial Commission
- Dr Louisa Nolan, Head of Data Science Projects at the Office for National Statistics
- Matthew Trimming, Senior Adviser at PUBLIC
- Max Tse, Executive Director at the National Audit Office
Chaired by Alex Thomas, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.
How to measure success
Watch the event
How should the civil service measure performance – of individuals and of work programmes? What is the role of the Treasury and how can it get better at it? What data does should government be collecting and how can it best use it? Does the civil service need to get better at evaluation?
Panellists:
- Lord Macpherson, former Permanent Secretary at HM Treasury
- Aaron Maniam, Deputy Secretary, Industry and Information at the Ministry of Communications and Information, Singapore
- Professor Ngaire Woods, founding Dean of the Blavatnik School of Government
- Simon Parker, Director of Strategy for the London Borough of Redbridge
Chaired by Dr Gemma Tetlow, Chief Economist at the Institute for Government.
Jonathan Slater speech and discussion with Bronwen Maddox
Watch the event
Jonathan Slater, Permanent Secretary at the Department for Education and Head of the Policy Profession, spoke to Bronwen Maddox, Director of the Institute for Government.
Getting the civil service outside London
Watch the event
Michael Gove has called for government decision makers to be spread across the country: from Mansfield to Middlesbrough to Merthyr Tydfil. He won’t be the first to have tried to move policy makers out of London. So why have past efforts not worked as hoped? What can the government do differently this time? And will shifting civil servants around the country really change decision making? Or is more radical devolution of power required?
Panellists:
- Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester
- Philip Rycroft, former Permanent Secretary in the Department for Exiting the EU
- Lesley-Ann Nash, former Senior Civil Servant at the Cabinet Office
- Paul Swinney, Director of Policy and Research at the Centre for Cities
Chaired by Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government.
We would like to thank Oracle for kindly sponsoring this event.