Permanent Secretary at the United Kingdom Cabinet Office, Alex Chisholm (pictured) said the combination of COVID-19, the country’s exit from the European Union (Brexit) and a number of other pressing agendas were driving the need for major reforms in the Public Service.
Speaking to an online audience of Government workers, Mr Chisholm said all this comprised “if not a burning platform, then certainly a very warm platform”, and would require “brilliant, diverse solutions”.
Mr Chisholm, who took up his Cabinet Office role along with that of Chief Operating Officer of the Public Service in April, was speaking alongside Minister for the Cabinet Office, Michael Gove in a session on modernising the Public Service.
Mr Chisholm said that at least 80 per cent of related Public Service work had so far been focused on leaving the EU.
“After the end of the transition period on 31 December, the task will instead switch to what we do afterwards and our responsibility to develop our own machine,” Mr Chisholm said.
“We need to focus a lot of ingenuity and effort on designing our own regulations, whether that be procurement, State aid, planning rules or agriculture,” he said.
He said that was the responsibility of Public Servants.
“We’d better get it right. I really feel that keenly and I think that’s going to be the greatest challenge of the next few years,” Mr Chisholm said.
“It is sobering to reflect that, even with all the progress we have made, we are still contending with the challenge of the EU exit and with the response to COVID-19. Much is needed from the Civil Service to deliver these mighty objectives.”
Mr Chisholm said his main priority in delivering reform was to remove the obstacles that prevented Public Servants from doing their jobs effectively.
“Such obstacles include burdensome bureaucracy, too much risk aversion, legacy systems, not being able to access the data required to make decisions, and difficulties collaborating with peers in other Departments,” he said.
London, 17 July 2020
