Ursula Brennan
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice
Which events or policies have dominated your attention during 2012, and how have you tackled them?
I have spent my first few months back in the MoJ learning about the changes we are making in our Transforming Justice programme. The biggest challenge on my desk at present is the new justice secretary’s ambitious ‘rehabilitation revolution’, which the department is working hard to deliver. I am proud of the flexibility and professionalism with which MoJ staff have responded to Chris Grayling’s priorities; they have made my return to MoJ all the more fulfilling.
How have the shape and capabilities of your department changed during 2012?
The 2010 Spending Review required MoJ to deliver a 23 per cent reduction in running costs, which was a big challenge to meet – and further challenges have been set since. We’ve already seen layers of management slimmed down in HM Courts and Tribunals Service, National Offender Management Service and HQ. We’ve also got structural changes coming, such as the Legal Services Commission’s transition to the Legal Aid Agency. Despite these reductions in management and significant structural changes, as well as some big reforms in legal aid, we’ve continued to maintain high levels of performance.
Which aspects of the Civil Service Reform Plan are most important to improving the capabilities and operations of your department?
The ‘digital by default’ agenda is important for MoJ. We’ll be redesigning our major services (with over 100,000 transactions). To achieve this we’ve established a specialist Digital Services Division, the first of its kind within a government department, to support digital transformation of our business. Examples include the Legal Services Commission digitising the process to manage claims with solicitors’ firms, and piloting online applications for Lasting Power of Attorney, cutting out a lot of paperwork – and saving lots of trees in the process! We’re continuing to look at all possibilities for digitising our services.
What are the main challenges facing your department in 2013?
The main challenge for us will be delivering the justice secretary’s five major priorities (covering rehabilitation, prisons, youth justice, legal aid and courts) while engaging the energy and innovation of our staff through our Idea Street Programme.
Cracker jokes are notoriously bad. Can you give your colleagues a good joke to tell over the Christmas dinner table?
What’s the grammatically correct term for Santa’s little helpers?
Subordinate Clauses