Outgoing cabinet secretary Simon Case has paid tribute to officials across the counry whose committment and service is "an antidote to cynicism".
Speaking at an event hosted by the Strand Group, part of King’s College London's Policy Institute, Case also emphasised the need to balance continuity with change so that the civil service is “viewed as an integral part of the journey ahead, rather than through the rear-view mirror.”
“Whilst continuity keeps us grounded in our past,” he said, “to stay relevant and useful, the change required will have to come at a pace far beyond anything we have achieved before. A common commitment to collective change is vital.”
The cabinet secretary, who will step down on 16 December, used his final lecture in post to describe eight officials who exemplify the best traits of the civil service.
The portraits, he said, show the civil service seizing opportunity, protecting impartiality and acting with selflessness. “They are inspirational, connected, innovative, responsive and committed,” he said. “And above all, like so many others here tonight, they are passionate about public service.”
“As long as we keep hiring people with these characteristics, and can persuade them to stay in the organisation, I shall remain optimistic about the future of the civil service and the country we serve,” he added. “It’s through people like this that the civil service creates impact and re-earns its right to exist.
“And for those who are cynical about public service, or war-weary about whether government can help solve the major challenges we face as a nation – I offer these civil servants as a human antidote.”
Case described how the civil service is “in part and with others” the steward of “core essentials for our nation and its citizens” – economic growth, public services, preservation of the Union, the rule of law and maintenance of strong defences.
“To be those stewards – better stewards – we must remain relentlessly curious; improve our skills and knowledge, particularly in science and technology, and be open to changing how we design and deliver public services.
But we must also make sure that we represent the vital, enduring values of the UK and be the constant, at times of political turnover and transition – whether in rapid or slower time.”
The civil servants described by Case were also at the lecture, and were given a round of applause by an audience of officials, former officials, academics and policy-watchers. The cabinet secretary said of the need for change: “We are not asking the civil service to be things it cannot be. These eight portraits already show us that what we need to be is quite possible.”
Portraits of a profession: the eight officials recognised by Case
The cabinet secretary’s portraits began with Bec, who joined DSTL working in its staff nursery and then seized the opportunity to become an apprentice – she is now working towards a degree level qualification. Case said he is “immensely proud” of the apprenticeship programme of which Bec is part.
“We are prioritising future skills, and plugging gaps: in science, tech, digital and data; in cyber security, engineering and project delivery,” he said, adding: “We created this opportunity – Bec seized it, and made us better for it.”
The second portrait, exemplifying the need to protect impartiality, was of Ruby – a Home Office civil servant who worked on the controversial Rwanda scheme. While experiencing the discomfort of becoming “lightning-rods for controversy even amongst our own colleagues”, Ruby and her team “correctly recognised the right of ministers to explore innovative and deeply controversial – as in this case – solutions,” said Case.
He praised her “no-nonense and can-do attitude” and urged colleagues across the civil service to follow this example. “Despite the increasing temptation, amid the agitation and kerfuffle of politics today, we must avoid becoming the arbiters of legitimate debate in a democratic society – and stick to our core task,” he said.
The third portrait was of Clarice, winner of the 2022 Prime Minister’s Award for Exceptional Public Service, who exemplified selflessness in her service. “Clarice does not wear a uniform,” Case said “but in Ukraine’s courageous military fightback against Putin’s relentless and spiralling aggression, she’s made an enormous personal difference to the frontline.”
Case described how Clarice’s work with the Ukraine Taskforce was “motivated not by public glory, but by mission and public service” – like the work of many other civil servants supporting military and other colleagues in this effort.
Next, Case described Richard, who joined the civil service through the DWP’s Life Chances scheme and now works in a Doncaster job centre to support ex-offenders like himself.
Richard’s “very complicated background – prison, homelessness, long periods of addiction – became a source of strength,” Case said, adding that it is “an honour to work alongside him, I am so impressed by his courage and pride.”
“His is an inspiring story,” Case said. “It’s someone taking control of their life and changing their destiny. And the civil service recognising his determination and passion, and giving him the platform to help others.”
The fifth portrait, of former Fast Streamer Eloise who now works in Cumbria heading up a team overseeing £200m worth of government investment into Barrow-in-Furness.
“She is embedded in the area she serves – embodying the idea that we do a better job when we have people designing policies and focusing on places where they themselves have roots,” Case said.
This approach, he said is “in stark contrast to the old model of civil servants clustered in London like iron filings stuck to the Whitehall magnet – a model which must be consigned to history.”
Eloise is from the area, he noted, which means “she has the inside track on how to make the connections and open up the opportunities that are desperately needed there”. Working in the place she knows and loves “is the best use of her connections, her skills – and reflects the direction of the civil service: putting our brilliant people in the midst of the communities they know so well.”
Next Case described “arch-innovator” Rory, who is helping to drive the expansion of AI use across the NHS. This expansion brings many benefits, Case noted, and is “happening in a regulated way – as a collaboration between clinicians, software engineers, data scientists and product designers, with a careful eye on information governance.”
Rory’s priority, he continued, is “to generate and evaluate” evidence which will build confidence among medics and the public that “AI is a safe, ethical and effective tool, which can help make the NHS more efficient and bring down waiting lists.”
“Adopting the latest technology is nothing new for the civil service,” Case noted, recalling that some in the room would remember the days of typing pools and that when he himself first started out, "emails were still pretty new”.
AI brings many possibilities in healthcare and across government, he said: “We must embrace this change if we are to meet the demands on public services – and it is people like Rory, who are leading the way.”
The seventh portrait was of Sara, exemplifying the way in which the civil service can respond to crises.
Sara managed a team of 60 officials to run 80 quarantine hotels in the North West during Operation Pitting which evacutated around 15,000 British nationals and eligible Afghans from Afghanistan in August 2021.
“They were arriving thick and fast with absolutely nothing – no possessions and often no money,” Case said, adding that “on Op Pitting, it sometimes felt to Sara as if her team were making up new ideas at 4am, each morning. But their creativity was working. They got feedback to say they were providing ‘gold standard’ care.”
“I’d love to bottle that spirit,” the cabinet secretary said.
Case’s final portrait was of Rizwan, another winner of the Prime Minister’s Award for Exceptional Public Service, who manages 18 JobCentres in South East London and exemplifies the committed nature of the civil service.
Rizwan began working in the area in 2013, Case said, “and over a decade on he remains hard at work in the community where he started – promoting people’s life chances with the employers whom he has been ringing up, looking for opportunities, for years.
“He won the prime minister’s award for encouraging his teams to get over five and a half thousand young people onto the Covid-era Kickstart programme in just six months,” Case said. “It meant 16- to 24-year-olds on Universal Credit had a vital leg-up onto the job ladder.
“Six new Job Centres opened their doors, and more than 1,000 new work coaches were recruited and trained to get people into a job and stay in it. His results were the best at district level in the UK.”