'We’re attempting something that has never been achieved anywhere': Mission head Richard Clarke talks safer streets
24 Apr Justice & Home Affairs

'We’re attempting something that has never been achieved anywhere': Mission head Richard Clarke talks safer streets

As safer streets director general in the Home Office, Richard Clarke is the senior responsible officer for the ambitious street safety agenda. He tells CSW what it felt like to take on the role, how the mission is working, and what he does to switch off
by Civil Service World
'Everyone felt they had a stake in it': The award-winning programme that brought 4G to remote corners of Scotland
25 Apr Digital, Data & Technology
'Everyone felt they had a stake in it': The award-winning programme that brought 4G to remote corners of Scotland
Surfacing the deep: Peter Hennessy’s work as ‘historian and horizon scanner’
23 Apr
Surfacing the deep: Peter Hennessy’s work as ‘historian and horizon scanner’
'Compassion is cost effective': How the third sector is driving success in high-profile government contracts
16 Apr Commercial
'Compassion is cost effective': How the third sector is driving success in high-profile government contracts
‘The opportunity to have organisations of all types publishing data to common standards is really exciting’: why stats regulators' new award matters
21 Oct 2020 Analysis
‘The opportunity to have organisations of all types publishing data to common standards is really exciting’: why stats regulators' new award matters
The first ever award to recognise the voluntary application of the Office for Statistics Regulation code has been awarded jointly to MHCLG and the Scottish Fiscal Commission, with UCAS named highly commended.
Interview: UK national statistician on how data has helped government – and the public – in coronavirus response
20 Oct 2020 Coronavirus
Interview: UK national statistician on how data has helped government – and the public – in coronavirus response
To mark World Statistics Day, Professor Sir Ian Diamond reveals how the work of statisticians has been crucial in supporting government’s pandemic response, as well as his thoughts on the media and politicians’ use of numbers
LISTEN: Government commercial chief Gareth Rhys Williams on the procurement challenges of Covid Exclusive
14 Oct 2020 Commercial
LISTEN: Government commercial chief Gareth Rhys Williams on the procurement challenges of Covid
The government’s top commercial official speaks to CSW about the pressures, and lessons, from the government’s response to coronavirus
Opinion: Dominic Cummings is keen to make the UK a technology superpower. He should change procurement rules to make it happen
13 Oct 2020 Commercial
Opinion: Dominic Cummings is keen to make the UK a technology superpower. He should change procurement rules to make it happen
Innovation is stifled by public sector procurement rules. Brexit, and the Integrated Review, offer a chance to change that, says Simon Harwood, the head of defence and security at Cranfield University
‘There’s burnout we need to watch for’: civil servants reflect on the impact of coronavirus and home working
09 Oct 2020 Coronavirus
‘There’s burnout we need to watch for’: civil servants reflect on the impact of coronavirus and home working
Top civil service officials have spoken to Civil Service World about what working from home and uncertainty during Covid-19 has meant for their people
'The best thing was being treated like an adult from day one': what it's like to join the care leavers internship programme
08 Oct 2020
'The best thing was being treated like an adult from day one': what it's like to join the care leavers internship programme
Danielle June shares her reflections on the Care Leavers Internship as applications open for 2020.
Opinion: The UK’s post-Brexit role in the world should be digital
06 Oct 2020 Brexit
Opinion: The UK’s post-Brexit role in the world should be digital
Championing and developing progress in digital government across the globe could place the UK at the heart of global networks, say Tanya Filer and Antonio Weiss
“Covid has accelerated the move to online”: How the new normal is changing UK regulation
02 Oct 2020 Coronavirus
“Covid has accelerated the move to online”: How the new normal is changing UK regulation
As part of a series of roundtable discussions, Civil Service World and Hitachi Solutions examined the ways in which the pandemic has changed how regulators work and the sectors they oversee. Geoffrey Lyons reports
28 Sep 2020 Justice & Home Affairs
As a black civil servant, I want to talk about ‘allyship’ in the fight against racism
The murder of George Floyd and the subsequent global protests have seen many white people declare themselves allies in the fight against racism, in workplaces like the civil service and beyond. But, in these personal reflections, one official asks: what does this mean in practice?
‘The importance of diversity at senior levels is the difference of perspective’: reflections on working in the civil service with a disability
18 Sep 2020 HR
‘The importance of diversity at senior levels is the difference of perspective’: reflections on working in the civil service with a disability
In the first of a series of articles about disability and working in the civil service, Alistair Watters, the director of the Grenfell site and programme at Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, talks about his own experience in both the private and public sector and what needs to happen to build candidates’ confidence that their disability won’t count against them.
DfID was one of government’s most data savvy departments. Preserving these skills will be a test of Whitehall reform
17 Sep 2020 Civil Service Reform
DfID was one of government’s most data savvy departments. Preserving these skills will be a test of Whitehall reform
DfID used data and analysis in a way that few other departments manage – and in a way that the government is keen to expand. How this is nurtured in the new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will be a key lesson
Opinion: government environment bodies felt austerity hard. The Covid recovery is a chance to rebound
16 Sep 2020 Coronavirus
Opinion: government environment bodies felt austerity hard. The Covid recovery is a chance to rebound
The legacy of government austerity is still felt by many agencies in government, writes Nick Kirsop-Taylor of the University of Exeter. But the government’s aim for the recovery from Covid gives them a chance to build back better too
‘He lived and breathed joined-up government’: the civil service life and times of Mark Sedwill Exclusive
09 Sep 2020 Leadership
‘He lived and breathed joined-up government’: the civil service life and times of Mark Sedwill
As the cabinet secretary stands down after more than 30 years in the civil service, CSW asks people who have worked with him: who is Sir Mark Sedwill?
Wise counsel: Government legal chief Jonathan Jones on prorogation, Brexit, and surviving ‘grim moments’ Exclusive
08 Sep 2020 Legal
Wise counsel: Government legal chief Jonathan Jones on prorogation, Brexit, and surviving ‘grim moments’
Laying the ground for Brexit against a backdrop of political uncertainty has taken the Government Legal Department into uncharted territory, with no let up from its normal duties. Perm sec and Treasury solicitor Sir Jonathan Jones tells Beckie Smith about the tasks at hand
Interview: Royal Statistical Society chief Stian Westlake on Covid-19, the A-Level row, and his ‘very geeky’ favourite stat
04 Sep 2020 Civil Service Reform
Interview: Royal Statistical Society chief Stian Westlake on Covid-19, the A-Level row, and his ‘very geeky’ favourite stat
If the government has learned one thing from Ofqual's handling of A-Level results, it's that transparency is critical to quality and public trust, the former spad tells Beckie Smith.
LISTEN: HMRC second perm sec Angela MacDonald on Covid-19, customer service and the challenges to come Exclusive
02 Sep 2020 Coronavirus
LISTEN: HMRC second perm sec Angela MacDonald on Covid-19, customer service and the challenges to come
CSW chats to HMRC deputy chief exec Angela MacDonald to get the inside story of the department's role in the government’s coronavirus response, and what it was like to switch jobs in a pandemic.
Slated for success: DfE perm sec Jonathan Slater on delivery, directions and dancing
27 Aug 2020 Education
Slated for success: DfE perm sec Jonathan Slater on delivery, directions and dancing

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
In the line of fire: Departing cabinet secretary Mark Sedwill on civil service reform, the Covid response, and being briefed against Exclusive
10 Aug 2020 Civil Service Reform
In the line of fire: Departing cabinet secretary Mark Sedwill on civil service reform, the Covid response, and being briefed against
As Sir Mark Sedwill prepares to leave a job he never asked for, he reflects on the highs and lows of being cabinet secretary
It's not the plan, but the planning: leadership tips from the coronavirus response
04 Aug 2020 Coronavirus
It's not the plan, but the planning: leadership tips from the coronavirus response
Leadership in the current crisis is about recognising changed circumstances, trusting your people and neutralising uncertainty by embracing the reality of it, says The Whitehall & Industry Group chief executive Simon Ancona
27 Jul 2020 Education
Policy in Focus: Access and Participation Plan targets for universities
How do universities' plans to improve access from under-represented groups work, and what impact will Covid-19 have on them?
Inside HMRC’s coronavirus response: Jim Harra on how the furlough scheme was created in a month Exclusive
17 Jul 2020 Coronavirus
Inside HMRC’s coronavirus response: Jim Harra on how the furlough scheme was created in a month
In an exclusive interview, HMRC's chief executive reveals how the department set up some of the biggest schemes in government history in the middle of a global pandemic
Living in the dark: the truth about special advisers
03 Jun 2020 HR
Living in the dark: the truth about special advisers

Shaped by several high-profile instances where the adviser became the story, the public image of spads is largely negative. But have a few notable characters distorted the reality of those who work behind the scenes? Sebastian Whale investigates
Technology can help local government respond to COVID-19 Sponsored
02 Jun 2020 Operational Delivery
Technology can help local government respond to COVID-19

PA Consulting's David Rees writes that while technology is not a complete solution, it can support those most in need
How the DVSA uses AI and agile to support ‘a lifetime of driving’
21 May 2020 Civil Service Reform
How the DVSA uses AI and agile to support ‘a lifetime of driving’

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has already done a great deal of work implementing technology across its operations. But digital chief Alex Fiddes tells Sam Trendall it has even bigger ambitions