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?
Speakers:
Dr Anjana Ahuja, Journalist for the Financial Times, and author
Jonathan Slater, former Permanent Secretary and Visiting Professor at King’s College London and Queen Mary University London
Dr Hannah White OBE, Director of the Institute for Government
Chair:
Dennis C. Grube, Professor of Public Policy at the University of Cambridge, and Research Lead in Political Decision-Making, Bennett Institute for Public Policy
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