Author Profile

Dr Malcolm McKibbin

Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service

Permanent Secretary, Department for International Development

Permanent Secretary of Welsh Government

Lin Homer

Chief Executive, HM Revenue and Customs

John Hirst

Chief Executive, Met Office

Sir Paul Jenkins

HM Procurator-General, Treasury Solicitor and Head of the Government Legal Service, Treasury Solicitor’s Department

The 2012 Permanent Secretaries' Round-Up

Sir Bob Kerslake

Head of the Civil Service and Permanent Secretary, Department for Communities and Local Government

Ursula Brennan

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice

Robert Devereux

Permanent Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions

Martin Donnelly

Permanent Secretary, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Simon Fraser

Permanent Secretary, Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Andrew Dilnot, chair of the UK Statistics Authority, told the Public Administration Select Committee last week that he has written “six or seven” letters to departments complaining about the distortion of official statistics.

The commission created to investigate the possible replacement of the Human Rights Act with a UK Bill of Rights has failed to reach unanimous conclusions, it was announced yesterday.

o2 Arena, London

The government’s ICT strategy sets out the coalition’s desire to take smaller bites at the IT pie, testing flavour and minimising indigestion. Civil Service World reports back from a round table debate on how to realise that ambition:

The government has repeatedly come a cropper when outsourcing work, but the number of outsourced projects is only going to grow. Mark Smulian attends a round table on how the civil service can become a shrewder customer

The prime minister has intervened to block the appointment of David Kennedy, the chief executive of the Committee on Climate Change, as the new permanent secretary of the Department for Energy and Climate Change.

A special educational needs teacher considers realistic ambitions, unfair criticisms, and how the EBacc might affect non-academic children.

Vast quantities of information are generated each second, but how can policymakers exploit ‘big data’ to inform their decisions? Ben Willis watched as experts from the worlds of academia, IT and policy tried to make sense of it all

To ensure greater international competitiveness and help boost Britain’s economy in the long term, the Treasury is prioritising investment in infrastructure. Colin Marrs appraises the government’s efforts

In summer 2008, CSW began producing special reports: in-depth investigations based on unique primary research. Here we sketch out five that produced some of our most interesting and newsworthy findings.

Matt Mercer, who edited Whitehall & Westminster World from 2004 to 2008, recalls its launch and sketches out the paper’s development from a niche Whitehall periodical to an influential, UK-wide publication

A veteran voluntary sector worker for a Midlands health charity speaks out

An NHS hospital employee says that reforms are creating a culture of fear about jobs, affecting morale and increasing stress-related illnesses among staff

A plea for sensible policy-making – and more cash

A paediatric epilepsy nurse reveals her worries about job cuts and the power of managers over clinicians.

Much of the reporting of the Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) report on the honours system emphasised our apparent criticism that civil servants get too many honours. But as Dame Mary Marsh, the chair of the State Honours Committee, pointed out when I bumped into her on the day of the report’s launch, honours used to be for rewarding public servants; now they should reward public service. That’s an important distinction.

More honours must be awarded for “exceptional service to the community” and fewer should go to politicians, civil servants and celebrities, the chair of the Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) has told CSW.

Twice before, the Public Administration Select Committee has called for reforms to the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments – but to little avail. Now it’s having another go: Colin Marrs reports on its latest assault.

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Cafcass once helped kids by resolving parental disputes, says one staffer. But now it’s all targets and pointless protection work.

Across government, information technology and procurement professionals are contemplating a dramatic shift in the way IT services are managed. Mark Smulian listens in at a round table on the concept of ‘tower services’

The NHS has improved in recent years, says a midwife – but there are big risks within the next wave of reforms