Leadership

New DECC chief Stephen Lovegrove has, to his evident relief, missed all the big battles over the direction of our energy policies – but he does face huge challenges in putting those policies into practice. Matt Ross meets him

Companies run by two lead departmental non-executive directors (Neds) have been publicly accused of serious wrongdoing.

The government needs a chief financial officer (CFO) “who is clearly and visibly responsible for ensuring that spending decisions are made on the basis of financial analysis and for measuring the outcomes in terms of value for money and performance management,” Rebecca McCaffry, innovation specialist at the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), has told CSW.

Chris Wormald, the education department’s permanent secretary, is leading organisational changes that go well beyond the Civil Service Reform Plan. Matt Ross quizzes him on the outcomes of his "zero-based review".

Since Derek Jones began working on Welsh governance, the country’s administration has largely shifted from London to Cardiff. And now more devolution is on the way, Wales’s new perm sec tells Suzannah Brecknell

The collapse of the West Coast Mainline franchising process won’t deter the Department for Transport (DfT) from taking necessary risks, the department’s permanent secretary has promised in an interview with CSW.

The Civil Service Commission can help civil servants flag complaints about breaches of the Civil Service Code. First civil service commissioner, Sir David Normington, explains how his organisation has just launched an 'Open Week' to encourage civil servants to ask questions and engage with them:

Former cabinet secretary Lord O’Donnell used the second part of his Radio 4 documentary on Tuesday, In Defence of Bureaucracy, to call for the retention of an impartial civil service, and to argue that the “occasionally intemperate tone” taken by Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude has “not helped” the “unusually strained” relationship between ministers and civil servants.

The National Security Council has improved Whitehall’s planning and coordination. But it’s been busiest where the bullets have been flying, and there are doubts over its scrutiny of less obvious dangers. Stuart Watson reports.

The business department’s permanent secretary Martin Donnelly tells Suzannah Brecknell how his department is working to bring businesses and government together, creating strategies designed to kick start Britain's economic growth

Former cabinet secretary Lord O’Donnell is to present two programmes on Radio 4 in a bid to defend the work of the civil service.

The level of public trust in civil servants has risen dramatically over the last 30 years, a poll by the Ipsos MORI Social Research Institute has found, while politicians are firmly ensconsed at the foot of the table.

When John Beddington became the government’s chief scientific adviser, many departments didn’t employ an influential science champion. But now, he tells Colin Marrs, the quality of science is on the rise across Whitehall

Reforming the civil service won’t “in itself make a dramatic difference to government effectiveness,” former cabinet secretary Lord O’Donnell told the Public Administration Select Committee today. Instead, government needs to ensure it is clear about what it wants to achieve, he added.

As the Olympics fade from memory, the legacy goals could also slip away – leaving London, like Athens, with a pricey herd of white elephants. Suzannah Brecknell tests the cross-Whitehall effort to reap the Games’ rewards.

The government has now published its permanent secretaries’ objectives, listing the targets against which their performance will be assessed. Joshua Chambers explains how the move is likely to affect Whitehall leaders

After 35 years in Whitehall and five years leading the Government Equalities Office, Jonathan Rees is heading for the exit. Matt Ross learns of his worries about civil service capabilities, ministerial policies and endless reorganisations

Katherine Kerswell and Clare Sumner are heading up the tricky task of civil service reform. Joshua Chambers meets the dynamic duo leading the drive to shake up Whitehall’s skills, structures and working practices

As director of the Scotland Office, Alun Evans is in charge of Whitehall’s efforts to keep Scotland in the United Kingdom. Joshua Chambers meets the man coordinating a vast campaign encompassing most departments

Jonathan Stephens

Permanent Secretary, Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Jonathan Rees

Director General, Government Equalities Office

Dr Malcolm McKibbin

Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service

The 2012 Permanent Secretaries' Round-Up