'I felt like the boy in short trousers': What’s it like to manage people who are decades older than you?
30 Mar HR

'I felt like the boy in short trousers': What’s it like to manage people who are decades older than you?

Taking on challenging leadership roles can be a quick progression route for younger civil servants, but the experience is not always easy. CSW gets the lowdown from officials who’ve been through it
by Susan Allott
AI curiosity and climate change: What a global survey of public officials tells us about 2026’s big issues
11 May Digital, Data & Technology
AI curiosity and climate change: What a global survey of public officials tells us about 2026’s big issues
Director's Cut: Michael Padfield on flexibility, the Horizon scandal and confusing journalists
08 May HR
Director's Cut: Michael Padfield on flexibility, the Horizon scandal and confusing journalists
Director's Cut: Elisabeth Cuthbertson and Lucy Ryan on job-sharing, agility and the importance of trust
27 Apr HR
Director's Cut: Elisabeth Cuthbertson and Lucy Ryan on job-sharing, agility and the importance of trust
‘Sound priorities, undermined by a narrow view of security and aid cuts’: assessing the integrated review
26 Mar 2021 Security & Defence
‘Sound priorities, undermined by a narrow view of security and aid cuts’: assessing the integrated review
The government’s landmark foreign and defence policy review arrived at many of the right conclusions, but UK security could be undermined by a focus on competition when the UK’s leadership could make a bigger difference through cooperation, says Ian Mitchell, the co-director, Europe for the Center for Global Development
Relationship goals: how ministers and civil servants can work together better
25 Mar 2021 Leadership
Relationship goals: how ministers and civil servants can work together better
The relationship between ministers and civil servants is the most important in government. CSW sat down with one former minister and one former permanent secretary to find out how it works in practice
Covid policy lessons: one year on from the UK’s first lockdown, how have other countries faced the crisis?
23 Mar 2021 Coronavirus
Covid policy lessons: one year on from the UK’s first lockdown, how have other countries faced the crisis?
As the NHS performs the difficult balancing act of carrying out a nationwide vaccine rollout while trying to mitigate the spread of new Covid variants, Geoffrey Lyons peers beyond British borders to review five innovative and relatively inexpensive responses to Covid from foreign governments
Conference rooms become testing centres: how DHSC aims to get rapid Covid tests into workplaces
22 Mar 2021 Commercial
Conference rooms become testing centres: how DHSC aims to get rapid Covid tests into workplaces
The National Worker Programme is the latest step in NHS Test and Trace's plan to curb coronavirus transmissions as the economy reopens. Here's what we know about the programme so far, and the work happening behind the scenes.
Notes on Jeremy’s life: Suzanne Heywood remembers the cabinet secretary in songs and policies Exclusive
18 Mar 2021 Civil Service Reform
Notes on Jeremy’s life: Suzanne Heywood remembers the cabinet secretary in songs and policies
Suzanne Heywood’s biography of Jeremy Heywood gives an extraordinary insight into the late cabinet secretary’s time in government and at home. She speaks to Beckie Smith about recording her husband’s life, what he would have made of the coronavirus crisis, and the music he loved
‘I’m in awe of everything civil servants have achieved’: One Civil Service Awards sponsor reflects on a year like no other Sponsored
15 Mar 2021
‘I’m in awe of everything civil servants have achieved’: One Civil Service Awards sponsor reflects on a year like no other
Rhona Parry, Chief Executive Officer of Indesser, sets out why the company is backing the Civil Service Awards
Read the March edition of Civil Service World
15 Mar 2021
Read the March edition of Civil Service World
Inside: How Jeremy Heywood thought, the relationship between ministers and officials from two people who lived it, and what the closure of the government’s performance platform means for transparency
Civil Service Awards: lessons from the innovation award winners
12 Mar 2021
Civil Service Awards: lessons from the innovation award winners
In the first of a series of articles looking in-depth at the winners of the Civil Service Awards, CSW republishes our in-depth examination of the work of the Home Office’s Accelerated Capability Environment, who won the 2020 Innovation Award
Interview: deputy national statistician on legacy tech, lockdowns and a ‘leap forward’ for government’s use of data
11 Mar 2021 Digital, Data & Technology
Interview: deputy national statistician on legacy tech, lockdowns and a ‘leap forward’ for government’s use of data
Alison Pritchard on plans for the 2021 census, ensuring public trust in statistics – and her next epic boat journey
Opinion: DWP should ditch language of welfare and embrace social security
02 Mar 2021 Economy
Opinion: DWP should ditch language of welfare and embrace social security
Coronavirus has revealed the extent to which the country relies on the Department for Work and Pensions. Government should harness this to create a system that meets the challenges from a post-pandemic economy
OUTstanding work: Tom Ketteley on diversity in the civil service and the importance of LGBT+ role models
25 Feb 2021 HR
OUTstanding work: Tom Ketteley on diversity in the civil service and the importance of LGBT+ role models
Tom Ketteley is an assistant director at UK Visas and Immigration who was named in the OUTstanding top 100 LGBT+ future leaders for 2020. He tells CSW about mentoring, diversity in the civil service and why public role models are important
‘Zeroing in on the art of the possible’: inside the government’s innovation engine
23 Feb 2021 Civil Service Reform
‘Zeroing in on the art of the possible’: inside the government’s innovation engine
A Home Office unit focused on innovative ways to solve problems is attracting a lot of attention across government. Richard Johnstone took a look inside the Accelerated Capability Environment to find out more
Opinion: How government can help make Aria sing
23 Feb 2021
Opinion: How government can help make Aria sing
The government’s new research agency needs the freedom to set its own mission, says former Downing Street adviser Daniel Korski
In the spotlight: Treasury’s public spending chief Cat Little on how Covid changed the finance ministry – and ministerial red boxes
23 Feb 2021 Coronavirus
In the spotlight: Treasury’s public spending chief Cat Little on how Covid changed the finance ministry – and ministerial red boxes
After an extraordinary year, Cat Little reflects on how the Treasury and government finance function met the pressures of a pandemic with innovation
‘Recognise the opportunity’: departments urged to use procurement to build social value
22 Feb 2021 Commercial
‘Recognise the opportunity’: departments urged to use procurement to build social value
Central government departments and other public sector bodies can use their procurement powers to help build social value. Charlene Maginnis from the Crown Commercial Service sets out some tips on how to go about it
Dave Penman: Why the FDA launched a judicial review over PM’s support for Patel
22 Feb 2021 HR
Dave Penman: Why the FDA launched a judicial review over PM’s support for Patel
Boris Johnson’s backing for the home secretary despite evidence of bullying means ministers now have to meet a lower standard of conduct than civil servants. This can’t go unchallenged
February 2021 CSW digital issue available to read
22 Feb 2021
February 2021 CSW digital issue available to read
Exclusive interviews with Cat Little, a look inside government’s innovation engine, and lessons from Singapore
Dave Penman: Lessons from HMRC’s groundbreaking pay deal
12 Feb 2021 HR
Dave Penman: Lessons from HMRC’s groundbreaking pay deal
The new pay package from HMRC shows a department that is setting the pace in pay and reward for civil servants. Other departments should hurry to catch up
Brexit from the inside: ministers and officials reflect on the path to exit
01 Feb 2021 Brexit
Brexit from the inside: ministers and officials reflect on the path to exit
UK in a Changing Europe’s newly launched witness archive opens a window into how Brexit happened, revealing the internal rows and shaken institutions in Whitehall. Jill Rutter shares the details
Opinion: What government cuts to the overseas aid budget mean for Global Britain
27 Jan 2021 Brexit
Opinion: What government cuts to the overseas aid budget mean for Global Britain
Dr Philip A. Berry and Dr Joe Devanny argue that Boris Johnson has overturned 15 years of Conservative Party policy on development aid and, in the process, has moved towards a narrower, meaner vision of ‘Global Britain’.
Was 2020 a watershed for public sector use of algorithms?
25 Jan 2021 Digital, Data & Technology
Was 2020 a watershed for public sector use of algorithms?
Last year saw public protests about the use of predictive analytics in decision making. As the technology becomes more widely used in many public services, Sam Trendall asks experts about the implications for government, the law – and the citizens affected
22 Jan 2021 Finance
WATCH: Planning for the year ahead: What you need to know now for the 2021 Spending Review
After the government implemented a one-year spending review due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Treasury and departments are already turning their sights to a full three-year review in 2021. This webinar with Oracle examines how the government will be making major spending decisions.
Closing argument: ex-legal chief Jonathan Jones on Brexit, Covid and leaving government
21 Jan 2021 Brexit
Closing argument: ex-legal chief Jonathan Jones on Brexit, Covid and leaving government
Jonathan Jones’s three-decade civil service career came to an abrupt end in September when he quit over controversial elements of the internal market bill. The government’s former top lawyer tells Beckie Smith about his departure, cocktail recipes, and the legal side of the Covid crisis
‘Government could support councils with innovation and risk-taking’
20 Jan 2021 Coronavirus
‘Government could support councils with innovation and risk-taking’
Local authority and industry leaders discuss the impact of the last year, and how Whitehall can help ‘share the risk’ of transformation