By Civil Service World

10 Dec 2010

Permanent secretary, Department for Work and Pensions


In a year of political and economic change, what was your highlight of 2010?
Without any doubt, it was responding to the agenda of the new coalition government, and seeking to demonstrate that we were capable of serving it with the same energy and commitment as we did its predecessor. In the case of the DWP, our new secretary of state, Iain Duncan Smith, arrived in the department with a very clear vision of how he wanted to reform the benefit system and introduce a universal credit. But both we and he knew there was a great deal of work to do before that could become government policy. It is a great tribute, both to the determination of our ministerial team and to the work of the department, that less than six months after the new government took office, we published the ground-breaking white paper Welfare that Works, setting out the government’s clear intention to move to a universal credit model.

What is the biggest opportunity that coalitionpolicies have created for the civil service?
The opportunity, I think, to demonstrate once again that we are here to serve the government of the day. I shall be retiring at the end of the year after some 37 years in the civil service, and I still think we underestimate at our peril the value to our society of having a civil service which is both non-political and totally committed to supporting the elected government. I know that many of our new ministers have been pleasantly surprised that they have not encountered any foot-dragging or lack of commitment on the part of officials in helping them to take forward the government’s policies. That is a tribute, in my view, to the whole civil service.

What is the most challenging management task facing the civil service now?
Without a doubt, maintaining the engagement of our staff while we go through a very tough period of staff reductions; reduced opportunities for promotion and advancement; and constraints on pay and remuneration. At this time more than ever, civil service leaders need to be visible and out there talking with their staff and showing that they are listening to them. More than anything we need to emphasise that there will still be great jobs and great careers in the civil service for the great majority of civil servants.

What’s the key to succeeding in that task?
Persistence, visibility and demonstrating an understanding of how people are feeling. Our own staff survey results are sharply down this year after four successive years of improvement. That reflects the fact that people are worried and concerned about their future. Civil service leaders cannot alleviate those concerns at a stroke. But we can show that we are listening and that we have real confidence in the future.

What was the best Christmas present that you’ve ever given or received? And the worst?
As a life-long Watford season ticket holder, I can still remember the days of Christmas Day fixtures, and even the occasional one that Watford won! And the worst? Even after all these years I’ve never forgotten the socks that, when I was a child, elderly aunts and uncles presented me with on Christmas Day?

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