How government works: governance, regulation and culture in Whitehall and Westminster
Much of the activity that takes place in Whitehall remains opaque to outsiders. Even if you manage to get to grips with the sheer scale of Whitehall’s responsibilities and activities (everything from national security to bees policy), the cultures, attitudes and procedures can still sometimes seem a complete mystery.
In this second of four Global Government Forum webinars designed to explain how government in the UK really works, we examined the governance, regulation and culture of Whitehall and Westminster.
Organisational cultures are key to how any operation functions, and we looked into everything from the civil service and ministerial codes, to ethics advisors and independent standards committees, onto parliamentary scrutiny of the government, and formal legal and regulatory frameworks and powers.
The webinar looked at how formal structures interact with cultures and processes in everyday working practice, explaining the context of the why as well as the how. The intention is to give you a proper understanding of the ways on which both overarching and specific principles of accountability and transparency are applied in government workflows on a daily basis.
Panel
James Humphreys, Global Government Forum Associate Policy Trainer
James is a director of the research and engagement consultancy Woodnewton. He specialises in strategic communications and behaviour change, particularly in health and the environment, though his clients range from John Lewis to GCHQ.
Before co-founding Woodnewton, he was Head of Corporate Communications in the Prime Minister’s Office, responsible for a wide range of policy and communications including digital enablement and employee engagement. His achievements included launching the first cross-government brand and the first mobile app for government.
Prior to that he was a career civil servant in the Department for the Environment, working on regional development, housing and environmental protection. He also spent two years based in Brussels as environment attaché at the UK Representation to the European Union. He wrote a book based on his experience in this role: Negotiating in the European Union: How to Make the Brussels Machine Work for You.
He was a Visiting Professor of Government at the City University London from 2005 to 2009 and launched a Masters in Political Communication, Advocacy and Campaigning at Kingston University. He has also served as chair of the IVCA (now EVCOM), the trade association for the visual communications industry, and as a trustee of the Woodland Trust.
Having worked in such very senior and varied roles, he understands the priorities and constraints facing government and public bodies, and his experience means that he can engage effectively with senior decision-makers from all over the world. James speaks at events on a wide range of subjects and he works as a professional trainer on topics such as policy, strategic planning, strategic communications, behaviour, engagement, strategic implementation, impact assessment and evaluation.
Seminars that James presents for Global Government Forum include:
Richard Johnstone, Executive Editor, Global Government Forum
Richard Johnstone is the executive editor of Global Government Forum, where he helps to produce editorial analysis and insight for the title’s audience of public servants around the world. Before joining GGF, he spent nearly five years at UK-based title Civil Service World, latterly as acting editor, and has worked in public policy journalism throughout his career.
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Webinar chair: Siobhan Benita, former UK senior civil servant
Siobhan Benita was a senior civil servant with over 15 years’ Whitehall experience. She worked in many of the major delivery departments, including Transport, Environment, Health and Local Government. She also had senior roles at the heart of Government in the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury, including supporting the then Cabinet Secretary, Lord O’Donnell to lead work on Civil Service reform and strategy. Siobhan left the Civil Service to run as an independent candidate in the Mayor of London election. She subsequently joined her alma mater, Warwick University as Chief Strategy Officer of Warwick in London and Co-Director of the Warwick Policy Lab.
