United Kingdom
New UK Prime Minister’s message to civil servants
The new UK Prime Minister was a career public servant. Here is the message that he sent to all civil servants on his first day in office...
The Man Who Ran Downing Street
An interview with Sir Gus O'Donnell about his role in advising Prime Ministers, on the role of political advisers and the importance of Ministers working well with the public service...
The Ten Traits of a Great Civil Servant
Jeremy Heywood was a legendary UK Civil Servant who worked very closely with Prime Ministers. Here are his views of what makes a great civil servant...
Advice from a Seasoned Cabinet Secretary
Sir Gus O'Donnell was the head of the UK Civil Service from 2005 to 2011. Here is his recent advice to public servants on how to prepare for an incoming government. It is very good...
Annual assessment of the UK civil service
Turnover has increased, morale has dropped, pay levels are relatively low. On the positive side, digital literacy has increased. The Institute for Government report on the state of the UK civil service...
Rebuilding trust in public life in the UK
There is very low public trust in government in the UK. A very good paper on what now needs to be done...
The UK Post Office scandal - lessons
The UK Institute of Government looks at lessons to be learnt. One lesson, the extent to which complex governance arrangements blur accountability is a widespread problem in Australia. Boards and outsourced services do not reduce political risk...
The most popular UK television series this year is now showing on Channel 7 in Australia. It looks at the biggest public sector scandal in the UK for the last century. Highly recommended...
This podcast series delves into the largest scandal in the history of the UK Public sector...
The Blunders of Our Governments
A review of a book outlining major blunders by the UK government. There is a lot that is familiar here...
Skills, Efficiency and Technology in the Civil Service
A speech by the UK Minister for the Cabinet office on priorities. The UK government is seeking to move public servants out of London, to improve efficiency, reform procurement, improve project management, increase lateral recruitment to the SES, and embrace digital and AI...
The many lives of the UK Cabinet Secretary
The UK Cabinet Secretary is head of the civil service. There has been criticism that the current incumbent is too busy being a courtier to those in power to pay enough attention to the public service...
Relations between civil servants and ministers in the UK require an urgent reset
A report from the UK Institute of Government recommending that the current responsibility of public servants to 'serve the government of the day' be supplemented with a separate responsibility to uphold the public interest. This follows the trend set by New Zealand and suggested in Australia...
UK Prime Minister wants to cut 91,000 public service jobs
The UK Prime Minister intends to cut 20% of public service jobs, noting that public service job numbers had grown strongly since the pandemic...
What it takes to be a Prime Minister
Sir Anthony Seldon, author of The Impossible Office? The History of the British Prime Minister, examines why we are now in a point in history where those filling the role in the UK don't have the necessary experience to maximise the importance of the position...
Bullying inquiry head quits as UK PM ignores his advice
The former permanent secretary to the Home Office sued his minister and alleged bullying. The government settled out of court. An inquiry into the minister's behaviour was conducted by the PM's adviser on ministerial conduct. The PM rejected the advice and the adviser resigned...
UK permanent secretary sues his minister for constructive dismissal
The former permanent secretary in the Home Office has sued his minister for constructive dismissal claiming he was forced from his job after defending his staff from bullying by the minister. The government has settled out of court...
Why the civil service is in mortal danger
An analysis of the undermining of the UK civil service due to the short term nature of politics, the rise of advisers and the personalisation of senior appointments...
“The privilege of public service” given as the Ditchley Annual Lecture
A thoughtful lecture from the UK Cabinet Secretary about the loss of trust in elites and the arrogance of many in prominent roles. He argues for changes to the public service including greater specialisation, more diversity in recruitment and moving more public servants to the Regions. Highly recommended...
UK Minister for the Cabinet’s appeal to the public service to change
Michael Gove argues that the UK public service needs to focus on those citizens who have been ‘forgotten’, to experiment more and to transform itself. Australian and New Zealand Ministers will be reading this with interest. Recommended...
The UK is facing a Me Too moment for the Civil service
Escalating pressure to deliver post Brexit; the sacking of Secretaries and troubling relations between Ministers and the Public Service - the temperature is rising in the UK...
Dominic Cummings is Boris Johnson's new Chief of Staff. In 2014 he write a very long blog article about everything that is wrong with the UK public service. Now that he has power he will be a major disruptor and the UK can expect merged Departments, fewer Cabinet ministers, an increase in the number of Ministerial staffers (special advisers or Spad's) and a push to politicise appointments to the public service. How much of this will be copied in Australia and New Zealand? Highly recommended...
Public Service Mutuals in the UK - an update
Public Sector Mutuals in the UK are diverse, profitable, growing in size, their staff are happier than when they were public servants, they have an engaged workforce and are very innovative. Is this model part of the future?..
UK civil service to increase secondments to the private sector
The UK civil service is actively looking at, and will put in place later this year, a rather more industrialised approach to secondments...
Ministers and Mandarins - how public servants and politicians can work better together
The UK has been grappling with role and relationship between Secretaries, Ministers and Ministerial offices – here is the latest update...
Eight UK case studies on how to integrate local services. The biggest learning – the need to establish peer learning opportunities for those who do this work in local communities...
UK Civil Service Workforce Plan 2016-2020
More emphasis on specialist groups and on getting diversity (more people from public schools) into the fast track stream; less emphasis on generalist skills...
United Kingdom Labour's policy manifesto. It is worth scanning the comments in each area of government...
Policy Guide - UK Election 2015 - BBC News
A guide to political parties' positions on key issues. Look up what was proposed in your portfolio...