Civil Service in the news
Gus O’Donnell visits York
On Tuesday 2 September, the Head of the Civil Service spoke at York University on skills development and visited Defra and the Health and Safety Executive.
In the morning, Gus spoke at a workshop at York University on the role UK universities play in the development of skills for government.
He told public administration course leaders from a range of universities that universities had a vital role to play in developing the skills of future generations of civil and public servants.
He set out what he believed were the drivers for change in the Civil Service over the coming years and how the Service would need to respond to them.
He said that it was likely, for example, that staff would need to work across traditional departmental and organisational boundaries, use more multidisciplinary analysis to understand how interventions work and place citizens' needs at the heart of policy solutions.
Gus stressed that the traditional Civil Service values of honesty, objectivity, impartiality and integrity would continue to underpin the way civil servants operated but that the civil service would have to keep responding and adapting to the ever changing demands of the world around us.
Gus then visited Kings Pool in York, where the Health and Safety Executive’s Pesticides Safety Directorate and Defra’s Shared Services Directorate, Plant Health division and the Central Science Laboratory is based.
Defra’s Shared Services Directorate (SSD) provides the department’s network with a range of corporate services – primarily HR, finance, procurement, and facilities management.
Gus was given a tour of the SSD office to meet staff, learn about SSD’s future plans, and discuss the impact of new IT and associated business processes. He also met with staff from the Enquiry Centre to understand about engagement with end-users of the services.
He said,
‘The Gershon Review in 2005 recommended that the “back-office” functions of government departments and their agencies could be rationalised to release much needed resources.
‘Defra responded to this with the creation of SSD. I’ve welcomed the opportunity to see how this has become an efficiently functioning and successful working relationship, setting a high standard across government.’
Next up Sir Gus dropped in on Plant Health to find out more about how they’re helping government shape policy to protect plant and bee health. He was given a run-down on the citrus longhorn beetle and shown how rapid test kits for plant disease have been developed and used.
Gus then met with senior staff from the Central Science Laboratory (CSL) and Plant Health for an update on progress towards their merger in April 2009 into a single agency along with the Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate and the Plant Variety Rights Office and Seeds Division.
CSL’s work involves providing scientific evidence and information through its research and analytical services to governments and industry around the world. Its focus is on the areas of protecting environmental quality, developing sustainable land uses and safeguarding food chain safety.
The merger will build on CSL’s already close working relationship with Plant Health through which it provides research support to policy development and diagnostic services for the Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate.
Gus added,
‘With over 700 staff, 500 of whom are scientists, CSL has a strong reputation for both its innovative approach and as an influential centre of excellence in sustainable land use, safe food supply and environmental issues.’
The new agency will play to its strengths in plant health and lead to greater integration of plant health policy, regulation and the underpinning sciences.’
