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Last updated: 06 July 2009
CAB 047-09
06 June 2009
Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell will be joined by Dragons' Den star Peter Jones and the former Olympic Triple Jump champion Jonathan Edwards at Civil Service Live 2009.
This is an opportunity for frontline staff and managers to drive innovation by coming up with imaginative solutions that will help Britain improve public service both now and in the future.
Sir Gus, who is head of the UK Civil Service, said:
"Civil Service Live is a great way to showcase all that is best about the modern Civil Service, but it is also an opportunity to learn from our partners in the public, private and third sectors so we can continue to be an efficient, capable and professional organisation.
"Civil Servants are performing a crucial role in helping Britain through the economic downturn, from Jobcentre Plus staff finding work for the unemployed to treasury officials working round the clock to get the economy back on its feet.
"With demand for public services rising the Civil Service is a constant force in tempestuous times, but that is only made possible by the dedication, hard work and innovative thinking of our staff. I hope everyone at Civil Service Live will go back to their departments and put into practice the new skills and ideas they have learned here."
Other key figures at the event include:
Peter Jones has been working closely with Sir Gus to harness innovation and entrepreneurship in the Civil Service, including helping to establish the Civil Service version of Dragons' Den - Lions' Lair - which encourages Civil Servants to submit original ideas for improving the organisation.
This year the winning ideas include an online system to handle Parliamentary questions, which could be used by all departments and make the answering process quicker and more efficient, a Government mentoring scheme, and the 'emission mission' initiative to cut departments' carbon footprints.
More than 300 civil servants submitted ideas and 10 were chosen to pitch their ideas to the Lions - Peter Jones, Defra Permanent Secretary Helen Ghosh, Robin Tye from Ernst & Young, Lin Homer Chief Executive, UK Border and Immigration Agency, and Gill Morgan, Permanent Secretary at the Welsh Assembly Government.
The finalists were filmed making their presentations and the highlights will be shown at Civil Service Live. Ideas that impress the lions will be taken forward for development.
Peter Jones said:
"Lions' Lair has once again shown the talent and creativity of the Civil Service - I was very impressed with the quality of the submissions. In the past some people have thought of the Civil Service as staid and slow-moving, but events like this show what a forward-thinking organisation it has become.
"I have worked with Sir Gus for some time and continue to be impressed with his efforts to encourage innovation throughout the Civil Service. Small ideas can make a big impact with the right backing, and I hope this year's event will inspire other ingenious Civil Servants to come forward."
There will also be a Civil Service version of top TV show The Apprentice. Four teams of civil servants from around the country were given 24 hours to persuade as many local businesses as they could to take on apprentices - an amazing 64 businesses signed up to the pledge. The winning team will be announced by Sir Gus at Civil Service Live 2009.
And, in the Origins and Destinations space, anyone can explore the history of the Civil Service, as well as take their chances at trying a Civil Service entrance exam paper from 1855.
For more information contact Sinead Keller in the Cabinet Press Office on 0207 276 1146
Cabinet Office Press Office
Tel: 020 7276 1146 - Fax: 020 7276 0618
www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Out of hours telephone 07699 113300 and ask for pager number 721338