Leading Questions

Governments around the world are all faced with meeting skills gaps and talent challenges. Many services require digitally-savvy public servants to help deliver more citizen-focused services, while there is also a need for leadership and management skills to allow government to become more risk-smart and innovative.  This Government Transformed podcast, supported by knowledge partner Skillsof...

Civil servants in government make many decisions every day. From policy officials working to develop responsive services that meet users’ needs, to frontline officials who have to make choices on what tax cases to prioritise, the work of government requires the skills to make effective decisions. This Global Government Forum webinar looked at how governments can build systems that help drive bette...

In this conversation, the executive editor of Global Government Forum Richard Johnstone chats to Joe Hill, the policy director of the think-tank Re:state about his recent essay, Everythingism. There’s a link to Joe’s essay at the bottom of these notes, but Everythingism is what Joe Hill describes as the belief in government that “every proposal, project or policy is a means for promoting every nat...

The threat that public sector organisations face from fraud is growing. In an era when technological advancements are rapidly transforming the landscape, public sector organisations face unprecedented challenges in combating fraud. According to a survey of public servants undertaken by SAS, all public sector agencies surveyed are currently experiencing some form of fraud and expect to see an incre...

The race is on, both within and among governments, to develop and implement artificial intelligence (AI) tools for greater productivity better public services. But the race cannot be run, let alone won, without systems changes and cultural reinvigoration among department workforces. Deploying AI technology at scale will mean changing delivery systems, long-term staff training and fluid yet secure...

In the UK, the government is focused on harnessing the potential of digital and data to unlock better, more responsive and effective services. In a recent conversation hosted by Global Government Forum, government data experts discussed the role, opportunities and challenges of using data and AI to deliver on its five missions.  Those five missions include: kickstarting economic growth,...

Governments around the world are focused on how to make the most of artificial intelligence in the way they work – and the government of Canada, which in March launched the first AI strategy for the federal public service, is no different. In this episode, three public servants from across the Canadian government spoke about the challenges that come with deploying AI to create more efficient publi...

In this special podcast with our knowledge partner EY, former UK civil servant Siobhan Benita speaks to Catherine Friday, EY’s Global and Asia Pacific Government and Infrastructure Industry Leader, about the urgency of governments getting to grips with risk in the age of permacrisis. From external factors, such as finance and people, to external issues like geopolitics and climate change, EY has i...

The UK government has set out a new National Procurement Policy Statement that will focus on ensuring that public procurement can support the government’s five national missions of boosting economic growth, building green energy, tackling crime, breaking down barriers to opportunity and build an NHS fit for the future. The podcast, based on a Global Government Forum webinar held on 4 March, sets o...

Governments need to better join-up policy development with operational delivery to ensure they can meet the growing challenges they face – but such collaboration can be difficult to implement in practice. In this podcast, experts from the UK, Estonia and Brazil share best practice on harnessing people-powered insight in policymaking, examining how governments are working to understand citizens’ li...

Following the UK general election, Labour has formed a government with a large majority – and with a focus on delivering five national missions. These are: kickstarting economic growth, making Britain a clean energy superpower; take back our streets by halving serious violent crime; breaking down barriers to opportunity; and building an NHS fit for the future.  Focusing on delivering these lo...

In this third instalment of Global Government Forum’s How Government Works podcast series – which provides a guide to the UK’s corridors of power – we examine the scope of operations, activities and processes that are involved in the delivery of new policy initiatives.  This episode explores the policymaking processes: what gets prioritised fo...

In this second instalment of Global Government Forum’s How Government Works podcast series – which provides a guide to the UK’s corridors of power – we examine governance, regulation and culture of Whitehall and Westminster.  Organisational cultures are key to how any operation functions, and this episode looks at everything from the civi...

Understanding how Whitehall and Westminster work can be a daunting challenge. Even those who have been interacting professionally with government for many years can find some of the practices, procedures, conventions and relationships complicated to navigate. This first podcast in Global Government Forum’s How Government Works series provides easy-to-digest information on who does what, and how, i...

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...

On this episode of Leading Questions LIVE, Siobhan Benita speaks to Dominic Rochon , 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...

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 a...

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 discusses 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...

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 dri...

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...

In this, the last episode of Leading Questions series 3, Andy Haldane 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...

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 whe...

In this episode, Una O’Brien , who was head of the UK health department between 2010 and 2016, speaks with podcast host and former colleague Siobhan Benita 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 contro...

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...

Iain Rennie spent 30 years in the New Zealand Public Service culminating in eight years in the top job – that of state services commissioner. In this episode, Iain tells podcast host Siobhan Benita about talent management reform, his realisations about effective leadership, his work as a consultant to governments around the world, and why public servants should be mindful of the increasingly diver...