About the Civil Service
Gus' vision
Our core values are honesty, objectivity, integrity and impartiality. But we need a vision to bring those values to life.
My vision is for a civil service that exudes pride, pace, passion and professionalism – the Four Ps as I call them – that together can keep the civil service relevant and effective, the people the Ministers turn to for advice and action.
I also believe in a civil service that works with and through others. We don't have a monoply on advice or service provision – indeed, as a large bureaucracy we are sometimes not the best people to reach out to and win the trust of disadvantaged people. As such I really value our relationships with local authorities, government agencies and the voluntary and private sectors. In our complex world today we all sink or swim together. But back to the Four Ps ...
Pride
As civil servants we should be proud of the additions we make to British life. Thinking back to the day London won the Olympics against the odds, makes me realize just how much we can achieve in the civil service – working with others – to inspire and create
Passion
I want civil servants to care about their work and the people they serve. Being passionate about the amazing jobs civil servants are tasked with is essential to doing them well. In fact we should all be inspired by our noble aims and tasks. If you can't get excited about ending child poverty – what can you get excited about? We also need a culture that values passion in order to keep attracting the most talented people to work for us. I believe you can be passionate without being partial,
Pace
We are becoming a slightly smaller civil service and we have an obligation to provide value for money in return to the public whose taxes make our work possible. My vision is for a civil service that gets on with the job as quickly as it can.
Professionalism
There isn't a single civil servant that wants to deliver a second rate service, but we need to support our staff in that desire. That's why we have programmes like Professional Skills for Government in place to lift our standards and promote a culture that values lifelong learning.
And binding all the elements of this vision is my belief in a diverse civil service. I put a premium on diversity and want the civil service to remain a role model for diversity – in all the senses of the concept. We are ahead of most organisations, but we have much more to do. By diversity I mean a range of experiences and perspectives from people of different backgrounds. Having this diverse workforce means we deliver better work and reflect the society we exist to serve.
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