19 July 2006 - Leigh Lewis welcomes DWP capability review report
Leigh Lewis, Permanent Secretary of the Department for Work and Pensions, welcomed the findings of the Capability Review of the department published today by the Cabinet Office.
The review, one of a series carried out by a team managed by the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit, evaluated the Department's future capability in the three crucial areas of leadership, strategy and delivery.
Leigh Lewis said:
The Capability Review programme is part of the wider reform of the civil service. The objectives of the programme are to:" I am pleased that the review recognises the substantial achievements of the DWP in modernising and improving its services over the first five years of its existence – and indeed finds that in some respects it is an exemplar for others.
" It is especially encouraging that the review identifies the passion and commitment of our staff as one of our greatest strengths. It is also gratifying to see acknowledgement of DWP's strong evidence-based approach to developing policy responses to some of the most difficult problems we face as a society such as pension and welfare reform.
" But the review also makes clear that, in order to continue to deliver success in the future, we need to develop our services further and, in particular, to bring them together into a more coherent whole for our customers. The review also makes clear the need to strengthen the role of the core department and to develop the leadership being provided by the department’s top civil service team for the benefit of our customers, ministers and the taxpayer.
" The department’s executive team will now be working with leaders across the department to develop a comprehensive action plan in response to the report. The report already includes ten key actions which we are taking immediately to put its recommendations into effect.”
- bring about a step change in the capability of departments for future delivery;
- improve the capability of the civil service to be ready for the challenges of tomorrow as well as to meet today’s delivery challenges; and
- assure Ministers that Departments’ civil service leadership is suitably equipped to develop and execute Ministerial strategies.
The outcome must be that the civil service as a whole is better at delivery – that it can deliver its existing targets, understand its future challenges and rise to meet them efficiently and effectively.
Notes to editors
- The report can be found at www.civilservice.gov.uk/reform/capability_reviews/reports.asp
The ten key actions which the Department is to take immediately can be found at pages 6-7 of the report.
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