How should the Civil Service be reformed/reimagined for the 21st century?

The Northcote Trevelyan Report of 1854 is seen as the foundation document for the UK Civil Service. The pillars it established have shaped the institution ever since. But much has changed in the 170 years since that report’s publication. The size, sophistication, and range of responsibilities of the Civil Service are immensely different. So too is the governing context, in which social media, a 24/7 news media, rapid technological change, a less trusting public and a hyper-partisan political environment are re-shaping the boundaries of what is possible and what is expected. In the midst of so much change, is it time for a fundamental rethink - a new ‘Northcote Trevelyan’ moment - to capture the essence of what the Civil Service is now for and what we want it to be able to do?

Our guest speakers capture the essence of what the Civil Service is now for and what we want it to be able to do.

Guest speakers

• Dr Anjana Ahuja, Financial Times
• Jonathan Slater, Visiting Professor at King’s College London and Queen Mary University London and former Permanent Secretary
• Dr Hannah White, Director, Institute for Government

Chair

• Prof Dennis C. Grube, Professor of Public Policy at the University of Cambridge, and Research Lead in Political Decision-Making, Bennett Institute for Public Policy.

This discussion was part of the Bennett Institute for Public Policy Annual Conference 2024 recorded on Friday 22 March 2024 at Churchill College, Cambridge, UK

https://www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/events/annual-conference