Jordan Urban
Senior Researcher
Jordan's recent work
Who runs Whitehall?
A data-led examination of the permanent secretaries and directors general in Whitehall’s 19 main ministerial departments.
The PCS challenge on arms sales to Israel shows the strengths and limits of civil service unions
Civil service unions have a particular responsibility to show restraint on political activity.
Declining fast stream applications are a warning sign for the civil service
The fast stream is one of the UK’s best graduate schemes.
All work
Whitehall Monitor 2023: Methodology
How we produced our analysis for Whitehall Monitor 2023.
Whitehall Monitor 2023 (Conclusion): The year ahead
The ways in which the civil service should change to better serve the UK in 2023 and beyond.
Whitehall Monitor 2023 (Part 3): Civil service effectiveness
This part of Whitehall Monitor 2023 assesses the extent to which the civil service was effective at undertaking its key responsibilities in 2022.
Whitehall Monitor 2023 (Part 2): Government reform
This part of Whitehall Monitor 2023 analyses efforts to reform government, and the civil service in particular, last year.
Whitehall Monitor 2023 (Part 1): The size, cost and make-up of the civil service
This part of Whitehall Monitor 2023 analyses the ways in which the civil service changed in 2022 and what these changes mean for its priorities.
Opening up: how to strengthen the civil service through external recruitment
The civil service’s ability to deliver ministers’ priorities is being hurt by its failure to attract and properly use the skills of external recruits.
Rishi Sunak will be judged on how much of the 2019 manifesto he delivers
Sunak is right to deliver what he can from a document on which he will be judged at the next election
Mark Fullbrook’s No10 arrangement exposes problems with special adviser recruitment
The system for recruiting special advisers is broken and needs to change
Relocation of the civil service
Where in the UK do civil servants work?
The new prime minister must reconcile their ideas with the Johnson legacy
The victorious leadership contender will have to find a way to deliver the 2019 manifesto alongside their fresh campaign pledges