Leading Questions Live: How to make government work in the age of permacrisis
Release Date: 10/10/2024
BONUS EPISODE: How the US federal government is getting ready for President Trump
Leading Questions
The US presidential election is the most consequential taking place in the ‘year of democracy’. This special episode of Global Government Forum’s Leading Questions podcast, taken from a webinar held on 19 November, looks at what public servants will be doing to prepare for the incoming presidential team led by President Donald Trump. In this podcast, webinar chair Siobhan Benita discusses the work that civil servants will be undertaking for the government transition with , non-attorney partner and director of government and public affairs, Shaw Bransford & Roth, and Richard...
info_outline
How the Government of Canada is making progress on digital transformation
Leading Questions
On this episode of Leading Questions LIVE, Siobhan Benita speaks to , chief information officer for Canada. They discuss Dominic’s broad mandate, which includes service delivery, security and privacy, as well as his current priorities such as improving digital services, enhancing cybersecurity, and modernising legacy systems. Dominic touches upon Canada’s past technological failures and controversies, and stresses the role of collaboration, both within government and with provincial governments and the private sector, to bring public services into a new era of human-centred service...
info_outline
Leading Questions Live: How to make government work in the age of permacrisis
Leading Questions
In this episode of Leading Question, recorded with a live online audience, a panel of Global Government Forum experts delve into the findings of its research into the key characteristics needed for a modern public service. The Making Government Work report identifies five key pillars of a modern civil service, which are: · Strong leadership with mutual respect and alignment between ministers and senior officials · Building a highly skilled, inclusive and thriving public sector workforce. ...
info_outline
US presidential election: what the party platforms say – and what you need to know
Leading Questions
In this special edition of Global Government Forum’s Leading Questions podcast, which is based on a GGF webinar held in September, we look at the key issues in the upcoming United States presidential election. Join Siobhan Benita as she discuss the key issues of the campaign with Dr Thomas Gift, the associate professor of political science and director of the Centre on US Politics (CUSP) at UCL, and Kevin R. Kosar, a resident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Listen to this podcast to find out: The key issues shaping the campaign. The policy priorities being set out by the...
info_outline
How to empower civil servants to deliver government missions, with Dr Dan Honig
Leading Questions
In a new episode of Leading Questions, Richard Johnstone, the executive editor of Global Government Forum, interviews Dr Dan Honig, professor of public policy at University College London and Georgetown University, about his new book, Mission Driven Bureaucrats. Subtitled Empowering People To Help Government Do Better, Honig’s book explores how civil servants can be empowered to drive better government performance. Honig argues that many public sector organisations are too focused on compliance – what he describes as an attempt to keep those who might want to do ill from doing it. Such an...
info_outline
UK general election: how to get ready for the next government - BONUS EPISODE
Leading Questions
Welcome to this special edition of Leading Questions in which we look at the key issues in the UK general election and how civil servants will be working to get ready for the next government. The general election will be held on 4 July, with parties setting out their vision for the future of the country. That means that right now, civil servants are working on ‘day one’ documents for new ministers who will be appointed after votes are cast. These briefings will highlight the key issues that the next government will have to deal with, and set out the path to implement key policies. ...
info_outline
Flipping the script in government with former Bank of England chief economist – Andy Haldane
Leading Questions
In this, the last episode of Leading Questions series 3, talks about thriving on leading through crisis and the challenges and opportunities “when the old is broken and the new is yet to be forged”. Having spent 32 years at the Bank of England, latterly as chief economist, headed up the UK government’s Levelling Up taskforce, founded the charity Pro Bono Economics, and spent the last two years as chief executive of the Royal Society of Arts, Andy has a range of roles and experiences to draw on. Yet though he has been very honest publicly about his organisations’ successes and failures...
info_outline
From COVID-19 to Russia's invasion of Ukraine: Estonia’s top public servant Taimar Peterkop's tips for dealing with crises
Leading Questions
Estonia’s most senior civil servant, secretary of state Taimar Peterkop, shares his insights into leading through crises. From dealing with a vulnerability in the country’s digital ID system – which involved updating thousands of digital services – to the country’s response to the COVID pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, this is an episode packed with lessons on what to do when government is faced with emergency. Taimar’s main learning from the digital ID crisis was the importance of building relationships with the private sector, academia and...
info_outline
‘I always knew that my anchor was health’ – Dame Una O’Brien
Leading Questions
In this episode of Leading Questions Dame Una O’Brien, who was permanent secretary of the UK Department of Health between 2010 and 2016, joins podcast host Siobhan Benita for a chat about her unconventional route into the civil service, and what she learned along the way. Having been appointed health department permanent secretary just as a coalition government was formed, and responsible for implementing sweeping and controversial healthcare reforms, Una was right in the thick of it – being scrutinised before a parliamentary committee no less than 28 times. It was a “bumpy”...
info_outline
What government leaders’ greatest challenge will be in the coming years – interview with Israel Pastor Sainz-Pardo
Leading Questions
Podcast host Siobhan Benita speaks know-how and knock-backs with the deputy director of learning at Spain’s National Institute of Public Administration. Israel Pastor has more than 20 years’ experience as a senior manager in the Spanish state administration – including stints in the health, environment, finance and justice departments – affording him a broad perspective on leadership and what it takes to make the organisation you’re in charge of better. Having studied hard to get through a rigorous selection process whereby people with no...
info_outlineIn this episode of Leading Question, recorded with a live online audience, a panel of Global Government Forum experts delve into the findings of its research into the key characteristics needed for a modern public service.
The Making Government Work report identifies five key pillars of a modern civil service, which are:
· Strong leadership with mutual respect and alignment between ministers and senior officials
· Building a highly skilled, inclusive and thriving public sector workforce.
· Fostering an agile, digital, and risk-taking culture focused on delivery.
· Implementing working structures that transcend organisational silos.
· Cultivating a service trusted by its users and the public.
The report is the culmination of interviews with 12 senior civil service leaders from around the world, and comes in response to requests from leaders at Global Government Forum’s annual Global Government Summit for a comprehensive “blueprint” for government that could consolidate and expand key knowledge shared over the past decade.
In the conversation, report authors Richard Johnstone, Siobhan Benita and Lord Gus O’Donnell discuss the elements of each of these pillars, setting out the findings from this unique research. Listen now for an unprecedented primer on the key issues that governments around the world are facing. For civil servants looking to understand how to cultivate a service trusted by individual users and the public at large, this discussion is essential listening.
Read our Making Government Work report here.
Thank you to the leaders who took part in this study:
· Glyn Davis, secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Australia
· Donna Cadogan, head, public service, Barbados
· John Hannaford, clerk of the Privy Council and secretary to the Cabinet, Canada
· Taimar Peterkop, state secretary, Estonia
· Henrik Haapajärvi, former state secretary to the prime minister, Finland
· Claire Landais, secretary general of the government, France
· Haryomo Dwi Putranto, acting chair, Indonesian National Civil Service Agency, Indonesia
· John Callinan, secretary general of Department of Taoiseach and Government, Ireland
· Folasade Yemi-Esan, head of the civil service of the Federation, Nigeria (retired 14 August)
· Leo Yip, head of civil service and permanent secretary (Prime Minister’s Office), Singapore
· Simon Case, cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, United Kingdom
· Dustin Brown, deputy assistant director for Management, Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President, United States (at time of interview).