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Last updated: 20 July 2009
Ensuring that effective change and excellent delivery is led by great people with the right skills and resources.
Civil servants deliver a hugely complex set of services, from supporting foreign policy to helping people find work. The key to the success in fulfilling these diverse and important goals is the ability to recruit excellent people, and equip them with the right skills and resources needed to lead effective change and excellent delivery.
The Civil Service Capability Group (CSCG) lies at the heart of this goal, supporting the Cabinet Secretary Gus O'Donnell, in his drive to build the capacity and capability of government departments. CSCG’s role is to strengthen the effectiveness of the Civil Service’s organisation, leaders and workforce, to deliver the Government’s priorities and improve public services.
Cabinet Office has the task of ensuring government departments constantly improve the capacity and capability to do their job. The Capability Reviews Team in CSCG leads this work by regularly monitoring and assessing the performance of individual departments.
Each department is reviewed by a specially assembled team drawn from the private sector, the wider public sector and board-level members of other government departments. Andy Friend, former chief executive of John Laing and a member of the team that reviewed the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, said:
‘Capability Reviews have helped departments follow through on difficult and important changes over the last two years. This robust process is clearly now embedded as a very positive force for change in the Civil Service.’
The findings of the second phase of reviews - now published - demonstrate that the Civil Service is improving its capability to deliver what the public needs in the challenging times ahead. The reports can be accessed on the Civil Service website15.
Working more collaboratively across departments than ever before, the challenge for the Top 200 civil servants (Permanent Secretaries and Directors General) now, is to identify and bring on the next generation of leaders and create the platform for more corporate working.
The Civil Service Capability Group helps departments identify new posts, likely vacancies and potential successors - making sure they continue to have the right capability to achieve objectives.
The CSCG also supports Gus O'Donnell and the Senior Leadership Committee on succession-planning for the Top 200. A key part of this involves giving individuals advice and support to manage their careers and meet personal development needs.
The High Potential Development Scheme (HPDS) prepares people at director and deputy director level for the most senior jobs in the Civil Service.
The HPDS is aimed at those who have been identified as potential successors in departments, or who feature in succession plans
Focusing on board-level leadership, behaviours and skills, the programme shows participants what practical steps they can take in their day-to-day roles to help improve Civil Service delivery and capability.
What defines and binds together all civil servants is a set of shared values: Honesty, Objectivity, Integrity and Impartiality. I am proud that in a recent survey of fast streamers, 90% said it was important to them to have a job that benefited wider society. In the private sector this was just 15%. Gus O'Donnell
In autumn 2008, senior leaders of the Civil Service worked together to develop a shared vision of the future challenges and priorities for the Civil Service.
Permanent Secretaries are held to account, as part of their annual appraisal process, for their department's delivery and performance on a number of priorities, which include:
Permanent Secretaries meet on a weekly basis with the Cabinet Secretary, Gus O'Donnell, to discuss progress on the long-term challenges, along with other current priorities which affect all government departments.
These changes are helping the Civil Service to be seen as a more attractive and worthwhile career. Applications for jobs have risen over the last year with a 33% increase in applications for the Fast Stream graduate programme. The Cabinet Secretary believes a new public service ethos is behind the increased interest.
Building on the 2008 LIVE Event, just over 1,600 civil servants from across the north of England and Scotland gathered at the Sage Centre in Gateshead on Monday 9 March 2009 for the first ever regional Civil Service Live event.
The one-day Gateshead event, which had the theme of ‘Innovation in Action’, was aimed squarely at civil servants on the operational front line.
Speaking about the event, Gus O'Donnell said:
‘A lot of people think the Civil Service is all about Sir Humphreys tucked away in Whitehall, but 83% of civil servants actually work outside London.’
‘The vast majority work on the front line, delivering public services that have a vital role to play in helping the country through the downturn.’
Participants heard from a variety of speakers and took part in workshops covering, among others, public service reform and digital engagement.
‘I don't think we thank you enough, but I'd like to thank you on behalf of the British people, because you do make a huge difference. When I go out and meet Civil Servants the most common comment I hear is “I want to make a difference”, and you certainly do make a difference,’ said Prime Minister Gordon Brown, speaking at the Civil Service Awards 2008.
Teams and individuals from across the country were honoured by the Prime Minister and Gus O'Donnell in November 2008, in the third annual awards to recognise exceptional performance across government.
Entrepreneur and BBC Dragon Peter Jones - who recently
launched a government-backed National Enterprise Academy - was also there, to present the
Innovation Award.
‘Over the last 14 months I've been working very closely with the Civil Service and my experience has been really shocking... insofar as it has been staggeringly, amazingly good,’ he said.
Civil Servant of the Year was awarded to Emma Hopkins from the Home Office for the leadership she has shown in establishing the ‘Virtual Trafficking Team’. This cross-government team brings together officials from the Home Office, Ministry of Justice and UK Border Agency to tackle human trafficking.