A civil servant who organised the first ever court trial with a deaf juror and a Grief Cafe described by participating officials as a "lifeline" are among the winners of the 2023 Civil Service Awards.
Twelve teams and individuals collected accolades at a glitzy ceremony at Lancaster House last night, recognising the wealth of inspirational people and innovative projects within the civil service.
Ministry of Justice official Maria Loizou-Griggs won the Cabinet Secretary’s Outstanding Leader Award for her “initiative to work with the juror, interpreters and HQ teams to pull together guidance, that has since been shared nationwide, ensuring it was fit for purpose for the court and future jurors and interpreters”. The juror and interpreters praised “the exemplary preparation and support provided and couldn’t fault the arrangements put in place”.
The Food Standards Agency won the Developing and Supportive People Award for its work on the Grief Cafe, which began with just two people having a coffee and connecting over grief, and has now grown to 3,000 people on the mailing list and reached 96 departments and agencies.
At the cafe, participants talk about types of bereavement, types of grief, say their loved ones' name, and create a safe space to talk about their grief. Participants have called it a "lifeline" and great space for support.
Another of the winners was the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s digital comms team, which picked up the Delivering for Citizens Award for creating, launching and managing the live queue tracker for Her Majesty The Queen’s Lying-in-State.
The DCMS comms team was also nominated for the Prime Minister’s Award for Exceptional Public Service. That award went to Martin Harvey of the Department for Work and Pensions, whose work has helped to support over 1,600 patients back into work.
Nevertheless, DCMS was the only department to bring home two awards, with its Eurovision 2023 Team winning the Collaboration Award.
Here is the list of Civil Service Awards winners in full:
Excellence in Delivery Award – Warm Scots Welcome Programme, Scottish Government
Programme of the Year Award – Local Land Charges Programme, HM Land Registry
Diversity and Inclusion Award – Anti-racist Wales Plan Policy Team, Welsh Government
Best Use of Data, Science, and Technology Award – GOV.UK One Login, Cabinet Office
Creative Solutions Award – SARI Data Studio, HM Revenue and Customs
Developing and Supporting People Award – Grief Cafe, Food Standards Agency
Delivering for Citizens Award – DCMS Digital Communications Team, Department for Culture, Media and Support
Collaboration Award – Eurovision 2023 Team, DCMS
Evaluation and Analysis Award – Connectivity and Planning, Department for Transport
Rising Star Award – Patrick Gilligan, Companies House
Cabinet Secretary’s Outstanding Leader Award – Maria Loizou-Griggs, Ministry of Justice
Prime Minister’s Award for Exceptional Public Service – Martin Harvey, Department for Work and Pensions