Author Profile

Andrew Manley, chief executive of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, looks after the MoD’s £23bn estate – and he’s pushing through one of the most ambitious reform programmes in government. Matt Ross meets him

The MoD reforms make sense; the carrier cuts do not

The Ministry of Defence’s land and property management arm, the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), is working on a plan to radically shrink its estate through land sales, its chief executive Andrew Manley has said in an interview with CSW. Manley is also close to tendering for a commercial partner for DIO, in a move that will bring in estates development and sales skills to help the ministry get the best possible price for its asse

Open public services must improve quality, not just cut costs

DCMS permanent secretary Jonathan Stephens runs a small department with the job of helping people have fun. But Matt Ross learns that, these days, DCMS is focused on the serious business of earning money for UK plc

L’autre pied

www.lautrepied.co.uk

5-7 Blandford St, London W1U 3DB

For years, departments have been free to purchase training as they see fit – but from 1 April, they’ll have to buy it through Civil Service Learning’s new ‘gateway’. Matt Ross examines a contentious and substantial reform

The repeated funding scandals must be tackled at their roots, says Matt Ross

The PM should renew his vow to avoid organisational change

The IT industry likes the government’s direction of travel, its trade association’s public sector director Sureyya Cansoy tells Matt Ross – but businesses will be happier still when the coalition’s activity turns into real progress

Select committees are looking for a proper argument

British Waterways chief Robin Evans has spent years campaigning for the public corporation to become a charitable trust. He tells Matt Ross why our canals are set to thrive outside the illusory security of government ownership

Ministers must champion the public potential of private cash

Leading Tory thinker Nick Boles has challenged the government’s immigration cap, arguing that the policy threatens the ability of Britain’s universities to contribute to economic growth.

Nick Boles is a key Tory thinker: a man who devised many flagship policies and prepared his party for government. But Matt Ross finds him refreshingly straight-talking as he discusses politics, policymaking and the civil service.

Officials must fulfil their duty to challenge poor policies

The recent gains in the diversity of the civil service may slip back this year, former senior civil servant and London mayoral candidate Siobhan Benita has warned.

The NHS reforms set out in the government’s Health and Social Care Bill are “disrupting and distracting” the effort to make £20bn of savings over the next four years, according to a critical report published yesterday by the Commons Health Committee.

The new leaders of the civil service are to tighten up corporate leadership with the creation of a Civil Service Board, the head of the civil service Sir Bob Kerslake has told CSW.

The incoming cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, Jeremy Heywood and Bob Kerslake, are taking on their new jobs at a time of unprecedented financial, policy and political challenges. Matt Ross meets them.

After 15 years in the civil service – including a stint as the cabinet secretary’s communications chief – Siobhan Benita is making the leap into politics. Matt Ross meets the would-be London mayor as she kicks off her campaign.

In 2000, Tim Kelsey launched the private business Dr Foster to produce a league table on hospital performance. Now he’s been hired by the PM to push the transparency agenda throughout Whitehall. Matt Ross meets him.

Treasury Solicitor Paul Jenkins is the permanent secretary champion for equality and diversity. His motivations are very personal but, as he tells Matt Ross, the strongest arguments for equality are rooted in business success.

A city planner working in a tough part of the North warns that coalition plans may undermine wider regeneration aims in a dash for instant cash.

As the cuts bite, areas that are heavily dependent on public sector jobs are suffering. Matt Ross meets Sir Ian Wrigglesworth, who’s just helped hand out a billion quid to support private sector investment in these areas.

The National Audit Office has almost untrammelled access to departments, providing a fascinating window on Whitehall. NAO chief Amyas Morse tells Matt Ross that the view is one of vast, complex and irreversible change.

If opposition to the cuts turns into mass protest, the government will need the police at its side – but as things stand, panicking ministers dialling 999 are likely to receive quite a grumpy response. Matt Ross reports

Since the election, education secretary Michael Gove has driven his department at breakneck pace. And the DfE is already producing results, permanent secretary David Bell tells Matt Ross – despite the odd stumble on the way.

Richard Thomas chairs the body that scrutinises all the government's systems of appeals and complaints, the AJTC. But now it faces the axe – and he’s making his own appeal, arguing for its survival. Matt Ross reports.

Richard Thomas chairs the body that scrutinises all the government's systems of appeals and complaints, the AJTC. But now it faces the axe – and he’s making his own appeal, arguing for its survival. Matt Ross reports.

A London youth worker warns that cuts to services will further disenfranchise an alienated generation.

Sir Bob Kerslake has a record of taking tough jobs just as they get still tougher, and that’s certainly true of his arrival at the DCLG. He tells Matt Ross about localism, budget cuts, policy reform – and the threats to morale

Recent policy U-turns seem to have got civil servants thinking about their duty to question poor decisions – even when that means challenging a minister. Matt Ross hears top officials exhort them to stick to their guns.

This government has made a lot of noise about its commitment to transparency. But Matt Ross hears key figures complaining that much of the public sector data published so far has been pretty much useless.