Mark Sedwill
Permanent Secretary of the Home Office
What were your biggest police and delivery challenges in 2013? How did you handle them?
It would be difficult to answer this question without a reference to the reintegration of the UK Border Agency into the Home Office. This has significantly changed the structure of the department with the creation of two new operational commands, each with very different objectives and requiring very different cultures.
However, there have been many other challenges and, with these, a significant number of successes we can be proud of. Crime continues to fall, reflecting the daily dedication of almost 150,000 police and community support officers and the work of Home Office staff. Notwithstanding the ghastly murder of Drummer Rigby, we have had a remarkable track record of preventing terrorist attacks on the UK. The deportation of Abu Qatada, a highlight of 2013, demonstrated to extremists everywhere our relentless determination to bring them to justice. And whilst the immmigration system remains our ‘headline issue’, we are on track to deliver consistent competence within it.
Where have you made the most progress in implementing the CS Reform Plan and what are your priorities for 2014?
We are transforming the enabling functions that the Home Office provides to our operational and policy delivery teams from the fragile, fragmented and old-fashioned systems we inherited to a resilient, integrated and modern platform. And we will deliver this with half the resources in 2020 that we had in 2010 – a daunting agenda.
Alongside the progress the department continues to make, I believe a cross-government priority for 2014 is to restore faith in civil service reform. Somewhat inevitably, the topic of reform has become a negative conversation about terms and conditions. We must remind staff of the positives reform will bring – modernised workplaces, with more focus on career development and up-skilling.
What are your key challenges in the last year of the Parliament? How will you tackle them?
In the age of austerity, the digital era, and with public confidence fragile, the Home Office faces more critical scrutiny from Parliament and the media than most departments. This is largely because we have the most challenging and controversial job in government. Whilst this attention is unlikely to disappear, by becoming more streamlined, digital and professional we will restore the public’s faith in the Home Office as a great department of state, capable of achieving our mission to cut crime, reduce immigration and prevent terrorism. No job in public service is more important.
What would you most like Santa to bring you this year? And what should he take away?
This year I would like Santa to bring another hour each day. And what would I like him to take away? Commuting!