Permanent secretary, Home Office
In a year of political and economic change, what was your highlight of 2010?
The highlight was preparing for, and then being ready for, the new government. It’s a very big moment for the civil service when there’s a new government: that’s when I think departments are most tested. So the highlight, in a way, was being ready and doing a good job when we greeted the new home secretary.
What is the biggest opportunity that coalition policies have created for the civil service?
One thing that has happened with the coalition is that, because there are two parties in government now, there have to be discussions; the process of decision-taking has to be very orderly. That means there has been a premium on providing proper evidence, providing proper papers and supporting the committee structures which take the decisions, so actually I think there is an opportunity for the civil service to make sure that government works in a very orderly fashion.
What is the most challenging management task facing the civil service now?
Maintaining the service we offer to the public and to ministers while cutting our resources – in the Home Office’s case, by 23 per cent. That’s probably the biggest challenge that civil servants could ever face.
And what’s the key to succeeding in that task?
I think it will involve very good planning, a willingness to reshape and redesign services rather than just making efficiencies – not just slicing things off the top, but actually redesigning those services – and communicating (and communicating and communicating) with our staff and involving them in those processes.
What was the best Christmas present that you’ve ever given or received? And the worst?
Now this dates me, but my best Christmas present was a record player. Only some of your readers will know about Dansettes – everybody had a Dansette record player in the 1960s. You could get ten 45s set up on the player and they used to play one by one, or sometimes they all crashed down… They came in bright red, bright purple, bright green; mine was bright green. That was what everybody wanted – everybody was aiming to have a Dansette, particularly as you were coming into your teenage years.
The worst? I don't know, I might duck that one – I 've always liked my Christmas presents...