Sir Bob Kerslake

Permanent Secretary of the Department for Communities and Local Government

Jonathan Jones

Treasury Solicitor and HM Procurator General

Sir Derek Jones

Permanent Secretary of the Welsh Government

Bronwyn Hill

Permanent Secretary of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

Richard Heaton

Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet Office

Sir Simon Fraser

Permanent Secretary of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Martin Donnelly

Permanent Secretary of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Robert Devereux

Permanent Secretary of the Department for Work and Pensions

Bill Crothers

Chief Commercial Officer

Ursula Brennan

Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice

Mike Bracken

Executive Director of Digital for the UK Government

Alex Aiken

Executive Director of Government Communications

John Manzoni

Chief Executive of the Civil Service

For the last five years, Civil Service World has rounded off December by publishing a set of articles written by permanent secretaries and other key figures. This year, Matt Ross finds perm secs focusing on skills, Scotland, global threats – and the creeping advance of Xmas

Sir Jeremy Heywood

Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service

Facing the coalition, the civil service’s labour movement is split between outright opposition and constructive engagement. Matt Ross examines the tensions between – and within – Whitehall’s unions. llustration by John Levers

How can you retain civil servants in 2015?

A recent CSW round table examined the potential of Big Data to improve outcomes and cut costs in our healthcare system. Colin Marrs reports. Photos by Paul Heartfield

The IPO's patent renewal service has been pinned as an exemplar for the GDS' digital transformation agenda. CSW takes a look at the service's journey from a paper-based process to a champion of digital change

TCS has a proven track record around the world in working with governments on fiscal and welfare efficiency. Here we go through three examples

Data held and harvested by government can be used to take chunks out of departments’ operating costs, Stuart Watson learned at a CSW round table. Pic: Paul Heartfield

Cornerstone research recently investigated what people look for – and more importantly, prioritise – when considering a career in the civil service. Here are some of the findings

The DWP now assesses 95% of new child maintenance cases accurately, the NAO has found

Peter Hennessy interviews former MI5 chief Eliza Manningham-Buller about the three decades she spent tackling the Soviet threat, the IRA and Islamist terrorism