Civil Service Live

Day three – April 3rd 2008 – Agenda

The QEII Conference Centre, Broad Sanctuary, Westminster, London SW1P 3EE

Day three Agenda


09:00 – 10.05: Keynote Address

Inspiring Innovation session

Location: Churchill Room

Speaker: Sir Gus O'Donnell, cabinet secretary and head of the home civil service

Summary: Cabinet secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell delivers a keynote speech outlining his vision for the civil service.

09:00 – 10.05: Learning to lead

Inspiring Innovation session

Location: Rutherford Room

Speaker: Gill Rider, director general, leadership and people strategy

Summary: We all want to be better leaders. But what can you do everyday that will make a difference? After a career of 27 years in the private sector, Gill Rider joined the civil service two years ago. As head of the civil service capability group and previously a global executive in a multinational corporation, she's "seen and smelt" leadership. The session shares some personal reflections on good leaders, makes practical suggestions on what you can do that will really make a difference and lets you discuss with and learn from colleagues. Come prepared to hear and tell good (and bad) stories and examples of leadership.

09:00 – 10.25: ACT ON CO2 'Mucky Footprints'

Inspiring Innovation session

Location: Caxton Room

Speaker: Paul Gilham, head of campaigns and marketing at Defra

Summary: We all have a carbon footprint. A marketing expert from Defra, and the advertising specialist who developed the ACT ON CO2 'Mucky Footprints' campaign, will explain what it was like working together on this creative project. Hear what the advertising agency thinks about working with the public sector. Is it different coming up with ideas for a behavioural change campaign rather than a product? The advertising aimed to introduce the concept of a personal carbon footprint and to encourage individual behaviour change. Find out whether the campaign was successful in this interactive seminar.

09:00 – 10.25: Maximising local opportunities

Inspiring Innovation session

Location: Henry Moore Room

Speaker: Sophia Parker – Kent County Council, Glynis Rogers – London Borough of Barking

Summary: This session aims to build understanding of how central government can work effectively with local authorities and their partners, and the impact that this can have on local quality of life; and to inspire creative thinking on how central-local partnership working could be even better.

09:00 – 10.25: Corporate Responsibility - changing fashion or fashioning change

Inspiring Innovation session

Location: Mountbatten Room

Speaker: Judy Greevy, head of corporate responsibility and diversity at HMRC, and Ed Williams, former head of corporate responsibility at Marks and Spencer PLC and Jubilee director for Business in the Community

Summary: The session will cover why corporate responsibility is growing in importance and how adopting responsible businesses practices can support change and innovation in the civil service. The session will consist of a presentation including practical examples followed by Q&A and discussion.

09:00 – 09.45: Capability Reviews: Am I bovvered?

Inspiring Innovation session

Location: Windsor Room

Speaker: Brian Etheridge, director, Capability Reviews Team, Cabinet Office

Summary: You may have heard about the cabinet secretary's flagship programme,the Capability Reviews. But what do they mean for you? What do they involve? What happens as a result of the reviews? And how can understanding the Reviews help you in your day-to-day work? This will be an informal and purposeful session, specifically aimed at everyone below SCS grades. Meet some of the Capability Reviews team and get an overview of the Capability Review model and approach. Rather than us talk for the whole session, we'll be hosting workshops like we do during the Reviews, to get your perspective on some of the main challenges facing the Civil Service today. Some 17 departments are implementing the changes as a result of the reviews. This session will unpack how they affect you. We'd like to meet you and get your views, which we'll feedback to Gus O'Donnell.

09:00 – 09.45: Involving disabled people in policy making – what it means for you and why it works

Inspiring Innovation session

Location: Wesley Room

Speaker: Anne McGuire, minister for disabled people, and Bruce Calderwood, director for disabled people and carers in the Department for Work and Pensions

Summary: A practical and interactive session that will give you the tools you need to involve disabled people in policy development, why it works and how it will help you meet your wider strategic objectives. As well as the opportunity to hear from the minister for disabled people about how the government is encouraging new and innovative ways of working across the public sector, you will also get the opportunity to hear examples of how this has worked in practice and how it can work for you.

09:00 – 09.45: Opportunities for use of social media – ending email overload, building large expert networks, sharing information not hoarding it

Inspiring Innovation session

Location: Abbey Room

Speaker: Alex Allan, chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee, and William Perrin, director of strategy and policy, Transformational Government

Summary: The civil service works in a way recognisable from 30 years ago. In sending email much like we used to send memos and letters, we use electronic versions of outdated communication techniques. Delivery of results in the civil service requires huge personal networks. Each new job requires months building a new network that is rarely handed over well to a successor.

09:45 – 11.20: Public Engagement

Learning and Development Session

Location: Wesley Room

Speaker: Charlotte Revely, National School of Government and Richard Harris, Interact Networks

Summary: At the heart of good governance is the need to engage the public and stakeholders systematically and a two way engagement process deepens the understanding of both the decision maker and participant. However, for many civil servants, this is a new and sometimes daunting role and entails capabilities and skills that haven't traditionally been part of civil servant's competences, requiring them to think in new and innovative ways. This session will provide an outline understanding of public engagement and help you to identify the skills and knowledge needed to deliver.

09:45 – 11.20: Constructive Conversations - Making Performance Management Constructive, Challenging and Meaningful

Learning and Development Session

Location: Windsor Room

Speaker: Tim Bannerman, AKT Associates

Summary: Departmental capability reviews identify performance management as a critical development area for civil service leadership. This interactive theatre-based session (no audience acting skills required!) provides tools and techniques and the creative space to explore ways of bringing this core management responsibility to life as a constructive, challenging and meaningful leadership experience.

09:45 – 11.20: The Law and You: Human Rights

Learning and Development Session

Location: Abbey Room

Speaker: Caroline Price, National School of Government

Summary: Rights with Caroline Price of the National School of Government

10:05 – 11.40: Operational Delivery

Learning and Development Session

Location: Churchill Room

Speaker: Lesley Strathie, head of profession for operational delivery and chief executive, Jobcentre Plus

Summary: Lesley Strathie, chief executive of Jobcentre Plus and recently appointed head of profession for operational delivery talks about her vision for the future of public service delivery.

10:05 – 11.40: The Work of House of Commons Clerks

Learning and Development Session

Location:Wordsworth Room

Speaker: Matthew Hamlyn, head of the Scrutiny Unit, Committee Office; Mark Hutton, clerk of the Procedure Committee, Journal Office; and Jessica Mulley, Table Office

Summary: Ever wondered what the House of Commons clerks actually do? Hear from current clerks about Parliament's role in holding the Executive to account and how government can work with Parliament and MPs to get a wider policy message across

10:05 – 11.40: Co-creating an approach to Organisation Design - A partnership approach to building capability

Learning and Development Session

Location: Rutherford Room

Speaker: Jean Meyrick, National School of Government

Summary: The Organisation Design Community of practice (ODCoP) was established in November 2006 with the remit to build capability in organisation design across the civil service. This workshop will tell the story of this community, introduce the organisation design Framework and Toolkit which has been developed and discuss how we propose to build your ability to use it effectively

10:25 – 12.00: What Place in Government? Strategic thinking in the Public Sector

Learning and Development Session

Location: Caxton Room

Speaker: Sean Lusk, National School of Government

Summary: Why be strategic? What makes for a genuinely strategic approach to policy and delivery? What you need to do to be strategic

10:25 – 12.00: Energy Futures

Learning and Development Session

Location: Henry Moore Room

Speaker: Stephen Green, senior economist, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform

Summary: This session looks at the changing profile of energy supply in the UK in the context of the transformation to a low carbon world and the required step changes needed in the rate at which we develop and deploy new low carbon technologies. These include second generation biofuels, hydrogen and fuel cell technologies that in the coming decades have the potential to replace oil as basis for our transport systems. The session will outline several promising new energy technology initiatives and emerging strategies to accelerate these from research towards market application and deployment at scale. The critical and sometimes overlooked topic of energy efficiency and consumption reduction will also be covered

11:20 – 11.45: London 2012: Your questions answered

Inspiring Innovation session

Location: Mountbatten Room

Speaker: Tessa Jowell, Olympics minister

Summary: Tessa Jowell updates her audience on the current state of play regarding the London Olympics, setting out plans for the massive legacy which the project will deliver.

11:45 – 13.20: The Leaders UnLtd Experience - Improving the Quality and Diversity of Civil Service Leadership

Learning and Development Session

Location: Windsor Room

Speaker: Lesley Martinson, National School of Government

Summary: Leaders UnLtd is a unique scheme designed for talented people in groups who have been identified as currently underrepresented in the Senior Civil Service. The scheme is open to Grade 6/7 (or equivalent) UK Civil Servants who are women, or have a disability, or are from specific minority ethnic backgrounds and who aspire to join the SCS. This session will be of interest to those considering applying to join the scheme or line managers seeking to bring on talented people in these groups and will give insight into the structure of the scheme and experiences of current participants

11:45 – 13.20: Partnership Working

Learning and Development Session

Location: Wesley Room

Speaker: Graham Vale, National School of Government

Summary: Partnerships exist because the rewards - better services and better ways of working as well as in some instances greater profits - can be high, but they take a great deal of work to be successful. It's easy to waste time in fruitless partnership talks so you must make sure you and your staff have the skills to get results. This workshop is for anyone who is searching for practical ideas about how to encourage good practice within partnerships, so maximising their effectiveness. It will enhance your ability to develop and actively manage your partnership relationships and ways of working, so that you can more effectively and efficiently achieve the desired benefits

12:05 – 13.40: The Law and You: Freedom of Information

Learning and Development Session

Location: Abbey Room

Speaker: Helen Gordon-Lee, National School of Government

Summary: Freedom of Information with Helen Gordon-Lee of the National School of Government

12:05 – 13.40: Leadership Development in the Fire and Rescue Service

Learning and Development Session

Location: Churchill Room

Speaker: Sue Hopgood, director of organisational development, Fire Service College and Des Prichard, chief fire officer and chief executive, East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service

Summary: This session will describe leadership in the Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) and how leaders are being developed through "The National Leadership Programme". Sue Hopgood and Des Prichard will explain the complex and changing environment that the service operates within, the significance of engagement and collaborative working between The Fire Service College (civil service) and the Fire and Rescue Service Leadership (Chief Fire Officers Association and Local Government Association) to successfully achieve shared goals that drive public sector reform. They will also provide an overview of the FRS Aspire Leadership Model and supporting leadership strategy, and include information on the flagship Executive Leadership Programme for future top leaders in the service being delivered in partnership with Warwick Business School and the National School of Government

12:05 – 13.40: The Work of Select Committees

Learning and Development Session

Location:Wordsworth Room

Speaker: Mike Gapes, foreign affairs select committee chairman

Summary: Talks about the role, functions and powers of select committees

12:05 – 13.40: The Work of Select Committees

Learning and Development Session

Location: Rutherford Room

Speaker: Jon Coles, policy champion, Department for Children, Schools and Families and deputy head of profession for Policy Delivery

Summary: Jon Coles outlines the issues around Policy to Delivery from his personal perspective

12:25 – 14.00: Thought Leadership: Moving Hearts and Minds

Learning and Development Session

Location: Caxton Room

Speaker: Robin Ryde, chief executive, National School of Government

Summary: Based on his new leadership book 'Thought Leadership', Robin Ryde, chief executive of the National School of Government, talks about how leaders can engage with their staff to release more energy, creativity and better solutions to the challenges they face.

12:25 – 14.00: Sustainable Procurement

Learning and Development Session

Location: Henry Moore Room

Speaker: William Jordan, deputy chief executive, Office of Government Commerce

Summary: This session shows how civil servants can make a contribution to sustainability through the ordinary purchasing decisions they make in the day job. The size, scale and influence of public sector spending will be indicated and the potential to influence suppliers, sectors and markets across the world. The recent policy background to the Sustainable Procurement Action Plan will be mentioned within the Europe wide context of a step change shift to sustainable procurement in which the UK aspires to have a leading role. Case studies and examples will be drawn from construction (the largest single area of procurement spending) and purchase and disposal of commodities

12:25 – 14.00: Evidence and Policy

Learning and Development Session

Location: Mountbatten Room

Speaker: Janet Grauberg, development director, Public Management and Policy Association and Francis Coxhead, National School of Government

Summary: A session led by the Public Management and Policy Association and chaired by Sir David Normington, permanent secretary for the Home Office

13:20 – 14.25: Entrepreneurship in the civil service

Inspiring Innovation session

Location: Windsor Room

Speaker: Martin Wyn Griffith, chief executive, enterprise directorate, BERR

Summary: An entertaining, personal account of how Martin realised that he wanted to be an entrepreneur, what being an entrepreneur meant to him and how he has used the experience in the civil service to develop and deliver enterprise policy.

13:20 – 14.25: Stepping up: The In-Service Fast Stream

Inspiring Innovation session

Location: Wesley Room

Speaker: Mark Powell, chief psychologist, and Margaret Prythergch, chief assessor, Fast Stream

Summary: This session provides an introduction to the challenge and rewards of joiining the In-Service Fast Stream, our award winning cross departmental development programme for talented and ambitious civil servants.

13:20 – 14.25: UKTI – Selling the UK as never before

Inspiring Innovation session

Location: Abbey Room

Speaker: Danny Lopez, managing director of marketing, UKTI

Summary: Come and hear about the UK's unique selling points. Find out how UKTI, as a marketing led organisation, is using our compelling messages to market the UK's strengths as a place for overseas business to invest, and the strengths of UK business as a trade or investment partner.

14:00 – 15.05: 'Question Time' on Civil Service Values

Inspiring Innovation session

Location: Caxton Room

Speaker: Janet Paraskeva, the first civil service commissioner in the chair with a panel of colleagues from across government, including cabinet secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell

Summary: The core civil service values are integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality. How do these fit with the four P's - pride, passion, professionalism and pace? How will an eminent panel react to difficult questions on practical difficulties put by the chair and from the floor?

14:00 – 15.05: Fit to Perform

Inspiring Innovation session

Location: Henry Moore Room

Speaker: Dr Dorian Dugmore, director of Wellness International and Wellness Coach at Adidas U.K.

Summary: Dr. Dorian Dugmore will look at the general issues of wellness in and out of the office and in particular, focus on the importance of managing risk factors and the possible impact if we don't. He will consider health and physical fitness in relation to performance and the ways in which we can all make better lifestyle choices.

14:00 – 15.05: Innovation and Risk in the public sector – striking the balance

Inspiring Innovation session

Location: Mountbatten Room

Speaker: Ian Pearson, minister of state for science and innovation

Summary: Ian Pearson will host an interactive session to explore the psychology of risk and what this means for innovation in the public sector.

15:40 – 16.40: Why innovation is important

Inspiring Innovation session

Location: Churchill Room

Speaker: Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell and Dragons' Den entrepreneur Peter Jones

Summary: In a unique session Sir Gus O'Donnell and Peter Jones will debate the extent to which innovation can flourish in the Civil Service. The session will showcase some of the best clips from the Lions' Lair.

14:05 – 15.40: Why innovation is important

Learning and Development Session

Location: Churchill Room

Speaker: Nigel Smith, chief executive, Office of Government Commerce

Summary: Nigel Smith, chief executive of the Office of Government Commerce, sets out his vision for achieving innovation through procurement. He will show how procurement can help government be more effective and innovative in delivering services to public; and he will also show how good procurement can help in practical ways to achieve better sustainability and wider policy goals as well as providing value for money

14:05 – 15.40: Working with Ministers: A Private Office Perspective

Learning and Development Session

Location:Wordsworth Room

Speaker: Adam Rothapel, private secretary for Bridget Prentice MP, parliamentary under-secretary at the Ministry of Justice, and Hugo Deadman, private secretary for Lord Hunt of Kingsheath

Summary: Hear about life in a Private Office - understanding a minister's outlook and their approach to policy and how civil servants and ministers can work better together

14:05 – 15.40: Delivery Chains Workshop

Learning and Development Session

Location: Rutherford Room

Speaker: Nic Suggit and Sean Lusk, National School of Government

Summary: Achieving policy outcomes within complex systems is not always easy or predictable. A systems approach to analyzing the interrelationships and links can contribute to a better understanding of the likely difficulties and obstacles. The representation of the delivery chain and the analysis of the links in the delivery chain is a useful technique to draw out these complexities and to help the public manager make sense of the complexity. This practical workshop will explore how this can be applied

14:25 – 16.00: The Innovative Board - Empowering the Organisation and Building Capability to innovate

Learning and Development Session

Location: Windsor Room

Speaker: Sir Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council and Pauleen Lane, Chair of English Partnerships

Summary: This session will explore the barriers to, and levers for, innovation and change and the balance between risk and opportunity and the management of risk

14:25 – 16.00: The Law and You: EU

Learning and Development Session

Location: Abbey Room

Speaker: Cathryn Bowker, National School of Government

Summary: The European Union with Cathryn Bowker of the National School of Government

14:25 – 16.00: Diversity Excellence Model

Learning and Development Session

Location: Wesley Room

Speaker: Jane Nokes, National School of Government

Summary: We are told that valuing diversity makes business sense. But what does "valuing diversity" mean and how will you know if you are doing it? The National School of Government has linked diversity to the EFQM Excellence Model® by using it specifically to address and therefore measure diversity and its crucial role in the business effectiveness of an organisation. Where are you in implementing diversity?

15:05 – 16.40: Civil Service 'Public Value' Award: Polad team, Basra, Iraq, Ministry of Defence

Learning and Development Session

Location: Caxton Room

Speaker: Fiona White, Ministry of Defence, assistant director senior civil service - Civilian Personnel; Trish Culling - Ministry of Defence, Support to Operations Team; and Emma Frost - Aerospace Project Team, project manager

Summary: The modern civil service is all about delivery and for the Ministry of Defence you can't get much closer to the delivery end of the business than deploying on operations. Three civilians deployed to Southern Iraq in 2006 and 2007 talk about their experiences of working alongside their military colleagues; how much you can learn, professionally and personally, by stepping outside your comfort zone and how you can bring that learning to bear in your day-to-day role

15:05 – 16.40: Sustainability in Schools

Learning and Development Session

Location: Henry Moore Room

Speaker: Dr Jake Reynolds, senior sustainability advisor, Department for Children, Schools and Families and Ann Finlayson, Sustainable Development Education Commissioner

Summary: This session highlights practical steps being taken to ensure that sustainability sits at the heart of the education of children and young people in the UK. The session will explain that sustainability is more than something 'taught' in the classroom. It is also the physical design and build of the school including materials used and the generation of power. Sustainability will be something children and young people see and work within ¯ a living, learning place in which to explore what a sustainable lifestyle means

15:05 – 16.40: Managing Change within The National Archives

Learning and Development Session

Location: Mountbatten Room

Speaker: Natalie Ceeney, chief executive of The National Archives, looks back at her time in post

Summary: Natalie Ceeney looks at her time as chief executive at The National Archives since Autumn 2005, the internal and external challenges she faced and how the wider-government environment has changed over the past two-three years (such as the increasing interest and concern in information management/data handling and why this matters to government). The session will also look at the internal and external changes which have been introduced, the results so far and the next steps.

15:40 – 16.40: Making the civil service the Number One employer for Muslims

Inspiring Innovation session

Location: Wordsworth Room

Speaker: Nazir Afzal, Civil Service Islamic Society

Summary: The Civil Service is a fast-paced and dynamic employer, highly regarded for career potential and investing in people. Then why is there such a low uptake by one of the fastest growing communities in the UK? There are nearly 60% of working age Muslims in Britain, a growing number of whom are highly intelligent and well qualified graduates entering the labour market. We need to explore new ways to encourage and engage with a valuable and untapped resource.

The Civil Service Islamic Society leads this session looking at new ways of working collaboratively with diversity leads, HR practitioners, and policy makers in diversifying the staff base of the Civil Service to make it more representative of the civil society we live in. It will also address some of the challenges that Muslims may encounter when entering and progressing in the Civil Service and how line managers and others can help. Finally it will examine innovative approaches in how to engage with school leavers and graduates who are thinking of applying to the Civil Service.

15:40 – 16.40: Agency Chief Executives Q&A Forum

Inspiring Innovation session

Location: Rutherford Room

Speaker: Delivery in Practice - Working in Partnership: Rosemary Thew, chief executive, Driving Standards Agency Career Pathways and Operational Delivery: Andrew Hudson, chief executive, Valuation Office Agency Improving Customer Service: Peter Collis, chief executive, Land Registry

Summary: Three agency chief executives talk about delivery in practice - working in partnership; career pathways and operational delivery; and improving customer service. There will be plenty of opportunity to put your questions about working in operational delivery to them

15:40 – 16.40: Operation QUEST – supporting frontline partners in achieving substantial increases in police productivity

Inspiring Innovation session

Location: Windsor Room

Speaker: Robert Arnott (Home Office) and police officers tbc

Summary: How the Home Office supported frontline police officers to achieve substantial customer service improvements through designing and implementing changes in nuts-and-bolts processes. What that was like (both formal techniques and cultural change), what were the results, how is it being sustained, lessons learned. Read-across to other areas of public service, and the role and posture of civil servants.

16:00 – 17.00: Developing the online channel – web convergence plans for CSR 07

Inspiring Innovation session

Location: Abbey Room

Speaker: Jane Nickalls, chief executive of Directgov and David Dinsdale, director of Businesslink.gov.uk

Summary: The session will be of particular relevance both to attendees whose services will converge onto Directgov and businesslink.gov.uk in the next three years and to those who wish to know more about web convergence. The session will cover:

- How the channels for citizens and business will develop over the next three years, including details of plans for 2008/2009.

- Opportunities for service owners to develop their services on-line using Directgov and businesslink.gov.uk. The session will include a Q&A to give attendees the opportunity to have their own questions answered