Civil Service in the news
Gus O’Donnell visits Oxford
On Friday 7 November, Gus O’Donnell, Head of the Civil Service visited Oxford to meet Civil Servants working at the Crown Prosecution Service and to speak to students at Oxford Brookes University.
In the morning, Gus visited the CPS Thames Valley’s Oxfordshire team. The team, made up of lawyers, paralegals and administrative officers are based at Cowley and work to Oxford Crown and County Court, as well as serving Magistrates’ courts in Oxford, Didcot, Bicester, Banbury, Wantage and Witney.
Gus was given a series of short briefings on the overall CPS change programme as well as on specific local initiatives in Thames Valley. He was given a tour of the office where he had an opportunity to meet staff and find out about the impact of the CPS’s new Optimum Business Model (OBM). The OBM brings all the people working on a particular set of cases together as a new way of prioritising and progressing trials. Gus found out that by implementing the OBM, CPS has improved the service provided to witnesses, speeded up case preparation and raised staff morale. One of CPS’s key measures of success is the number of court adjournments and since the OBM has been implemented in Cowley there has been a 35% reduction in such adjournments.
Gus then found out about Thames Valley’s innovative Confidence Action Teams (CATs). These are teams made up of CPS staff and other local organisations, which come together to focus on activities and actions which can bring tangible service improvements. He was briefed on the impact the CAT had made on the setting up of specialist domestic violence courts.
Over lunch Gus had the opportunity to speak to a variety of CPS Civil Servants and learnt about staff engagement and involvement in the area.
Gus said:
“I have been really please to see how CPS have responded to the results of their Capability Review and the implementation of the Optimum Business Model is just one of the ways that they are improving customer service and case progression”
“The Confidence Action Team in Oxford and their success in delivering service improvements in the area of domestic violence show what can be achieved when civil servants work in partnership with other agencies and external organisations”
In the afternoon Gus visited Oxford Brookes University to speak to a group of 40 students and answer questions about the role of the Civil Service and his own career within government. He spoke to the students about the how the Civil Service offers a real opportunity to make a difference to people and respond to the challenges of the future. Gus outlined the entry routes to the Civil Service and encouraged the students to investigate what a career in government could offer them, either through the Fast Stream or through the hundreds of other roles advertised on the Civil Service recruitment Gateway.
The visit to Oxford was part of an overall programme of visits that Gus regularly makes to meet civil servants working across the country.
Further information
Crown Prosecution Service
For more information about the Crown Prosecution Service, visit: http://www.cps.gov.uk[external website]
Fast Stream
The Fast Stream is the Civil Service’s accelerated development programme. For more information visit: http://www.faststream.gov.uk/ [external website]
Civil Service Recruitment Gateway
A wide range of vacancies are advertised on the Civil Service Recruitment Gateway. For more information visit: http://www.careers.civil-service.gov.uk/ [external website]
