Sir Chris Wormald introduces the 22nd edition of Civil Service Quarterly. The lead item is a new interview with Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service Sir Mark Sedwill, while other articles focus on subjects ranging from the National Security Council, a decade after its creation, to how UK Research and Innovation is changing the way research is funded.
In the Civil Service we are constantly trying to improve our performance and the services that we offer to the public. We often use data or research to help measure and improve our own team's or our Department’s performance, but how would we go about measuring the performance of the Civil Service as a whole? The Analysis & Insight team in the Cabinet Office have been exploring this question.
The Department of Health is leading the development of a $100 million global Dementia Discovery Fund. Siobhan Jones, Deputy Director of the Dementia Fund at the Department Health explains how they plan to use private investment to deliver positive social returns.
Hannah Rignell, Head of Community Action in the Cabinet Office explains how they have recruited and trained over 6,000 Community Organisers to inspire communities to deliver positive social change through collective action.
How can you ensure the safe operation of nuclear reactors when it is too dangerous to physically check their cores? Nick Warren, Head of Statistical Modelling at the Health & Safety Laboratory, explains how his team have developed the only truly independent and impartial model for estimating the viable life expectancy of UK’s nuclear reactors.
Effective collaboration between the Partnerships Team and a range of digital organisations gave over 150,000 young people the chance to learn important digital skills through the ‘Make Things Do Stuff’ project. Tim Scott, Head of Sector, Technology, Telecoms and Media in the Partnerships Team, explains how collaboration with business can add value to government initiatives.
Good data analysis allows organisations to discover useful information about its customers, but is also helping the Civil Service make more informed choices about how it delivers government priorities. Vicky Ranson explains how increasingly hi-tech data analysis in HM Revenue and Customs is helping the department collect record amounts of tax revenue, and shaping the way the organisation will work in the future.
Stefan Czerniawski, Head of Corporate Strategy in Cabinet Office, explains how a user-centred approach is behind the successes of the programme.
Driverless vehicles are about to take to UK roads, thanks to work led by the International Vehicle Standards Team at the Department for Transport. The team’s recent regulatory review suggests that automated cars could make our roads safer, quieter and cleaner. Lydia Fitzpatrick, strategic communication manager, explains what the government is doing to make this happen.
Sir Nicholas Macpherson, Permanent Secretary to H M Treasury, reviews Mr Osborne's Economic Experiment - Austerity 1945-51 and 2010- by William Keegan.
Katherine Riggs, Graham Symons and Will Pryer from Defra explain how Defra's response to the PM's economic challenge has boosted the economy, helped communities and changed the culture in the department.
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