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Last updated: 20 July 2009
Playing a vital role in supporting the Government's agenda.
Due to the current domestic and global climate, life for many UK citizens is getting tougher and the Government is facing unprecedented challenges. The Cabinet Office plays a vital role in supporting and driving forward the Government’s agenda, and also assists departments to make well-informed collective decisions on major policy issues and priorities.
To continue to meet these challenges the Cabinet Office has had to change internally to ensure that the right structures are in place.
First, the Department has introduced new governance arrangements. By setting up three new committees - the finance and investment, operating, and people and pay committees - which now report to the Cabinet Office Board, the Board is able to focus on strategic decision making.
Second, a shared services model for HR and Finance transactions was introduced in partnership with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). Third, to create an effective and enabling corporate centre to support the work of the Department, the Cabinet Office brought all of its corporate services together - aligning related activities, projects and initiatives to ensure that our core services work together to best enable business delivery.
We have continued to make our reporting as clear as possible for taxpayers, stakeholders and parliament alike by publishing, for the second year running, this annual report combined with the resource accounts. They were published separately in previous years. Our first combined report was shortlisted for an award by Accountancy Age.
To look at how we work more efficiently across the centre of government, with No.10 and HM Treasury and with other departments, the Cabinet Office set up five matrix teams, considering issues such as crime; health; climate change; communities; and welfare, talent and life chances that require a joined-up approach across several departments.
Cabinet Office completed roll-out of its electronic records management system, Meridio, which has changed the way staff store and retrieve information electronically within the Department.
Following detailed preparatory work Cabinet Office, working closely with DWP, introduced a ‘Shared Services’ operation providing routine HR, finance and procurement services. The Cabinet Office has been the pathfinder department in central government for this concept, implementing it before wider roll-out across departments.
Cabinet Office should mirror the society we serve… Diversity matters, as without it we are less creative, less responsive and less flexible as a department. Paul Britton, Head of Economic and Domestic Secretariat
The aim of our staff engagement strategy is to help the Cabinet Office develop organisational capacity, focusing on developing our leadership and business culture - improving collaboration across boundaries and making sure that staff understand how their work fits into the bigger picture. As a result, engagement initiatives have included an all-staff event, focusing on our role at the centre of government.
Events included a ‘Making the right change happen’ workshop; a Ministers Question Time; board member job-shadowing and going ‘back to the floor’; volunteering seminars; and the first seminar of a new senior civil service leadership seminar programme.
A new staff suggestion scheme, based on the popular Dragon's Den format, was also launched at the event, in which staff presented ideas for the business to a commissioning board.
Successful ideas that have since been implemented include Headlines, a method for sharing our success stories over the year.
Cabinet Office continued to encourage staff to gain experience in their local community through volunteering. Staff can use ‘special leave’ to take part in an activity of their choice. We are proud to have staff here who are long-term volunteers, coaching young people, helping the homeless and acting as magistrates in their local area.
Being involved in a charity in my local community gives me the chance to see how Cabinet Office policies work on the ground. Sophie Chapman, Policy Manager
Our diversity strategy action plan is supported by a new Board level champion as well as other senior officials who take part in our variety of networks. The latest statistics, as at 31 March 09, show that in the Cabinet Office 52.2% of staff are women, 12.5% are from ethnic minorities and 6.9% are disabled.
The Department's diversity actions include promoting flexible working, offering training to deal with harassment and bullying, a disability toolkit for managers and staff, and new mentoring and coaching schemes. Trading Perspectives is one such scheme - and it has turned mentoring on its head; staff from under-represented groups mentor senior civil servants, allowing each to gain a unique insight in to the other's perspective.
Alexis Cleveland, Director-General of Corporate Services and diversity champion said: ‘We should aim to go beyond compliance and become confident in utilising and promoting best practice.’ .
I believe as a Cabinet Office employee we can be of real benefit to local charities. Neil Smith, Policy Manager
We continue to provide excellent learning and development support to our staff, and increase the levels of staff with professional qualifications. We were awarded Platinum status by the Association of Certified Accountants for our development scheme for our accountancy trainees, and Approved Employer for our professional development. We already hold Quality Training Partner status from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
Two further members of our central contract management team became members of the British Institute of Facilities management. The head of the team was short-listed for Facilities Manager of the Year, as well as gaining a national vocational qualification in purchasing and supply chain management, and also membership of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply.