‘This is a human crisis’ – MPs shine light on Civil Service Pension Scheme failures
05 Feb Digital, Data & Technology

‘This is a human crisis’ – MPs shine light on Civil Service Pension Scheme failures

MPs share impact of missed pension payments and demand further action
by Tevye Markson
'Greater candour makes for stronger recommendations': Q&As with committee chairs
03 Feb Education
'Greater candour makes for stronger recommendations': Q&As with committee chairs
'I promoted flexible working like a campaigner': What I learnt driving inclusivity in the civil service
02 Feb Civil Service Reform
'I promoted flexible working like a campaigner': What I learnt driving inclusivity in the civil service
Give those you lead what they need: How to be an emotionally intelligent leader
30 Jan Analysis
Give those you lead what they need: How to be an emotionally intelligent leader
Going, going, gong: Five minutes with King's birthday honours recipient Mel Cooper
10 Oct 2025 Security & Defence
Going, going, gong: Five minutes with King's birthday honours recipient Mel Cooper
Cooper received an OBE for services to the armed forces in Kent, recognising her work as an armed forces champion at DWP and her commitment to military charities.
Going, going, gong: Five minutes with King's birthday honours recipient Ruth Marshall
09 Oct 2025
Going, going, gong: Five minutes with King's birthday honours recipient Ruth Marshall
Marshall, head of futures capability at the Government Office for Science, received an MBE for services to evidence-based policymaking and innovation
'I’ve always looked for both intellectual and emotional engagement': Interview with DBS’s new boss Jeff James
09 Oct 2025 Leadership
'I’ve always looked for both intellectual and emotional engagement': Interview with DBS’s new boss Jeff James
Disclosure and Barring Service chief exec Jeff James talks to Tevye Markson about social purpose, flexible working and football
Going, going, gong: Five minutes with King's birthday honours recipient Jolene Cook
08 Oct 2025 Energy & Environment
Going, going, gong: Five minutes with King's birthday honours recipient Jolene Cook
DESNZ’s head of international climate science received an OBE for services to international climate science
Select few: Q&As with committee chairs
07 Oct 2025 Energy & Environment
Select few: Q&As with committee chairs
Select committee chairs play a critical role in holding departments to account. Meg Hillier, Lord Alton, Matt Western and Toby Perkins tell us the top skills the role requires and their priorities for the year ahead
'Being a leader isn’t about becoming great at everything': Civil service reform DG Janet Hughes sets out her priorities
01 Oct 2025 Civil Service Reform
'Being a leader isn’t about becoming great at everything': Civil service reform DG Janet Hughes sets out her priorities
Hughes, who became Cabinet Office DG for civil service reform and efficiency in June, on bringing the spirit of One Team Gov to her new role, test and learn and growing veg
The Best Start early years programme is being compared to Sure Start. Are the comparisons warranted?
29 Sep 2025 Education
The Best Start early years programme is being compared to Sure Start. Are the comparisons warranted?
The government launched its Best Start in Life strategy this summer. CSW asks the experts if comparisons to Sure Start are valid, and whether Best Start might equal the success of its predecessor
Read the autumn 2025 issue of Civil Service World
23 Sep 2025
Read the autumn 2025 issue of Civil Service World
Can government break the link between background and opportunity? Plus: exclusive interviews with civil service reform DG Janet Hughes, MoJ digital chief Mark Thompson and DBS chief Jeff James
Managing expectations: What do officials think of performance management in the civil service?
16 Sep 2025 HR
Managing expectations: What do officials think of performance management in the civil service?
Pat McFadden has said failure to tackle poor performers is “one of the biggest barriers” civil servants face. But what do CSW readers think of how performance management is handled?
'Everybody is saying the same thing': Is government meeting its goal to set every child up for success in their first 1,000 days of life?
15 Sep 2025 Health & Social Care
'Everybody is saying the same thing': Is government meeting its goal to set every child up for success in their first 1,000 days of life?
The Health and Social Care Committee is examining how government is delivering on its promise to set children up for success in their first 1,000 days of life. Acting chair Paulette Hamilton shares what the MPs have learned so far
Home/Office: Great Britain and Northern Ireland
11 Sep 2025
Home/Office: Great Britain and Northern Ireland
This new series explores how civil services in other countries have approached the hybrid working conundrum. To kick things off, we look at how the UK government’s approach compares to the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales, and the Northern Ireland Civil Service
Five reasons to include Policy Festival in your learning calendar this year
10 Sep 2025 HR
Five reasons to include Policy Festival in your learning calendar this year
From upskilling yourself in AI to accessing the expertise of senior colleagues and leaders, Policy Festival offers a wealth of opportunities for professional growth
'Step forward anyway': Kiren Kaur on celebrating women's leadership in all its forms
04 Sep 2025 HR
'Step forward anyway': Kiren Kaur on celebrating women's leadership in all its forms
With just a few days until nominations close for the 2025 Women into Leadership Awards, Suzannah Brecknell sits down with Dods Events’ head of diversity and inclusion and Women Into Leadership Awards founder to discuss the importance of recognising impact, and the best advice they’ve heard at WiL over the years
Departing Land Registry chief Simon Hayes talks lockdown, hybrid working and fighting the perfect storm of staff shortages and record demand
03 Sep 2025 Digital, Data & Technology
Departing Land Registry chief Simon Hayes talks lockdown, hybrid working and fighting the perfect storm of staff shortages and record demand
Hayes reflects on transformation, choices and challenges at HMLR as he departs after six years in post to become chief exec at Sports England
From the archives: Heaven knows he was miserable then – Morrissey's reflections on life as a civil servant
29 Aug 2025
From the archives: Heaven knows he was miserable then – Morrissey's reflections on life as a civil servant
With silly season about to come to an end, CSW revisits a piece we first published in 2019 exploring Morrissey’s oft-overlooked stint on the government paybill
Better wellbeing, higher productivity and lower stress: Findings from Scottish Government's four-day week pilot
28 Aug 2025 HR
Better wellbeing, higher productivity and lower stress: Findings from Scottish Government's four-day week pilot
Report also shares lessons for other organisations considering a move to a shorter working week
Human-centred service: MoJ's Kamal Bal on the department's trauma-informed approach
19 Aug 2025 Digital, Data & Technology
Human-centred service: MoJ's Kamal Bal on the department's trauma-informed approach
Giving the morning keynote at this year’s PublicTechnology Live conference, Kamal Bal told attendees how the Ministry of Justice is working to improve services by better supporting both users and colleagues
'Successful transformation requires cultural change': What's in HMRC's Transformation Roadmap?
15 Aug 2025 Civil Service Reform
'Successful transformation requires cultural change': What's in HMRC's Transformation Roadmap?
The tax agency’s ambitious vision for the coming years includes "automating tax where possible", investing in new analytics technology to help combat fraud, and upgrading ageing IT infrastructure
Revolving-doors shakeup: How will Acoba’s abolition affect civil servants?
11 Aug 2025 HR
Revolving-doors shakeup: How will Acoba’s abolition affect civil servants?
With post-government jobs regulator Acoba set for abolition later this year, and the Civil Service Commission taking on part of its function, what do the changes mean for officials?
Director's Cut: Scottish Government's Christine McLaughlin on pandemics, pandas and finding the job she loves
08 Aug 2025 Coronavirus
Director's Cut: Scottish Government's Christine McLaughlin on pandemics, pandas and finding the job she loves
Scotland's co-director of population health tells CSW about her most bizarre experience at work, and the unexpected phone call that transformed her career
'Worth a go': Civil service internship scheme rule change prompts mixed reaction
06 Aug 2025 Civil Service Reform
'Worth a go': Civil service internship scheme rule change prompts mixed reaction
From praise for the plans to warnings of lost meritocracy, here's what's been said about the decision to limit summer internships to students from working-class backgrounds
Spending Review 2025 recap: Here's everything you need to know
04 Aug 2025 Economics
Spending Review 2025 recap: Here's everything you need to know
A deep dive into the Spending Review 2025 documents to fish out the details that matter to civil servants. Words by Tevye Markson, Jim Dunton, Suzannah Brecknell and Beckie Smith
'Think about skills, not grades': DSIT's Claire Donaldson on shaking things up and working in the open
01 Aug 2025 Civil Service Reform
'Think about skills, not grades': DSIT's Claire Donaldson on shaking things up and working in the open
The co-founder of the Innovation Hub at DSIT tells the CSW podcast what she's learned in the first year of her drive for change
In conversation with… former Treasury perm sec Lord Terry Burns
30 Jul 2025 Civil Service Reform
In conversation with… former Treasury perm sec Lord Terry Burns
Welsh Government senior civil servant Peter McDonald talks to the former permanent secretary to the Treasury about responding to crises, working with ministers and solving problems. This article first appeared in the Heywood Quarterly