Civil Service in the news

Getting you the best deal in the West Midlands

Tom Watson

Cabinet Office Minister Tom Watson has launched a pilot scheme to build on the strengths of the Civil Service in the West Midlands. Civil Service West Midlands (CSWM) is a two-year pilot programme aimed at improving the culture, identity and brand of the Civil Service. Once piloted, the intention is to roll the programme out across all regions.

Trudi Elliott, Regional Director for the West Midlands and co-ordinator for the programme, said, 'It's been a long journey to get to where we are now, starting as we did way back in March 2007, but it has a momentum that's carrying a lot of people along with it. There are more than 35,000 Civil Servants in the West Midlands alone and our programme has the support of around thirty different Departments and agencies. CSWM is very ambitious. It promises great benefits for us in the West Midlands and, eventually, the entire Civil Service'

The team responsible for developing CSWM presented at Civil Service Live with Minister for the West Midlands Liam Byrne. See news story.

CSWM has full support from the Cabinet Secretary, head of the Home Civil Service. In a letter to the Council of Civil Service Unions Sir Gus O'Donnell said, 'We want to build a more positive image of Civil Servants in the West Midlands that everyone is proud of so that people can see that being a Civil Servant is not just about a job.

'We want people to have access to a wealth of benefits from training opportunities to retail discounts and from childcare support to job-swaps. We also want a Civil Service that takes its social and environmental responsibilities seriously. We will be using this programme to look at ways of minimising our environmental impact, and to help you to do your bit.'

Led by a cross-departmental steering group and a small programme team, the CSWM aims to provide a better deal through:

  • Making the Civil Service a career of choice
  • Being an exemplar in developing our staff
  • Exploiting our buying power (for the taxpayer and staff)
  • Sharing good practice and learning with parent departments and other organisations
  • Practising what we preach - living Government Policy and taking seriously our Social Responsibility

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