Author Profile

Moving to the education department brought Jonathan Slater back to a policy area he knows and loves. He speaks to Suzannah Brecknell about his key role in helping the frontline function

Mumdood Passa wins emerging leader award from The Whitehall and Industry Group for his work helping a small charity supporting pregnant women in Kenya

As he starts a new job as Cabinet Office permanent secretary and civil service chief operating officer, Alex Chisholm talks to Suzannah Brecknell about his priorities for reform across government and what he’s learnt from an eventful stint leading the business department

As she settles in to a new job at her old department, Sarah Healey, permanent secretary at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, tells Suzannah Brecknell what it was like to return and why she wants to build more connections across the organisation

Former officials have an increasingly public role in national debate – is that always a good thing? Suzannah Brecknell explores how retired mandarins balance their duty to contribute to the public discourse with the self-enforced code of caution

As the Government Finance Function launches its first five-year strategy, CSW reports from a workshop hosted to consider some of the challenges ahead

Suzannah Brecknell breaks bread with acclaimed documentary maker and Whitehall watcher Michael Cockerell

Philip Rycroft has spent much of his career working on devolution – the biggest force for change in the UK’s government until the EU referendum. He led the Department for Exiting the European Union from 2017 to the end of March this year, helping government try to deliver the result of that referendum. Suzannah Brecknell caught up with him to find out more about why that’s been so hard, and what Brexit means for devolution. 

As politicians return to the table to discuss the re-establishment of power-sharing in Northern Ireland, Suzannah Brecknell talks to David Sterling, head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, on civil service impartiality in the absence of ministers and the bruising RHI inquiry. Photography by Kelvin Boyes

The absence of ministers since the collapse of Stormont’s power sharing in early 2017 hasn’t stopped health service leaders in Northern Ireland from pushing forward their transformation agenda. Health department perm sec Richard Pengelly tells Suzannah Brecknell about driving change through shared leadership, hard work, and difficult discussions

As she steps down from the Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport, perm sec Dame Sue Owen talks to Suzannah Brecknell about abrasive behaviours, existential crises, and why she’s no longer planning a sybaritic retirement. Photography by Louise Heywood-Schiefer

The outgoing chief executive of The Whitehall & Industry Group – and a former senior civil servant in several departments – sits down with Suzannah Brecknell to discuss international negotiations, super departments, and the perils of hierarchies

The former permanent secretary of the culture department chews the fat with Suzannah Brecknell

Former cabinet secretary Lord Andrew Turnbull shares his reflections, and a lunch, with Suzannah Brecknell

Elizabeth Gardiner, the first parliamentary counsel, leads the team that writes the UK’s legislation. She tells Suzannah Brecknell what makes a good bill, how departments can help, and what Brexit will mean for those who craft the law of the land

A group established to improve correspondence between Parliament and the civil service shows that all processes can be improved by building human connections

The annual awards ceremony celebrating diversity work across government will take place in October

The first woman to become a private secretary to the prime minister shares her recollections of Thatcher, the Treasury and the Next Steps Unit with Suzannah Brecknell. Photography by Louise Haywood-Schiefer

At the first Civil Service World leadership lecture, Defra permanent secretary Clare Moriarty shared the four principles that inform her leadership style. Suzannah Brecknell reports

John Manzoni announces launch of “success profiles”, which will allow managers to recruit on past experience as well as competency-based framework

As seven years of public sector pay restraint come slowly – and unevenly – to an end, Suzannah Brecknell meets the Office for Manpower Economics, the team helping pay review bodies and departments navigate new terrain

The sacking of Nick Hardwick as chair of the Parole Board has raised questions about the future of the body – including how ministers will be able to find a successor, says Suzannah Brecknell

A project aimed at measuring the legitimacy of government revealed some lessons for politicians and civil servants alike. Suzannah Brecknell considers how to improve the connection between the governing and governed

Stephen Lovegrove plans to ‘adjust operating model’ of the MoD as he sets out need to make tough decisions and ensure UK’s broad and strong military capability

Officials should seek formal directions when politicians set unrealistic timelines for commissioning, says boss of outsourcing giant