I’m delighted to be the co-champion of the Lifetime Achievement Award for this year’s Civil Service Awards, alongside Beth Russell, second permanent secretary at HM Treasury.
I hope you are all looking forward to the awards – a chance to celebrate the best of our civil service. Thank you to those who have nominated a colleague this year.
One of the strengths of the civil service is the deep and diverse range of skills and expertise that we enjoy, operating across our professions, around the world and across the UK, and it is lovely to pay tribute to colleagues’ career contributions and celebrate their impact and success.
In my time working at HM Treasury, DWP, the Scottish Government, and now HMRC, I’ve been fortunate to serve with and learn from a great many colleagues who have shown decades of excellence and delivered real and significant change during their careers. That’s always been a source of inspiration for me – because we all know that working in public service is more than just a job, it’s a vocation, with shared purpose and shared values. I hope we can celebrate this together again this year with our 20th Civil Service Awards.
Every day we work alongside colleagues who are driven by a commitment to improving experiences and improving lives, striving to making our country better for their fellow citizens. In Scotland, where I am based, the Scottish Government codify that sense of mission into a National Performance Framework, with a clear articulation of the future intent to deliver a fairer, greener, more prosperous nation. And across the UK this sense of purpose is also articulated in the UK government’s missions: growing the economy, an NHS fit for the future, safer streets, opportunity for all, and making Britain a clean energy superpower.
When we take a step back, the progress over the years is clear – from decarbonisation to digital innovation, the UK is world-leading in many ways, with plenty of potential and strengths to build on. Our Civil Service Awards are a lovely chance to reflect and celebrate our civil service and our colleagues’ contributions – and I know that everyone who is nominated or wins an award will appreciate and value the recognition they richly deserve.
In the nominations for the Lifetime Achievement Award, I’m looking for individuals who are exemplars of our civil service values, and who have delivered a sustained outstanding contribution over the long term. It might be that they have built up a brilliant track-record in a specific department or specialism – or they may have demonstrated success across multiple disciplines and areas of the civil service, or in a particular community. As always, it’s outcomes that are crucial – real impact and improvement in experience because of exceptional leadership.
Recognising and celebrating our colleagues’ achievements is incredibly important, and it’s great to be part of the Civil Service Awards as it celebrates its own 20th anniversary. So good luck to all our nominees - you deserve all your success, and I suspect we will be spoilt for choice on a winner!
JP Marks is permanent secretary at HM Revenue and Customs. He is co-champion for the Lifetime Achievement Award for this year’s Civil Service Awards, alongside Beth Russell, second permanent secretary at HM Treasury.
Get your nominations in here for the 2025 awards – a special 20th anniversary edition. Entries can be made until 5pm on Friday 18 July