“The tragic level of deaths tells us that probably in every area, if we'd gone further faster we might have saved more lives”, “For me, it’s just as important that we learn the lessons as we go as it is that in the years ahead. A few days after he was named by Boris Johnson as Britain’s youngest ever cabinet secretary, Simon Case took part in a cross-government exercise, organised by his team, to … On 9 September, Simon Case will become the 13th cabinet secretary. Simon Case became cabinet secretary at an extraordinary time, and his first few weeks in post have been dominated by the government’s response to the coronavirus crisis. “The answer to that is yes and no. Beckie Smith and Richard Johnstone. Simon Case will take over from Sir Mark Sedwill as the next Cabinet Secretary, making him one of the most powerful men in Whitehall with the job of … A former private secretary to Prince William will reportedly be named the UK's new top civil servant. [10], On 8 January 2016, Case was announced as the next Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister in succession to Chris Martin who had died while in office. Asked later to reflect on the proudest moments of his career, he recalls the aftermath of David Cameron’s resignation following the 2016 EU referendum. How do you get more expertise in? Witnesses. Former U.S. “There are moments in reshuffles where the wrong person has been put on the line and you realise you’re about to offer the wrong person the job”. I mean, these things are really difficult to know. But when the prime minister asked Simon Case to take on the job, in the end he decided that he could not turn it down. We've all got families and lives of our own to lead outside work and you can't fail to have been affected… As parents and family members and friends to others, it's a hell of a thing that we're all going through together.”. [3], Case was born on 27 December 1978 in Bristol, England. [2] That role had been vacant for eight years after Sir Jeremy Heywood left in 2012. How do we move faster? They are more oil tankers than speedboats”, He goes back further to the 1918 Haldane report into the machinery of government, saying some of its critique is still relevant today. CSW has heard from senior officials who have butted heads with the tech enthusiast. LONDON — Simon Case has been appointed Cabinet secretary and chief of the U.K.'s civil service. Simon Case will take over as the UK's top civil servant next week after being appointed by Boris Johnson. Another career civil servant, experienced in policy but not delivery. Case doesn’t address the now ex-special adviser’s more inflammatory criticisms directly, saying he “hasn’t read or studied all of the Cummings critique”. Headed by the Governor, the Executive Branch consists of sixteen executive departments and six statewide elected officials. The role is currently occupied by Simon Case. At the start of this, we didn't understand the level of asymptomatic carriers that there would be... We know that at the start we weren't doing enough testing, but we rapidly scaled that up.”, He goes on: “So there will come a time when we look at all of these lessons, I think, in every area, we’ll say to ourselves, could we have further, faster in some of those areas? Simon Case will be named as cabinet secretary on Tuesday, the Financial Times reports. His first outing in front of a select committee was never going to be easy and, appearing before the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee on Thursday, Case was hesitant at times. Simon Case, who was appointed permanent secretary of 10 Downing Street this May, has been confirmed as the next cabinet secretary. “There were quite a lot of new data streams [as well as] existing streams within departments being pulled together into a single, cross-government dashboard, so that all ministers and all officials have access to the same picture, which I think is probably a great thing.”. My name is River & I am an A.I. “That's a very good question. [8][9], From 2012 and July 2014, Case worked at 10 Downing Street as a Private Secretary to the Prime Minister and then as Deputy Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister. My message to civil servants is, when you see those things, have the courage to challenge them and change them.”, Does Case think the fact that he is citing a report from half a century ago demonstrate that the civil service is difficult to change? [citation needed], In 2007, Case married Elizabeth Kistruck, chief finance officer for Hotels.com at Expedia Inc, they have three daughters. So it would be tempting to think his return to government might have felt like a return to familiar ground – after two years in that other-worldly realm of the royal family. Simon Case will take up his role as the new cabinet secretary on 9 September, the Cabinet … But he did weigh in on the formation of the job – a title last held by Gavin Barwell under Theresa May, before Cummings effectively took over many of the responsibilities when he became chief adviser to Johnson. Another lesson he hopes will be taken from this period is one that another cabinet secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, wanted to see realised. Simon Case: Boris Johnson appoints close ally and former aide to Prince William as new cabinet secretary. At 41 Case is the second youngest cabinet secretary after Maurice Hankey, who David “It’s the context that's forced us to do this big, complex policy thinking and then rapid design and delivery of frontline services. The task Case and others are facing has been further complicated by some high-profile staffing changes. [3][10] On 23 June 2017, he was appointed a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in recognition of his service in that role. Simon Case, drafted in by Boris Johnson to be the top aide at Number 10 earlier this year, is expected to be unveiled as the youngest Cabinet Secretary in living memory tomorrow. He is speaking to CSW just days after Boris Johnson’s chief political aide Dominic Cummings and head of communications Lee Cain announced they would be leaving Downing Street – shortly after it was reported that Cain was to be made Johnson’s chief of staff. If the papers are to be believed, there are many who will be glad to see the back of Cummings. “Antonia’s appointment is great news for the Ministry of Justice. “I'm pretty determined that we hold on to some of this,” Case says, casting around for the words to describe the last few months. An important part of what you need to get through such a broad crisis is helping and understanding the challenges that our staff are going through in their daily lives. Simon is currently the Permanent Secretary in Number 10. Hey there! His appointment as No.10 permanent secretary in June, then as cabinet secretary in September, came as the government was tackling two national crises – Covid and the fraught negotiations at the end of the Brexit transition period – and with No.10 apparently in the throes of a power struggle. It is another example of where the work of government has been changed by its coronavirus response. Simon Case was appointed Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service in September 2020. "I think people will be surprised about how much of an advocate for talent in the civil service Dominic Cummings has been", But Case says his experience working with Cummings has been “quite different to the media portrayal”. One day we will be out of the immediate period of Covid, but those are the lessons that I think that we as government, and especially as the civil service, need to hold on to.”. He says the civil service, now more than ever, must be a “compassionate employer”. “We often talk about how time in Covid-land is a very different thing to previous experiences of time,” he says. “For me, the period of Covid has given us a lot of signposts... it’s been an accelerator or something transformational. I think that the civil service, like many employers all around the country, has made real strides forwards on helping people learn to talk about their mental health, understand and be comfortable talking about the pressure they're under, and think about any help that they might need. He previously served as Downing Street Permanent Secretary to Prime Minister Boris Johnson from May 2020. Welcome to the Missouri Secretary of State. [5] He then undertook postgraduate research in political history at Queen Mary University of London, and graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 2007. for the best possible experience. WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. "The weight on the shoulders of the prime minister and his ministerial team is unbelievable. “So alongside other advice that I've given the PM, I’m very happy to talk him through how Downing Street has worked in the past, and helping him understand what the various roles have been. Boris Johnson said Simon Case, drafted in to be the top aide at Number 10 earlier this year, would do a 'fantastic' job as Cabinet Secretary. He adds: “Actually, quite a lot of the feedback that I get from many of the civil servants who work closely with him is [such that] I think people will be surprised about how much of an advocate for talent in the civil service Dom and many other people really have been.”. A former private secretary to Prince William has been named the UK's new top civil servant. Ahead of England’s second lockdown – the reason CSW is joining Case virtually, rather than physically, in the Cabinet Office – ministers and civil servants had been able to look at what did and didn’t work the first time around, and were armed with better data about where the virus was spreading, he says. There is huge pressure on everybody. Changing large organisations is inherently complicated – and especially one that's hundreds of thousands [of people]. From 2.15pm: Simon Case, Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service; Alex Chisholm, Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Office Missouri’s Executive Branch consists of all state elective and appointive employees and is responsible for executing the laws of the state. The civil service advertised for a replacement cabinet secretary with a proposed salary of £200,000. Former Downing Street PPS Simon Case to return to civil service as No.10 perm sec. Before leaving for Kensington Palace, he was the lead civil servant tasked with finding a solution to the Irish border issue after Brexit, and had a key Brexit-focused role at the UK Representation to the EU before that. Now cabinet secretary, he tells Beckie Smith and Richard Johnstone what it’s been like steering the civil service through a pandemic, Exclusive insight into the world of the civil service, New cabinet secretary Simon Case acknowledges ‘gaps’ in his Whitehall CV, Where Dominic Cummings is right, and more: seven things we learned in Mark Sedwill’s CSW exit interview, Simon Case appointed cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, Former Downing Street PPS Simon Case to return to civil service as No.10 perm sec, New civil service training 'will raise standards and reduce reliance on consultants', Cloud adoption challenges and how to overcome them. Many experts argue the UK should have adopted lockdown measures earlier; the test and trace system was slow to get going and has failed to reach many of those who have come into contact with someone who has contracted the virus; and many self-employed people have been left without government support while their incomes have taken a hit. The FT reports that Mr Johnson told allies that he wanted Mr Case to be ‘my Jeremy’, a reference to the revered former cabinet secretary Jeremy Heywood, who served David Cameron and Theresa May before his death from cancer in 2018. Case’s predecessor, Sir Mark Sedwill, by all accounts had his fair share of run-ins with the chief spad. And as one of the people appointed to advise them – yeah, that burden is one that is not always especially easy to carry.”, His conversations with counterparts around the world are a comfort, he says; they are all dealing with the same challenges. Earlier this year, his former boss appeared in the BBC documentary Prince William, Football and Mental Health, which followed the duke as he tried to get men to open up about mental-health issues. Among the less contentious of Cummings’s gripes was that the civil service is too bureaucratic and has insufficient scientific, management and other specialist skills – something Case notes came up in the 1968 Fulton report on civil service reform. [18][19] Case took up the position on 9 September 2020. It is a period that will be studied by historians for decades to come – even without Case’s memoirs to help them. “Something that in the past government hasn't done enough of is learning lessons from around the world and genuinely being open to looking at what other countries are doing,” he says. [4] He was educated at Bristol Grammar School and Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in History. [12] He took up the post in May 2017. As an experienced permanent secretary she brings with her a … “You have to look at the numbers. Cabinet secretary Simon Case said: ‘Antonia’s appointment is great news for the Ministry of Justice. So that's what I've been talking to him about.”, Johnson is the third prime minister Case has worked for in No.10. Subscribe now to Civil Service World magazine, By [3] He then returned to the Cabinet Office, where he was Executive Director of the Implementation Group. And I think that tells us a lot about how we should govern. Simon Case appointed cabinet secretary and head of the civil service. A career civil servant until he left to become Prince William’s private secretary in 2018, Case has dealt with his share of crises. WSJ's Ben Kesling reports from the scene in Ferguson, Mo., after a grand jury declined to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting of Michael Brown Photo: ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY: MICHAEL REGAN. Remember the context, what we're dealing with: a totally novel virus. Does Case think any of the eccentric spad’s ideas are worth keeping? [16] Also in 2018, Case was appointed a Visiting Professor at King's College London, having previously been a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the university. Even before Case returned to government this summer after a two-year hiatus at the royal household, some politicians would surely have been glad of that fact. Heywood, whom Case worked with as a PPS, wanted officials to engage more with policy development overseas. “And actually, we hear civil servants telling us that our processes aren't agile enough, that we can be too bureaucratic,” he adds. Of course, as the nation’s highest-ranking civil servant, Case can’t name names. Please turn on JavaScript In offices across Whitehall and the corridors of parliament, at kitchen tables and in spare bedrooms across the country, people are breathing a sigh of relief. The Prime Minister has appointed Simon Case as Cabinet Secretary and head of the Civil Service, the Cabinet Office has confirmed. Succeeding Sir Mark Sedwill as cabinet secretary and head of the civil service is a job that a lot of people – including the successful candidate – said that they did not want. But listening to him recount his experience of the last few months, it is as though his arrival at Downing Street was when he stepped through the looking glass. Another white man with an Oxbridge degree. A former private secretary to the Duke of Cambridge will become the new head of the UK civil service, Downing Street confirmed today. That is something he’s been thinking about a lot over the last couple of years. For every minister who will be relieved at the news, there will surely be a frustrated historian of government wishing they had Case’s reflections on this period to look forward to. “No such thing. Three best-practice measures in the event of a data breach, The future of voice: how to successfully transform your legacy voice estate, Case Study: Cryptocurrency, connectivity and the cloud, Chief Nursing Officer for England's Summit. “Whilst I recognise there's a lot of media interest in some of what's going on in Downing Street, actually, the vast majority of what the PM and his team have been focused on is the same big issues that we've been working on for the last few months – ie Covid,” he says. So as always, when you're under pressure and you think ‘How do I cope with this?’, the quality of the people around you is a big factor in that.”. 97% of civil servants want work from home option in … Simon Case was appointed as … This will include issues including the relationship between No.10 and the Cabinet Office, Civil Service Reform, the Cabinet Office staff survey results including allegations of bullying and harassment. Cabinet secretary Simon Case added that Driver had provided "strong leadership to the department over the last few months". The Duke of Cambridge is said to have given Simon Case’s appointment as Cabinet Secretary his blessing (Ben Birchall/PA) Apart from his role with the Duke of Cambridge, Mr Case’s career has included helping deliver the 2012 London Olympics, a tenure as private secretary to former prime minister David Cameron, and working on the Irish border issue created by Brexit. Coronavirus has forced officials to confront some of these problems, and Case says the “smarter, more agile delivery of public services and policy development” that has emerged during the pandemic could make government more effective in the longer term. STILL CLIMBING. Simon Case has been confirmed as the UK’s new top civil servant, with the prime minister saying he would do a “fantastic” job as cabinet secretary. Simon Case was Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge's Private Secretary, but he's now working for the government as Cabinet Secretary and head of Civil Service. And I can't do anything other than answer it honestly. chatbot, let's talk. “At the heart [of those conversations] – in a way that perhaps I haven't felt for quite a long time, if ever – is that all the decisions we're taking in work have such a direct impact on the people around us.”. Simon Case, who was made permanent secretary at Downing Street … [17], In August 2020 Case was announced in the Financial Times as Lord Sedwill's successor as Head of the Home Civil Service. The International Comparators Joint Unit – a team of officials set up between the Cabinet Office and Foreign Office to analyse and assess global responses to Covid – is a “phenomenal example” of how that can work, the cab sec says. As one of the people advising them, that burden is not always easy to carry”, “The reality is there's 450,000-odd of us in the civil service who are deeply motivated to serve the public... but we aren't machines. With Cummings gone, many are wondering whether his ideas will also vanish from government. 1 Dec. 2016, Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Cambridge University Lightweight Rowing Club, Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, Private Secretary to the Duke of Cambridge, "Number 10 needs to sort out its internal chaos fast", "Prince William loses right-hand man to Downing Street", "PM's new Principal Private Secretary: Simon Case", "The Joint Intelligence Committee and the German Question, 1947–61", "PM's private secretary to lead Implementation Unit", "Downing Street names Simon Case as David Cameron's new principal private secretary", "CENTRAL CHANCERY OF THE ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD", "Senior appointments at UK Permanent Representation to the EU", "Brexit official tasked with solving Irish border issue quits", "Prince William's new Private Secretary swaps Brexit for Royal Household", https://www.kcl.ac.uk/archive/news/sspp/newsrecords/2018/clare-lombardelli-simon-case-new-visiting-professors, "Boris Johnson picks No 10 official to be head of UK civil service", "Simon Case appointed as Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service", Cabinet Secretaries of the United Kingdom, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Simon_Case&oldid=994951758, People educated at Bristol Grammar School, Alumni of Queen Mary University of London, Principal Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister, Articles with short description added by PearBOT 5, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 18 December 2020, at 11:31. 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