Civil Service Quarterly 15

CIVIL SERVICE QUARTERLY
Issue 15 FEATURE Subscribe for free here:

December 2017 quarterly.blog.gov.uk
WINNING THE STRATEGIC
#CSQuarterly
COMMUNICATIONS WAR WITH
DAESH
SCIENCE IN EMERGENCIES
ACTIVE CYBER DEFENCE FOR THE UK

2 CIVIL SERVICE QUARTERLY
Issue 15 – December 2017
CONTENTS
WINNING THE STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS Dan Chugg Head of the C-Daesh Coalition Comms Cell 4
WAR WITH DAESH
SCIENCE IN EMERGENCIES Christopher J. M. Whitty, interim Government Chief Scientific 6

Adviser (GCSA), CSA at the Department of Health (and former Chief
Scientific Adviser at the Department for International Development)
FROM CRIME SCENE TO COURT – Charlie Stansfield, Content Manager, Defence Science and 10
THE SCIENCE OF EXPLOSIVES Technology Laboratory Communications Team
ACTIVE CYBER DEFENCE FOR THE UK Ciaran Martin, Chief Executive, National Cyber Security Centre 14
CIVIL SERVICE TRANSFORMATION John Manzoni, Chief Executive of the Civil Service and Permanent 16
Secretary for the Cabinet Office
THE WHAT WORKS TEAM: SUPPORTING THE Dr Jen Gold, Head, What Works Team, Implementation Unit, 19
RISE OF EXPERIMENTAL GOVERNMENT Cabinet Office
POLICY PROPELLER: TRANSFORMING Ana Costea, Policy Profession Programme Lead, Department for 22
POLICYMAKING IN THE DEPARTMENT Transport (DfT), and Pauline Reeves, Deputy Director for Road User
FOR TRANSPORT Licensing Insurance & Safety, DfT, and Policy Fellow, Cambridge
University Centre for Science and Policy (CSaP)
THE CIVIL SERVICE QUARTERLY INTERVIEW: 24

CAMPBELL MCCAFFERTY,
GOVERNMENT CHIEF SECURITY OFFICER
Civil Service Quarterly opens CONTACT US EDITORIAL BOARD

up the Civil Service to greater Sir Chris Wormald, Permanent Secretary,
csq@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
collaboration and challenge, Room 140, 70 Whitehall, Department of Health (chair)
showcases excellence and invites London, SW1A 2AS Chris Skidmore, Minister for the Constitution
discussion. If the Civil Service is to
be truly world-leading, it needs to Read the magazine online Alex Aiken, Executive Director,
collaborate more, learn from experts and subscribe for free – Government Communications
outside the Civil Service, listen more quarterly.blog.gov.uk
David Halpern, Chief Executive,
to the public and front-line staff EDITORIAL TEAM Behavioural Insights Team
and respond to new challenges with
Clare Moriarty, Permanent Secretary,
innovation and boldness. Adam Thorndike, Cabinet Office
Department for Environment, Food
adam.thorndike@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Any civil servant can write for and Rural Affairs
Civil Service Quarterly – contact Simon Holder, Cabinet Office Sir Richard Lambert, Chairman,
simon.holder@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
csq@cabinetoffice.gov.uk Board of Trustees, British Museum
Aine Collins, Cabinet Office John Pullinger, National Statistician
Cover photo: ©Crown copyright
aine.collins@cabinetoffice.gov.uk and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics
Thanks to Lily Clayton, Authority
Department of Health Sam Beckett, Acting Head, Government
Economic Service
MEDIA CONTACT
Charles Roxburgh, Director General,
Lizzie Lambert, Cabinet Office Financial Services, HM Treasury
lizzie.lambert@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Jill Rutter, Programme Director,
The GCS Design Centre DESIGN BY DESIGN102 Institute for Government
Philip Rycroft, Permanent Secretary,
Contact us at: Anna Restrepo, Creative Designer
Department for Exiting the European
design102@justice.gsi.gov.uk Union, and Head of UK Governance Group,
www.design102.co.uk Cabinet Office
CIVIL SERVICE QUARTERLY 3
EDITORIAL
Civil Service Quarterly 15: Security in government
facility of its kind in the world, • Policy Propeller: transforming

but deploying state-of-the-art policy-making in the
capability, the FEL has supported Department for Transport
investigations into terrorist (DfT) – DfT’s Ana Costea
atrocities such as the bombing and Pauline Reeves provide a
of Pan Am Flight 103 over progress report on the Policy
Lockerbie and, more recently, Propeller scheme and how it
the Manchester Arena attack. is meeting the challenge for
Ciaran Martin, Chief the department to test its own
Executive of the National Cyber thinking and generate fresh
Security Centre, considers the policy ideas.
Government’s response to what
he calls, “the biggest problem The subject of the CSQ Interview,
facing the UK in cyberspace which closes this edition, is
– the accumulation of high- Campbell McCafferty, the
Chris Wormald volume, low-sophistication, Government’s first Chief Security
automated attacks from criminals Officer. In responding to a
and states”. In Active Cyber question about the major security
Defence for the UK, he outlines threats facing the UK, he pinpoints
Welcome to the 15th edition of measures in the Active Cyber keeping pace with – and even
Civil Service Quarterly (CSQ). Defence programme, launched staying ahead of – the rapid pace
which takes as its main theme, in mid-2017, which focus on of change in technology as the
security in government, in a protecting the Government and biggest challenge to government
variety of aspects. public services from such attacks and the country at large.
We lead off with an article by improving the basic level I hope you enjoy this issue.
from Dan Chugg, who describes of defences. You can give us your views and
the strategic communications comments on the Civil Service
operation he set up for Other articles in this edition include: Quarterly blog (https://quarterly.
countering Daesh propaganda. • Civil Service transformation – blog.gov.uk/), by email (csq@
This is a crucial part of the work John Manzoni, Chief Executive cabinetoffice.gov.uk), or via
of the Global Coalition for the of the Civil Service, looks at the #CSQuarterly on Twitter. If you
Defeat of Isis. forces driving profound change would like to submit an idea for a
The role of the sciences in and improvement in the UK feature in a future edition, please
emergencies is the subject Civil Service and how they are get in touch.
of an article by Christopher challenging the organisation to
Whitty, in his capacity as interim accelerate towards its goal of
Government Chief Scientific becoming the best civil service
Adviser. He looks at the science- in the world.
based response of the UK • Supporting the rise of
Government to four international experimental government
and domestic emergencies, from – Dr Jen Gold, Head of the
the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone, What Works Team at the
to the flooding of the Somerset Cabinet Office, considers the
Levels in 2013–14. opportunities for government
In From crime scene to court departments to generate
– the science of explosives, more of their own evidence Sir Chris Wormald, Permanent
Charlie Stansfield gives first- on what works to inform Secretary, Department of Health
hand insight into the little-known decision-making. And she asks:
work of the Forensic Explosives “What if policy teams routinely
Laboratory (FEL). The oldest made policy in a fundamentally
different way?”.
Let us know what you think by email (csq@cabinetoffice.gov.uk) or on Twitter #CSQuarterly

WINNING THE STRATEGIC

COMMUNICATIONS WAR WITH DAESH
Dan Chugg, former Head, C-Daesh Coalition Comms Cell, describes

the work of the unit set up specifically to counter Daesh propaganda.
THE CHALLENGE their operations and had a simple media accounts and used them
plan to “weaponise the media”. to share information and specially
In the summer of 2014, headlines designed content across the
were being made by a terrorist INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE globe in the blink of an eye.
group we have come to call Social media companies were
Daesh. They were taking over Daesh made the news all over largely unconcerned.
large swathes of land in Syria the world with its creatively We had to do something.
and Iraq; looting gold and cash gruesome methods of murdering In the first half of 2015, the
from banks; and commandeering innocent people, filmed in high- international community started
arms and ammunition from the definition, with slick, multi-angle to get its act together. The UK
stores of the fleeing Iraqi Security editing. The media wasted no was instrumental in creating a
Forces. In part, the secret of time in inadvertently amplifying global coalition, which had five
their success as a brand was Daesh’s propaganda by reporting lines of action to defeat Daesh.
their success on the ground. and publicising its atrocities. They One of these was strategic
They had promised to create gave the murderers nicknames, communications – and the UK
a caliphate; stand up for Sunni and created a sense of power was one of three countries jointly
Muslims; and impose a strict form and awe around the organisation. leading on this strand of work.
of conservative Islam on their They even granted them a However, we weren’t doing
territory – and they were doing it. kind of bogus authority and enough to stop Daesh; partly
But the other reason for the respectability, and gave credence because our systems were not
tremendous growth in their to their aims, by calling them designed for fighting on a virtual
global brand – and the reason ‘Islamic State’. These were the battlefield.
they were able to attract tens very things that Daesh wanted In September 2015, the then
of thousands of people from the public to hear. Prime Minister, David Cameron,
around the world to join them – Then, of course, there was announced to the UN General
was because they put strategic social media. Daesh Assembly that he would establish
communications at the heart of systematically created social a Coalition Communications Cell
Global Coalition graphic for digital channels

IMPACT
Two years on, Daesh, which

was considered a threat to the
stability of the whole Middle East,
has failed to create a state. It is no
longer able to recruit thousands
or even hundreds of people
to join it each month. And its
propaganda is a pale shadow
of what it previously was. It has
resorted to inspiring low-tech
attacks aimed at smaller groups
of people. While this creates
anxiety among the public, the
threat to national security is a
good deal less than if Daesh had
the resources of an entire state at
its disposal.
Much of the credit for this
failure lies in the military efforts
Meeting of the Ministers of the Global Coalition, Washington, DC in Iraq, in particular the incredibly
courageous efforts of the Iraqi
Security Forces. However, the
in London. The aim would be to positive feedback about the value successful end of that battle was
undermine Daesh propaganda of this activity, reflected in the undoubtedly hastened and aided
and to damage its brand. I was fact that our content appears in by the efforts of communications
asked to make this happen. global media, while the prime practitioners in the coalition,
To succeed, we had to change ministers of Spain and Australia and particularly in the UK.
the global narrative and, in the have used our lines. We undermined Daesh’s narrative,
terminology of the profession, In addition, I co-chaired contested the information space
contest the information space, international working group and damaged their brand. We
rather than ceding it to Daesh. meetings of over 30 coalition did this by making them appear
countries every quarter, to less cool, less credible and less
THE GLOBAL NARRATIVE encourage consistency in our competent. Consequently, they
messaging; to upskill countries found it more difficult to convince
I created a team using Conflict, with less communications people to join them, both from
Stability and Security Fund experience; to engage with the among the local population in Iraq
(CSSF) finance. Additional staff private sector; and to share and from third countries.
and resources were provided by content. This has resulted in Daesh is not yet defeated.
coalition partners (15 secondees numerous partners using strategic As the organisation fragments,
from 11 different countries, so far). comms much more effectively so its propaganda becomes less
Our first task was to change to counter extremism and centralised and less consistent.
the narrative around Daesh from radicalisation in their own countries. While this diminishes its power,
one of success to one of failure. The narrative has, indeed, it also makes it more difficult
We needed to damage the Daesh changed. Following the fall of to counter.
brand by showing that, contrary Mosul, in Iraq, and Raqqa, in Syria, Daesh will be defeated
to its own propaganda, Daesh Daesh has, for some time now, eventually, but it will not be the
was failing to win battles, failing been seen globally as a failing, last terrorist group to use Islam as
to provide services to people in disintegrating organisation. the ideological underpinning for
the territory under its control, and its crimes. This threat is persistent,
failing to live up to its promises. FULL SPECTRUM EFFECT organic and generational. New
We started sending a daily organisations will learn from
media pack around the coalition. Working to put communications Daesh’s media operations,
This now goes directly to at the heart of HM Government examine their shortcomings and
well over 1,000 officials every policy to counter Daesh was an improve on them. They will use
morning in more than 60 partner important subsidiary objective. the full gamut of communications
countries. We give updates on We have worked on a full- tools in their efforts to harm
the latest news and suggest spectrum approach across us. Our experience with
how to respond to atrocities. government, with the Ministry Daesh underlines the need to
We provide bits of digital of Defence, Home Office and acknowledge that communication
content and suggested tweets others involved in tackling various is a key battleground in preserving
and retweets. We also run a parts of the Daesh propaganda our nation’s security. We need
website and various social media operation. Having an overarching to improve our capabilities and
channels, which help coalition meta-narrative of ‘Daesh is failing’ increase our resources in this area
countries tell the story of Daesh’s has helped us focus this activity if we are to stay safe.
failures. We receive constant and make it complementary. There is much to do.
SCIENCE IN EMERGENCIES
Christopher J. M. Whitty, interim Government Chief Scientific Adviser

(GCSA), and CSA at the Department of Health, looks at how scientific
capability has been applied during national and international crises.
(Picture: Simon Davis/DFID)

Sierra Leonean Junior Doctor Marina Kamara and British Consultant Physician in Acute Medicine Terry Gibson discuss a case.
Preventing an emergency multiple sciences from different THE EBOLA CRISIS 2014 –
from turning into a disaster disciplines, including the social BIOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL
requires political, operational and sciences, need to be integrated SCIENCES
technical elements. The extent to and deployed before, during and
which each is important varies after an emergency. Historically, The Ebola epidemic that hit
according to the risk, but almost the UK Civil Service has been West Africa three years ago
all emergencies require all three better at integrating science into had a terrible impact on the
in some ratio. emergency response than that of countries directly affected.
A sure-footed political response most other governments, in part It could, however, have been
and good technical analysis because its scientific advisory significantly worse if there had
cannot make up for poor delivery. system is stronger. not been a rapid, science-driven
Good politics and operational To illustrate some of the response by UK public servants
skills will still lead to failure if issues, this article highlights the in support of African colleagues.
the scientific or other technical scientific elements underpinning This included major inputs from
basis on which the emergency is the Government response to civil servants in the departments
addressed is flawed. This applies four recent emergencies; two for International Development
to all elements of an emergency, where the potential impact was (DFID), Health (DH), and
whether in prediction, mitigation, primarily domestic, and two Defence (MoD), the Foreign
response or recovery. where it was predominantly Office, Cabinet Office, and Public
For the majority of the potential international. What all have in Health England (PHE), as well
emergencies in the UK National common is that several sciences as many NHS and armed forces
Risk Register, the technical needed to be understood by professionals.
issues are scientific in part or civil servants to inform the UK The failure of the international
whole. For most significant risks, Government response. community to respond to
the early warnings has been

well documented: this was
not a failure of science, but
of translating the science into
action. Without the benefit of
hindsight, the epidemic could
not have been predicted,
but could have been mitigated
in its early stages. Once a
UK response was underway,
however, it combined scientific,
operational and political
elements across government
extremely effectively.
The initial sciences involved
were: mathematical modelling,
to estimate the scale and speed
of the epidemic and predict
its future course; public health
sciences, to determine ways
to reduce transmission; and
laboratory virology, to help
improve diagnosis.
As the epidemic response
got underway, three usually
unrelated sciences were central.
Social science was needed to
reduce transmission, because
many of the issues were around
deeply rooted behaviours such
as burial rites and health-seeking
behaviour. Clinical science
helped improve the initially dire
survival rates of Ebola victims.
Vaccine science accelerated the
development of three highly
effective vaccines that will
substantially reduce the chance
of an epidemic of Ebola on this
scale occurring again.
An Environment Agency official on duty during the Somerset floods
UK science was central to all
of these. Scientific advice fed
into the Government’s COBR
crisis-response process, using Geological Survey assessed a volcano in Iceland could so
the Scientific Advisory Group in likely groundwater drainage suddenly disrupt air transport for
Emergencies (SAGE) system, co- rates based on local geology. UK business and holiday travel.
chaired by the Government Chief Academics made hydrological Eruptions in Iceland will happen
Scientific Adviser and the Chief assessments to predict the rate again, potentially for prolonged
Medical Officer. of water movement through the periods (of a year or longer)
local river systems. This helped and with more severe effects on
FLOODING IN THE SOMERSET provide a basis for government human health and agriculture.
LEVELS 2013–14 emergency response and The eruption of Laki in Iceland
factual communication with the in 1783 sent clouds of ash and
The flooding in Somerset in public, which is so important in sulphur dioxide gas over Europe,
the winter of 2013–14 caused emergencies. The same agencies and may have killed around
substantial damage and economic working with engineers are 20,000 people in England alone.
shocks for families and firms. helping to repair and improve Fortunately, the Eyjafjallajökull
Civil Service work, led by the flood defences to mitigate future eruption of 2010 was relatively
Department for Environment, emergencies in this historically small by comparison.
Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) flood-prone area. Predicting where eruptions
through several technical will occur is much easier
agencies, supported by Cabinet THE EYJAFJALLAJÖKULL than predicting when – and
Office and MoD, helped event VOLCANO AND AIR the volcanoes of Iceland are
prediction, mitigation, response TRANSPORT 2010 well studied. In this instance,
and recovery. The Met Office the initial sciences that civil
provided projections of The majority of the British public servants needed, in particular
further rainfall; and the British were surprised that ash from from the Department of
Transport, were: volcanology, Multiple government its impact in terms of the loss
to predict the scale, height and departments, coordinated by of life. UK scientists in the
composition of the ash cloud; the Cabinet Office, have recently Earth sciences had led much
and monitoring and modelling undertaken an exercise in how of this effort.
by meteorologists in the UK and we would respond to a larger or Immediately after the first
Iceland to track and forecast the more prolonged volcanic eruption earthquake, which only released
location of characteristics of the affecting health and agriculture in around half the energy in the fault,
resultant volcanic ash plumes. the UK, as well as transport. UK university geologists helped
Geophysicists from the British map the direction of aftershocks
Geological Survey provided THE NEPAL EARTHQUAKE 2015 to help plan relief efforts.
updates on seismic activity and – GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND While the initial deaths caused
possible follow-on eruptions ENGINEERING by earthquakes come from
affecting UK airspace. Engineers trauma, usually due to collapsing
from Rolls-Royce helped The Nepal earthquake buildings, the predictable
determine the effects of different devastated parts of Kathmandu, next wave of mortality comes
concentrations of ash on engines. and caused widespread loss from a combination of factors.
This allowed policy teams to strike of life. DfID, FCO and MOD These include exposure
a reasonable balance between responded. The location, (where meteorology to predict
ensuring the safety of people and although not the timing, of this temperatures helps direct relief
aircraft flying through ash clouds earthquake had been predicted, efforts); and disease, due to
and minimising travel disruption. along with extensive preparation, water and food disruption. In
which to some extent mitigated the latter case, epidemiology
Image of Eyjafjallajökull eruption, taken on 17 April 2010 Photo credit: Arni Sigurdsson. © Icelandic Met Office
and public health expertise between making buildings expertise lies within government
are essential to the response. safe and over-engineering, and its technical agencies.
Mapping groups were which increases the cost of For others, including volcanic
established to analyse satellite building in poorer countries, is a eruptions, earthquakes and the
imagery in order to identify difficult one. UK advice helped Ebola crisis, the Government has
locations for temporary camps colleagues in the civil service of to use the extensive scientific
and new building work. Nepal create a logical structure capacity in the UK academic
Satellite mapping was also for addressing these difficult sector and integrate it into Civil
used by the British Geological policy choices. Service policy and operations.
Survey to assess delayed Most government departments
damage due to landslides – CONCLUSIONS will at some point have a
which often occur later when the requirement for science in an
monsoon rains arrive – allowing Emergencies will always occur. emergency. The extent to which
UK aid to be deployed early. Some can be averted by scientific advice is already
For long-term recovery prediction and the mitigation integrated into their systems under
and to mitigate the impact of of risk based on science. routine conditions will usually
earthquakes, the key science However, the Civil Service has determine their ability to predict
will be engineering. The majority to predict, prepare for and the effects of the emergency.
of fatalities can be reduced by respond to a whole range of It will also determine how rapidly
earthquake proofing to buildings, possible eventualities. For some they can respond, making use of
as Japan has shown. The trade- emergencies, such as the flooding the science available to them to
off during reconstruction in Somerset, much of the scientific mitigate those effects.
VA ADVISORY SUMMIT ELEV: 1666M RMK: ASH CONCENTRATIONS

DTG: 20100415/1200Z ADVISORY NR 2010/006 WITHIN THE INDICATED AREAS
VAAC: LONDON INFO SOURCE: ICELAND MET OFFICE ARE UNKNOWN
VOLCANO: AVIATION COLOUR CODE: RED NXT ADVISORY: 20100415/1800Z
EYJAFJALLAJOKULL ERUPTION DETAILS: SIGNIFICANT
PSN: N6338 W01937 ERUPTION CONTINUING. PLUM
AREA: ICELAND REACHING 6KM, BUT POSSIBLY
OCCASIONALLY TO 11KM.
VAG (volcanic ash graphic) from 15 April 2010, showing forecasts for the ash cloud from Eyjafjallajökull over UK and Europe
FROM CRIME SCENE TO COURT –

THE SCIENCE OF EXPLOSIVES
Charlie Stansfield, Content Manager, Defence Science and Technology

Laboratory Communications Team, gives an insight into the little-
known work of a world-leading forensic science facility in keeping the
UK safe.
From fireworks to fuselages, illegal use of fireworks to cause establishing whether an

if explosives are involved in a harm to people and property, explosive material was involved.
crime, the Defence Science and or people illegally producing If yes, what type and how much;
Technology Laboratory’s (Dstl) explosives in their sheds or what type of device was used
Forensic Explosives Laboratory kitchens from recipes found on and how it was constructed;
(FEL) will be involved in the internet. and where the device was
analysing the material. placed before the explosion.
With world-leading facilities, CASE BY CASE When a device is found
some unique in their capability, intact, explosive ordnance
run by a team trained in-house, FEL’s work is split into four disposal (EOD) experts will
FEL exemplifies what Dstl is main categories: have rendered it safe before
here for: delivering high-impact • post-explosion scenes; any assessment by FEL. It is
science and technology for • improvised explosives devices; then up to FEL to establish
the UK’s defence, security and • finds and caches of explosives whether the device is explosive
prosperity. and related materials; and or an elaborate hoax. If it is
The FEL has existed in some • examination of suspects, real, then we need to determine
form since the 1870s. It is property or premises for trace what the explosive content is;
the world’s oldest laboratory levels of explosives (that is, whether the device could have
of its kind and has been amounts that cannot be seen functioned (and, if so, to what
around longer even than its by the naked eye, as opposed effect); and whether there is
current base, Fort Halstead, to bulk levels, which can be any link with previous devices.
on the Kentish North Downs, seen, handled and weighed). Following a find of explosives
overlooking Sevenoaks. or bomb-making materials,
Today, its experts are being Work on a post-explosion FEL looks to determine its
called upon to help in the fight scene focuses firstly on significance. What types of
against terrorists and criminals.
Every criminal or terrorism
case that involves explosives
in Great Britain, or involving
British nationals overseas, is
investigated by FEL’s scientists.
FEL is funded by the Office
for Security and Counter
Terrorism (OSCT) at the Home
Office to provide an impartial
laboratory that supports the
needs of the criminal justice
system. Each year, the lab
investigates around 200 cases,
involving around 2,000 pieces
of evidence.
FEL scientists have supported
the investigations into terrorist
atrocities such as the bombing
of Pan Am Flight 103 over
Lockerbie in 1988, the London
7/7 bombings in 2005, and the
Manchester Arena bombing in
2017. The range of issues the
lab covers also includes the Scene of the 7/7 bombing, Tavistock Square, 2005
explosives are present or could WORLD-CLASS TECHNOLOGIES billionth of a gram; and the
be made from the materials? laboratories can detect levels
Does this tie in with any Scientists at FEL have been 100,000 times less than a single
documentation or previous involved in developing innovative grain of sugar.
incidents? Is there evidence of new technologies and procedures. This degree of precision is
‘new’ technologies? These include a sample collection made possible by employing the
As well as being able to kit, which makes it possible for newest cutting-edge technology
provide key evidence on the property of all kinds, from cars to in the trace lab – including a
cause of an explosion, traces of carpets, to be sampled at the scene. mass spectrometer operated
high explosives aren’t commonly That is not to say that items of this using methods developed with
found in the everyday kind have never been examined support from partners at King’s
environment and, therefore, at Fort Halstead – vehicles, doors, College London.
can have forensic significance and even parts of Hammersmith With this equipment, FEL can
if we find them. If, for example, Bridge, have been sampled for confidently separate a sample into
we can detect a trace of high explosives. its individual parts and provide
explosive, no matter how FEL also developed a forensic information about the amounts of
small, on an item of clothing, aid known as a TERK – Trace each part, even when the sample
we can conclude that the person Explosives Recovery Kit. This is is vanishingly small. In addition,
wearing those clothes is likely used at crime scenes by police where most methods require the
to have been in an environment officers to collect material that sample of interest to be compared
contaminated with explosives. might otherwise be lost or to a known sample, in order to
There may be no other evidence contaminated. The TERK can identify the separate components,
linking them to a scene. gather samples as small as one this technology can look for and
identify unknown materials.
EXHIBIT A: TELLTALE TRACES several hundred metres underground on the

Piccadilly line.
During a safety search of premises occupied The teams recovered trace samples and
by a suspect, as well as knives, white crystals, evidence to analyse at the lab. Thousands more
small initiators and a respirator, EOD found a items, including vehicles and trace kits, were also
device taped to a cabinet. A test of the white submitted to FEL in the following weeks. One
crystals tested positive for peroxides; and the vehicle, used by three of the suspected bombers,
precursor chemicals for the high explosive was recovered at Luton railway station. It contained
HMTD (hexamethylene triperoxide diamine) components for a device, including packets of nails,
were also recovered. as well as several complete devices containing
The suspect was apprehended, allowing FEL HMTD, which were destroyed at the scene.
to sample his clothes for explosives. Traces of FEL scientists were deployed again five days after
HMTD were recovered from his jacket, shirt, belt, the attack to assist in a police raid at a property in
watch, scarf and trousers. Further sampling around Leeds, where it was suspected the bombs had been
the wires of small fired initiators and analysis of manufactured. They provided safety advice, ensured
the white crystals also identified HMTD, firmly the right samples for analysis were taken, and
connecting the suspect to the materials. prioritised more than 150 items for testing, including
Documents suggested the individual had been buckets containing a mysterious yellow-brown
testing the effectiveness of small initiators and substance. FEL analysis showed the substance to
listed plans for improvements. He was sentenced be a novel explosive made from hydrogen peroxide
to two years’ imprisonment. and, probably, pepper.
By the end of the operation, more than 2,000
EXHIBIT B: THE 7/7 ATTACKS exhibits had been examined. The team’s expert
witness statements were used in coroner’s court
On 7 July 2005, four bombers attacked the London and at a separate trial of the accomplices, who
transport system, killing 52 people and injuring received lengthy prison sentences.
nearly 800. Teams from FEL attended each of the
scenes, to determine where each device had been EXHIBIT C: ASSASSINATION
placed; the explosive used; the size of the device OF BENAZIR BHUTTO
and its possible composition; and whether they
were suicide bombs. As part of a team led by the Metropolitan
The variety and scale of hazards encountered Police’s Counter Terrorism Command (SO15), FEL
across the four scenes were beyond anything supported the investigation into the assassination
previously seen in the UK. There were concerns of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto
over possible secondary devices, asbestos and a in 2007.
suspected gas leak; and the hot and dark working FEL analysis formed part of SO15’s final report,
conditions were themselves challenging – not to which found that Ms Bhutto was killed by an
mention the traumatic sights at each scene. explosion, causing a fatal impact with the roof
The train between King’s Cross and Russell Square escape hatch.
tube stations was particularly difficult, being
RECRUITMENT AND The progression from graduate HORIZON SCANNING

PROGRESSION entry to becoming a Forensic
Case Officer follows a structured As well as analysing samples, giving
The team covering these roles path that typically takes at least advice and providing expert witness
is about 30-strong, supported four years. The entry-level role testimony in court, a crucial part of
by: colleagues who manage is Forensic Researcher. This FEL’s role is to constantly improve
the labs within FEL and look involves two years learning the and stay ‘ahead of the game’.
after the technical resource; a ways of the lab and developing This means FEL staff keeping
pair of dedicated professional and validating new forensic themselves informed of new
photographers to document methods and techniques. explosives and emerging
evidence for the courts; and Some FEL staff choose manufacturing methods, for
other skilled support staff and to develop their careers as example, on internet forums; and
permanent researchers. senior researchers or senior refining sampling and analytical
Most new recruits at FEL are support staff; but for those techniques to enhance the lab’s
science graduates in subjects who choose to become a court capability.
such as Chemistry. Although reporting scientist, the next This is ever more important
previous experience in forensic stage is Forensic Analyst. It given terrorists’ use of homemade
science is not a prerequisite is in this role that the skills explosives. The bomb-makers
for graduate entrants, FEL also of the forensic scientist are may be only amateur chemists
recruits experienced forensic developed, working under with no scientific background,
scientists from other disciplines, the tutelage of experienced creating explosives that could
who then retrain to gain reporting officers. Once they be unstable or have unexpected
expertise in explosives. are considered to have enough properties. Constant research and
The requirements are: strong experience, Forensic Analysts analysis means fewer surprises and
scientific ability; the capacity progress to become Forensic fewer unknown materials, and, if
for hard work; and an absolute Case Officers, and are assigned something new does emerge, FEL
dedication to applying science their own cases. is more likely to have the capability
rigorously and impartially to to deal with it.
support justice.
Forensic Case Officer analysing a car to recover traces

of explosives, as part of a training exercise
The requirements are:

strong scientific ability; the
capacity for hard work;
and an absolute dedication
to applying science
rigorously and impartially
to support justice.
Forensic Case Officer working to recover

evidence from a jacket in the laboratory
ACTIVE CYBER DEFENCE FOR THE UK
Ciaran Martin, Chief Executive, National Cyber Security Centre

outlines the four measures already announced as part of the
UK’s Active Cyber Defence programme.
The Government cares about to steal or tamper with stuff, that’s the law. This is a national
cyber security for two reasons. the attacker may well go away, problem, not an organisational one.
One is national security. Cyber because there are plenty of We’ve made spoofing
attack can be (and occasionally, other easier targets around. much harder if bodies adopt
in other countries, has been) This in turn explains, in part, the Domain-based Message
used as a way of damaging why the National Cyber Security Authentication Reporting and
the security of a state, whether Centre (NCSC) was set up. We’re Conformance protocol – or
through interfering in electrical proudly part of GCHQ, the near DMARC. This helps determine
systems or elections. The second century-old government signals whether a communication
reason is economic. Britain is one and communications intelligence comes from the organisation
of the most digitally advanced agency. There isn’t space here it purports to. What DMARC
economies in the world. That’s a to outline in full the range of the does is tell the internet’s
vital national asset. But it won’t NCSC’s activities in leading the distribution mechanisms how to
continue if citizens don’t think response to major cyber attacks recognise a genuine email from
the digital environment is safe. affecting the UK – protecting our an organisation. We tried it out
One thing the areas of critical national infrastructure with HMRC in 2016. Instead of
national security and economic and raising our defences as a delivering the fake emails to the
prosperity have in common, whole. Instead, I want to outline user with a warning, they were
from the point of view of cyber the world-leading programme delivered to us. We got 300
security, is their vulnerability to we announced just after the million of them in 2016 alone.
attacks on basic weaknesses General Election to protect the The best thing about this system
in defences. National security UK Government and public is that ordinary computer users
attacks can certainly be highly services by improving the basic don’t have to make a judgement
sophisticated (though not all level of defences. about whether to open a
are, and sophisticated attacks One of the fundamental ‘dodgy’-looking email (please
are difficult and costly to problems in cyber security is write and tell me if you know
mount at scale). However, by that it is shrouded in mystery. how to do that). So DMARC
far the biggest problem facing It was necessary to get across works, and is now freely available
the UK in cyberspace is the that the measures we believed to all departments.
accumulation of high-volume, departments should put in place
low-sophistication, automated are easy to understand. They are 2. STOPPING GOVERNMENT
attacks from criminals and states also easy to implement, and free. SYSTEMS VEERING ONTO
seeking money or some form of In due course, we will publish MALICIOUS WEBSITES
competitive advantage. the data to show whether
This explains why the UK’s they work. Cyber attacks also commonly
record in cyber security to date There are four measures involve redirecting a user away
is relatively good in terms of already announced as from the domain they intended
national security, though we’ve part of our ‘active cyber to access, to somewhere that
acknowledged that we have defence’ programme. contains malware* or is fraudulent.
some way to go when it comes We’ve worked with a commercial
to our basic defences. Raising 1. BLOCKING FAKE EMAILS partner to set up a filtering
the standard of these defences service for public sector bodies
is the most important thing we Online spoofing – pretending to that stops this from happening for
can do as a country, because, be someone you’re not, usually registered users.
for the attacker, cyber attack by way of a fake email – is one Domain Name Service (DNS)
is fundamentally about return of the biggest problems in is the phonebook of the internet,
on investment – what they cyberspace. Once someone and our new service focuses on
will potentially get out of an opens the email, clicks on the data that GCHQ and commercial
attack compared to how easy link, and opens the attachment partners have acquired from
or difficult it is to mount it. If it’s – the attack succeeds. But the malicious addresses. It then simply
easy to get in – and lucrative organisation that is spoofed blocks the user from going there –
once the attacker is in – the doesn’t suffer any damage – if providing automatic protection for
attacker will come. If it’s hard to it’s HMRC, for example, people staff visiting infected sites while
get in and, once you do, it’s hard are still going to pay tax because using work systems.
3. Helping public bodies easily the first 24 hours, compared to

fix website problems 3% before.
Attackers also learn what ADVENTUROUS AGENDA

to target by scanning for
vulnerabilities in Internet-facing These measures are part of a
services. The UK public sector new and adventurous agenda
has a huge digital estate to from the NCSC that is drawing
manage. This isn’t easy and attention from around the
provides a useful set of targets world. We’re not claiming to
for attackers. If an organisation get everything right, but we set
doesn’t know how to check for out to use GCHQ’s world-class
vulnerabilities – such as unused expertise for the benefit of all
sites or those with out-of-date UK internet users. We aim to
certificates – they provide an innovate constantly; and to give
open goal for attackers. Web users easy and cheap ways of
check is a free-to-use website making themselves that bit safer
configuration and vulnerability online – because every extra bit
scanning service, available to all of protection counts. We’re also
UK public sector organisations. serious about being open; and
It scans and then gives you a we want to work with partners
report in plain English on what in government, law enforcement,
needs fixing and how to fix it. business, with citizens’ groups
and internationally. And we’ll
4. REMOVING BAD THINGS publish details of how we get on
FROM THE INTERNET so you can judge for yourself.
(PHISHING† AND MALWARE
MITIGATION)
Since June 2016, the NCSC has * Malware is software designed

been working with Netcraft, to disrupt, damage, or gain
a private sector company, authorised access to a
on a phishing and malware computer system.
countermeasures service to † Phishing is the fraudulent
protect government brands and practice of sending emails that
UK service hosting infrastructure. purport to be from reputable
Government departments organisations in order to
benefit automatically from this induce individuals to reveal
protection without having to personal information, such
do anything. Departments can as passwords and credit card
boost the service by notifying numbers.
Netcraft if they discover they
are the target of a phishing
campaign, or that there are
malicious emails purporting to
be from them. Netcraft will then
issue takedown notifications
to the hosts of the email and
phishing sites. To help this work,
departments and businesses
should forward offending emails
and any attachments to
scam@netcraft.com.
Since Netcraft started this
work, the average ‘time to die’
for phishing sites relating to
government has fallen from
27 hours prior to the service’s
introduction, to under one hour;
and for malware from 525 to
43 hours. For attacks on HM
Government hosted outside the
UK, 63% of Advance Fee Fraud
sites spoofing the Government
(where an email purporting to be
from HMG asks for credit card
details) are taken down within National Cyber Security Centre HQ
CIVIL SERVICE TRANSFORMATION
John Manzoni, Chief Executive of the Civil Service, explains why the
Civil Service is transforming the way it works and why it needs to
accelerate the change.
We have set ourselves the goal and improve, we will also fail the
of becoming ‘A Brilliant Civil test of the times. If we get left
Service’, the best in the world. behind, we risk forfeiting the trust
How we measure up against of the citizens who rely on the
this ambition will have a bearing services we provide. We must now
on how successful we are in seize the moment, spurred on by
creating a fair, efficient and Brexit and the changes in society
prosperous society, and a Global – to accelerate our transformation.
Britain that people want to visit, I say accelerate, because
study in, invest in and trade with. civil servants are already doing
The Civil Service has great brilliant things that show what
strengths. It is built on tried and a transformed Civil Service,
tested principles that are also fit for the 21st century, can
the basis of its international achieve. I see this at first hand
reputation for reliable and trusted when I visit teams across the
public service. country. They are collaborating
In the new International Civil more, delivering more for less,
Service Effectiveness (InCiSE) and building high-quality –
Index – which compares increasingly digital – public
performance on core functions changing in ways and at a pace services focused on what’s best
such as policy advice, fiscal we could not afford to ignore. for the people who use them,
and financial management, That pace is only increasing. not what’s best for government.
and regulation, and attributes Advances in technology have Now, we have to go further to
such as openness, integrity revolutionised how people buy create government that works
and inclusiveness – the UK Civil goods and services and manage in smarter ways and is capable
Service ranked fourth overall. other aspects of their lives. They of keeping up with the rate of
This is a good result. But – rightly expect to be able to deal change in the world around
while the fundamental values with government in the same us. This means not just quicker
(integrity, honesty, impartiality convenient and accessible way change, but transformation at
and objectivity) that underpin – online, and on demand. At a fundamental level in how and
everything we do will stand the same time, society itself is where we work and in the tools
us in good stead – it is not the changing – it’s more diverse than we use (both the hardware of
whole story. The most effective it’s ever been, and people are technology and the software
organisations react positively, living longer, putting greater strain of data from which we draw
flexibly and practically to – and on health and welfare services. evidence) to fashion services
even anticipate – challenges. that improve lives. It also means
They change decisively to meet changing our culture, the ‘shape’
them and are always looking to For the Civil of civil service careers and the
improve. For the Civil Service,
being the best means providing
Service, being the look of the workforce, because a
brilliant Civil Service is ultimately
the best results for the people it best means providing about people.
exists to serve.
the best results for DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
A MOMENT FOR CHANGE the people it exists Our Civil Service should reflect
Today, we find ourselves in one to serve. the society it works for, in all its
of those moments that demand diversity. It must also be inclusive.
change. The pressure for change An inclusive culture will allow us
has been building for some time, to tap into the talent, experiences
since the 2008 financial crash On top of this, we now have and insights of civil servants
put a huge strain on budgets Brexit, the nation’s biggest priority. from varied backgrounds that
and a premium on greater Therefore, our ambition for the will provide better outcomes
efficiency and value for money. Civil Service is fuelled by the for citizens; while giving all our
Even before that, the world was realisation that, if we fail to change people the freedom to to be
themselves and the opportunity from underrepresented groups and the insight and judgement
to reach their full potential. that will help us to remove to produce and deliver different,
We are committed to becoming barriers to progress and create workable solutions.
the most inclusive employer in truly representative diversity. All the Government Functions
the UK by 2020. The proportions are now mapping out their
of ethnic minority (11.6%) and ‘RESHAPING’ CAREERS own career paths. Meanwhile,
disabled civil servants (10%) are the graduate Fast Stream offers
already the highest ever, with As important as greater diversity opportunities in 15 different
increased representation on and inclusion are, the change I schemes for new and existing civil
Civil Service talent programmes. want to see in the Civil Service is servants, from Digital, and Data
The graduate Fast Stream has about something more. It’s about & Technology, to Project Delivery
recruited graduates from more engineering a fundamental shift and Commercial.
diverse backgrounds than ever in the balance of experience and
before, with 14.6% from an ethnic skills of all civil servants. We are MODERN WORKPLACES
minority and 9.6% declaring a traditionally brilliant at policy, and
disability. Over 40% of senior civil there is a very good reason for Another essential component of
servants are women – up 10% this – we are geared to producing continuous, deep improvement in
over the last 10 years. policy specialists. We need to the Civil Service - and the services
We have also pledged to create reshape the next generations of we provide – is making sure we
30,000 apprenticeships by civil servants around new career have modern workplaces, up-to-
2020, opening the Civil Service pathways that build professional date equipment and the skills to
up to talented people from a expertise in key disciplines, make the most of them.
wider range of socio–economic the core government functions, In major cities across the UK,
backgrounds and helping us to while giving them the chance to we are creating around 20 strategic
build capability in key areas. broaden their practical experience. hubs. This programme will reduce
This is good progress, but the The goal is to make us as effective the number of government
job is far from over. in delivery – of projects, services, buildings from around 800 to
Our new Diversity and Inclusion procurements – as we are in 200 by 2023. Hubs will allow us
Strategy focuses very deliberately policy-making. This broader, to locate teams from different
on representation and inclusion. delivery-based experience, will departments in the same offices,
It establishes measures based on encourage different approaches enabling greater collaboration
the actual experiences of people to the complex issues we face and a smarter, one-Civil-Service
approach, using mobile technology the commercial curriculum. time, so busy families can clearly
and focusing operations at a local The Major Projects Leadership see which offer works best
and regional level. Academy has trained more than for them; more than 260,000
The Department for Work & 300 senior project people; while parents have already opened
Pensions is already delivering more the Digital Academy will train up a childcare account and are
efficient services by concentrating to 3,000 people a year across benefiting from new forms of
its resources in co-locations with government in the skills they need childcare support; and
other departments and local in data and technology as well as • Universal Credit (UC) full
government. And, by 2021, HMRC digital. service, which will enable
will set up 13 regional centres as claimants to make a claim,
part of transforming itself into a MODERN SERVICES check details of payments,
smaller, more collaborative, better notify changes of circumstance
equipped and more highly skilled We are deploying technology and search for a job through a
operation for the digital age. These to modernise public services, single digital account – 99.6%
modern centres will replace the saving time and money for users. of applications for UC are now
department’s ageing network of Her Majesty’s Passport Office is made online.
140 offices, which are expensive sending millions of messages to
to run and create isolated pockets, users, updating them on passport MODERN LEADERS
doing a narrow range of work. renewals, with the aim of over
The One Public Estate 90% of passport applications Change of this scale and depth
programme is promoting joint being fully digital by 2020; and requires a new approach to
working across central and local the Environment Agency is issuing leadership. We need leaders
government and is on track to up to 40,000 rod fishing licences who can explain the goal of
create at least 44,000 jobs and a day, using the GOV.UK Notify transformation and take their
release land for 25,000 homes platform for sending emails people through it. Leaders who
by 2020. and texts. are confident beyond their own
We expect to have delivered at professional area, by virtue of their
least 89 digital public services by broad experience of government,
We need 2020. To exploit the efficiencies and whose first instinct is to
leaders who can and convenience of technology
to the full, these services will
collaborate, defying the silo
mentality.
explain the goal of increasingly be provided by a The new Civil Service Leadership
government that is digital – and Academy will strengthen these
transformation and digitally skilled – from its back- abilities, initially in leaders at
take their people office operations to what citizens
see and use on their computers
senior level, but in due course
through programmes open to
through it. Leaders and mobile devices every day. all grades. Integral elements will
By 2020, HMRC will have be learning from leaders sharing
who are confident moved to a fully digital tax their experiences – both good
beyond their own system, allowing businesses and
individual taxpayers to update
and bad - with immersive case
studies of managing projects; and
professional area, their information and pay their encouraging inclusive leadership
taxes when and where they want that connects with people.
by virtue of their to and at any point in the year. These are exciting times for
broad experience of And we’ve begun the biggest
courts reform programme in the
everyone in government. The
excitement is wrapped up in the
government... world, digitalising processes and challenges and opportunities
introducing virtual hearings. of transformation. What we
Through Government as a are saying to all civil servants
Platform, digital services are is: embrace the changes and
These changes are generating underpinned by common grasp the opportunities they
opportunities for civil servants technology components, service are creating. There’s a role
at all grades: opportunities to designs and platforms such as for everyone in getting better
learn the expert skills in digital, GOV.UK Notify, and Pay (a secure at what we do, but everyone
data, project management and payment service). Departments must take responsibility for
commercial needed to deliver can use these as a base on which their own development, doing
government priorities, and to to build their own digital services, things differently and inspiring
take new professional career making it easier and cheaper to colleagues.
paths. For the time being, we deliver customer-facing systems For all civil servants, the prize
will bring in external expertise that meet the unique user at the heart of the change that’s
where necessary, but our aim is to requirements of each service. underway is to be ‘A Brilliant Civil
outgrow this need by developing As I write, we are delivering 40 Service’; to be proud of what
our own people. In commercial, major government transformation we do as civil servants every
for example, we have brought programmes, including: day, wherever we work; and for
in external specialists while also • the new Childcare Choices everyone in the country to take
ensuring that existing staff have website: this brings all childcare pride in us.
opportunities to develop through options together for the first
THE WHAT WORKS TEAM:

SUPPORTING THE RISE OF
EXPERIMENTAL GOVERNMENT
Dr Jen Gold, Head of the What Works Team in Cabinet Office,
sees growing opportunities for departmental policy-makers to
generate more of their own evidence of what works.
The idea that good decision- policy in a fundamentally as the National What Works
making should be informed different way? What if their Adviser – can help. It supports
by the best available evidence standard practice was to test civil servants working in both
is hardly a controversial one. variations in approach to a policy and operational delivery
Yet there remain many gaps particular policy problem and roles to generate and use more
in the evidence available to then rigorously evaluate the evidence. It also strives to put in
government. results? What if it was business place institutional structures that
Take, for example, crime as usual for civil servants running improve the supply of evidence.
reduction. When it comes to frontline services to test new The team understands how
organised crime, asset-focused interventions before they are complex it is to design trials
interventions (AFIs) – such fully rolled out? and impact evaluations in
as confiscating property and government. And at a time when
recovering unpaid tax – are HARNESSING OUR COLLECTIVE budgets are constrained, it’s
an increasingly popular law EXPERTISE never been more important to
enforcement strategy. But while share in-house expertise.
we know of around 300 studies Experimentation is certainly not That’s why the What Works
on AFIs, none involves proper new to government. The Ministry Team runs a cross-government
impact evaluation. This lack of of Agriculture and Fisheries Trial Advice Panel, bringing
evidence means that we have no (1919–1955) was a big sponsor together some of the top trialling
certainty as to the effectiveness of experimental methods in experts in the Civil Service. Panel
of AFIs in disrupting and farming research, much of it members are on hand to offer
deterring organised crime. at Rothamsted Experimental free advice to policy teams on
Station in Hertfordshire. what sort of trial or test will
IMPROVING THE SUPPLY OF Departments such as Work generate the most useful results
EVIDENCE & Pensions and HMRC also on what works. That might be
have a long history of running an RCT, or equally it might be
We can – and must – do more to controlled trials to discover what another type of experimental
encourage universities and other works. And the Behavioural or quasi-experimental method.
research organisations to help Insights Team that was set up in Panel members can also advise
us plug gaps in our knowledge. the Cabinet Office in 2010 (and on evaluation design or be
We have made a start. Since now operates as a social purpose called on to offer guidance as
March, some departments have company) spearheaded the use challenges arise during a trial.
begun issuing Areas of Research of randomised controlled trials Thanks to support from the
Interest. These set out ‘the most (RCTs) in parts of Whitehall Economic and Social Research
important research questions’ for that had previously shown little Council, the panel also consists
each department that academic enthusiasm for such activities. of 30 UK-based academics from
research could help address. But testing and evaluation is a range of disciplines, all of
First out of the blocks have been still hugely under-used across whom have first-hand experience
the departments of Health, for government. We need to of conducting high-quality trials
Transport, and for Environment, strengthen our capacity to test and evaluations.
Food & Rural Affairs, as well as new and varied approaches, Since the panel was launched
the Food Standards Agency. and to build in rapid and robust in 2015, members have assisted
More will soon follow. evaluation. Only then can we projects in 16 departments and
However, there are even bigger shift resources from less to more public bodies. The team has
opportunities for departments effective programmes. seen plenty of examples – such
to generate more of their own This is where the Cabinet as end-of-life care – where civil
evidence on what works. What Office What Works Team – servants have been able to test
if policy teams routinely made supported by David Halpern new interventions in settings
END-OF-LIFE SUPPORT TRIAL, CABINET THE EDUCATION ENDOWMENT

OFFICE FOUNDATION’S RCTS
One of the earliest projects supported by the Almost one third of all schools in England
Trial Advice Panel was a Cabinet Office trial to (a staggering 7,500 in all) have participated in
test the evidence behind community-based trials funded by EEF. Nearly all of these were
end-of-life support – i.e. the use of volunteers randomised control trials.
to supplement state provision. As a result, in just six years the EEF has more
The Cabinet Office’s Centre for Social than doubled the amount of evidence we have
Action was keen to understand the impact of from experimental trials in education in this
befriending services. For example, did they country. When parents drop their children off
improve quality of life? Did they reduce the at the school gates, they can now be assured
experience of loneliness and the burden felt that there’s a much stronger evidence base to
by family members caring for their terminally support their child’s education.
ill relatives? We now know, for example, that the use of
Trial Advice panel members offered phonics is cost-effective in teaching young
advice concerning: children to read (even more so if teachers
eligibility criteria and consent; when to receive formal training in phonics interventions).
consider the trial complete; But older children who are struggling to
how to communicate with volunteer read would likely benefit far more from other
organisations (many of whom were not used interventions such as meta-cognition and
to, or necessarily comfortable with, research reading comprehension strategies.
trials in this area); and how to liaise with
the external organisations commissioned to
evaluate the trial.
Befriending services were found to have
a positive impact on slowing the decline in
participants’ physical health. The evaluation
had important implications for the delivery of
services. In terms of having a meaningful impact
on quality of life, the trial pointed to targeting
limited resources at certain groups who could
receive more intensive support (e.g. older men
who live alone) rather than spreading contact
hours over a larger group of recipients.
often dismissed as being too delivering programmes and existing evidence, and offering
problematic for experimentation services have as much access accessible summaries for
by government. as possible to the evidence that policymakers, practitioners and
The What Works Team also already exists. To assist in this, commissioners.
recognises that the key to the team coordinates a network For instance, the reviews
stimulating greater interest of seven independent What undertaken by the College
in testing what works is to Works Centres – covering crime of Policing (who run the
help civil servants understand reduction, health, education, What Works Centre for Crime
experimental methods. With early years interventions, Reduction) suggest that CCTV,
this in mind, it is collaborating ageing, wellbeing, and local street lighting and the intensive
with the Cross-Government economic growth. policing of crime ‘hot spots’
Evaluation Group and the Nearly all of these receive all reduce crime. On the other
Policy Profession Support Unit direct government funding. hand, there’s very little evidence
to design and deliver training. However, they are not like other that the electronic monitoring
The team is now involved research institutions. They of offenders (through the use
in graduate Fast Stream provide practical advice on the of ankle or wrist tags) has
inductions, the Future Leaders available evidence on different any overall effect on crime,
Scheme and the development interventions – drawing on despite being so widely used.
of new course material through and interpreting evidence Yet, in the case of one specific
Civil Service Learning. that is often highly technical group – sex offenders – there
in nature, buried in academic is strong evidence to show that
MAKING USE OF THE WHAT journals, or unpublished. electronic monitoring reduces
WORKS NETWORK Their staff members (or the criminal activity.
partner organisations they Some of the centres also try
At the same time, it’s work with) comb the internet to address gaps in the evidence
important that policymakers, and academic databases, base by commissioning their
commissioners and those systematically assessing the own trials. The Education
Figure 1: College of Policing’s Crime Reduction Toolkit. Source: http://whatworks.college.police.uk/toolkit/Pages/Toolkit.aspx
Endowment Foundation (EEF) practitioners rarely have the dissemination strategies.

has had by far the biggest time to locate and analyse The team would like to work
programme. The College of evidence systematically. These with as many other teams and
Policing is also supporting an toolkits allow users to compare units across government as
increasing number of trials. the effectiveness and cost of possible to drive this initiative
Just recently, it has sponsored different interventions, as well forward. Why not:
trials on stop-and-search as the strength of the available • learn more about
and interventions to reduce evidence. experimental methods by
domestic violence. The centres also have watching the team’s online
One of the biggest challenges outreach programmes to video;
remains the need to ensure help embed their learning in • make use of the tools and
that this evidence reaches practice. To take one example, resources produced by the
decision-makers. This is critical the College of Policing recruits What Works Centres; and
if the What Works Network is ‘evidence champions’ within • consider using the Trial
to help practitioners improve police forces and runs a High Advice Panel if you’re thinking
the delivery of services and Potential Development Scheme of running a trial in your area
put decision-makers in a that promotes evidence-based of work.
position to shift resources policing.
towards interventions that are The What Works Team
achieving results. supports the communication
A number of centres, of their findings through
including the College of meetings and workshops across For more information on the
Policing, have made their government, and via social What Works initiative, email:
findings more accessible media and publications. It also whatworks@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
through a user-friendly toolkit regularly brings the centres For regular updates, follow the
(see Figure 1). They appreciate together so they can support What Works Team onTwitter:
that policymakers and frontline each other as they develop their @WhatWorksUK
POLICY PROPELLER: TRANSFORMING

POLICYMAKING IN THE DEPARTMENT
FOR TRANSPORT
Ana Costea, Policy Profession Programme Lead, Department for
Transport (DfT), and Pauline Reeves, Deputy Director, Road User
Licensing Insurance & Safety, DfT, and Policy Fellow, Cambridge
University Centre for Science and Policy (CSaP), look at a DfT
initiative for generating fresh policy ideas
The Department for Transport academics and fellows. CSaP THE MAKING OF COHORT 1
is looking to challenge its own organises workshops for the
thinking and generate fresh Propeller programme, providing a Every Policy Propeller cohort
policy ideas. forum for policy professionals to is allocated a director sponsor
In August 2016, the department discuss high-priority issues and and a policy ‘challenge’. The
launched Policy Propeller as network with researchers. aim of the scheme is to widen
part of the novel Learning & These workshops allow the experience of policymakers’
Development process. It was decision-makers to test and sources of evidence and their
inspired by the experience of shape their thinking by working focus on academic research, and
Pauline Reeves, a Senior Civil through specific policy challenges to exchange knowledge/skills
Service (SCS) participant in with researchers. And networking with CSaP’s contacts.
Cambridge University’s Policy can help to build longer-term Each cohort takes part in three
Fellowship scheme. connections between CSaP pairs of workshops, each pair
Pauline was influenced by the members in the academic/ addressing a different policy issue
academic input of the fellowship research community and the identified in advance by DfT.
in suggesting a change in the policy-makers, supporting the Following every pair of
policy direction on encouraging sharing of good practice for workshops, teams present their
more people to cycle. She evidence-informed policy-making. findings to DfT ExCo (Executive
believed that other DfT policy
staff should have the opportunity
to experience the same stimulus
and challenge that she had
experienced through the Policy
Fellowship.
The Policy Propeller scheme
is a bespoke, departmentally
funded scheme for DfT policy
professionals, supported by DfT’s
Executive Committee of Director
Generals and the Permanent
Secretary. It has been developed
in collaboration with Cambridge
University’s Centre for Science
and Policy (CSaP), whose mission
is to improve public policy
through the more effective use of
evidence and expertise.
The scheme consists of
cohorts of up to 10 DfT policy
professionals sourced from talent
grids and nominated by directors.
Its aim is to spark a mutually
beneficial dialogue between the
policy professionals and CSaP’s
wide range of researchers, Joint DfT/CSaP meeting
Policy Propeller workshop in progress
Committee) and the DfT Policy also provided an opportunity commended. Cohort 1 ultimately
Profession Steering Group, pitching to network with PhD students. influenced the Government’s
policy solutions in partnership with Two small groups were formed first statutory cycling and
their academic colleagues for the to examine both the 2025 and walking strategy, published in
department to try out. the 2040 targets. Working with May this year.
The first policy challenge to be CEDAR researchers, the teams Two cohorts, each of 10
set was the commitment in the explored some of the barriers, DfT staff (with additional
2015 Conservative Party manifesto opportunities, trends and CSaP members), have been
to double the number of cycling evidence gaps to address some completed since the launch of
stages (i.e. cycling as part of of the difficulties thrown up by the scheme. A further cohort
one point-to-point journey) the policy commitment. followed this autumn.
from 800 million to 1.6 billion by The second workshop centred DfT is so pleased with the
2025. This was combined with on refining the identified outcomes that it wants to
a later commitment for cycling options and the advice on replicate the scheme, and is
to become the default for short developing proposals and extending a tailored programme
journeys, aimed towards the preparing pitches from experts at Executive Officer level
2040s. in the field. and making this part of the
Two workshops were held in Between the workshops, overall talent management
Cambridge. The first focused discussions were held to and capability strategy for the
on interaction with academics address the options and department. Having senior buy-
from CEDAR (Centre for Diet the pitch session, and a in from members of the DfT
and Activity Research). They chronological ideas planning ExCo was and remains crucial
have created a Propensity process was conducted. to the scheme’s adoption and
to Cycle Tool to visualise The workshops were continuation. They act as the
evidence of cycle usage, and completed as part of the final panel to approve policy
to inform the public (and officials’ ‘day jobs’, and the ideas, some of which may feed
policy officials) on existing enthusiasm and commitment into current policy thinking
measures of cycling data. This of the teams was highly around the issues in question.
INTERVIEW WITH CAMPBELL McCAFFERTY,

GOVERNMENT CHIEF SECURITY OFFICER
What are the biggest What are your priorities

security challenges we face as Government Chief
in government, and how are Security Officer?
we tackling them?
I see my top priorities as:
The biggest challenge we, and I • delivering a government
believe the UK as a whole, face security transformation
in security is staying ahead of programme that ensures HM
the rapid pace of change. By Government can rely upon a
this I mean the speed at which world-class security operation
technology is evolving; fewer now and into the future;
government buildings and the • building a government security
shift from office-based to a profession that develops,
far more mobile workforce; attracts and keeps the best
the migration of critical public talent and is seen
services to the web; and as a key enabler for
changes in the wider society government business; and
we recruit from. • raising the level of ambition
Set alongside this is an across all areas of security,
equally fast-moving threat with higher standards in cyber,
Campbell McCafferty picture. personnel and physical security
was appointed as the first Reconciling the pace of – to make HMG the hardest
Government Chief Security change with the threat is the target it can be.
Officer (GCSO) in July biggest challenge. For example,
2016. The GCSO replaced how can we safely maximise What are the biggest barriers to
the role of Government the huge opportunities understanding the requirements
Senior Information Risk provided by technology while of security in government?
Owner. The creation of appreciating that cyber offers
the GCSO as functional the lowest-cost, lowest-risk The perception is often that
head of government way to steal from or disrupt ‘security says no’ and is a
security is an important government business? blocker, where it should be an
step towards strengthening A recent review of enabler of new technology and
and professionalising this government security found ways of working. Civil servants
critical area of work. The too much duplicated effort I speak to often see security
GCSO reports to the Chief across departments, and as opaque or confusing and a
Executive of the Civil over-complicated practices. hurdle they have to cross before
Service. Government security has been things can get done.
In addition to his role delivered in a broadly similar We’re now working much more
as GCSO, Campbell is the way for the last 30 years. closely with the HR, Digital and
Director of Cyber and To tackle this, the Cabinet Commercial functions so that we
Government Security in Office has established a understand their needs and they
the Cabinet Office, and is transformation programme have a clearer understanding
responsible for delivery to deliver a step change in about what we do, and why.
of the National Cyber government security. There’s a phrase I like that says,
Security Strategy (https:// The programme will create a ‘security just needs to be good
www.gov.uk/government/ security system that delivers a enough’. Even done properly,
publications/national-cyber- higher quality and more efficient security can add cost and
security-strategy-2016– service, one that is focused on reduce functionality, so it is
to–2021) and National Cyber enabling civil servants to work incumbent on the security
Security Programme. in a way that is secure. profession to focus on the
Prior to this appointment, At the same time, it will allow things that really matter. There
Campbell led the Civil cross-departmental working and is also no such thing as absolute
Contingencies Secretariat the use of modern technology. security: risk management is
and has held a number of critical, as is expressing security
defence roles, including risks in language the business
Head of Counter Terrorism can understand.
and UK Operational Policy.
We constantly have to make who might try and steal public How closely do you work with
risk decisions on how to balance money or sensitive government other government security and
security and business need. For information using more intelligence agencies?
example, the trade-offs between traditional means.
keeping a digital service up and We must also be very aware We work very closely with
available, versus taking it down that not all security threats fit the intelligence agencies and
in order to patch and secure it. into a neat box. There is a lot other organisations to keep
Creating this transparency is vital of crossover between cyber, government safe. In particular,
to reducing barriers. physical and personnel security. the National Cyber Security
And those decisions also A good example would be an Centre (within GCHQ) and
need to be reviewed regularly improperly vetted contractor the Centre for Protecting
as the needs, the threat and the (personnel), gaining access to National Infrastructure (MI5),
context change. And to help a government data centre that which are the UK National
departments understand what was poorly secured (physical) Technical Authorities for cyber
‘secure enough’ looks like, we are and plugging in a USB containing and personnel, and physical
introducing minimum security malware to enable an attacker to security respectively. This
standards for staff, buildings and gain a foothold on the network means they provide the advice
technology. (cyber). A system that is not and guidance that we base
joined up doesn’t recognise this our policies and standards on.
How important are civil servants multi-pronged threat and leaves The intelligence agencies also
in keeping government safe? us more vulnerable as result. provide crucial information
What I’m trying to say is that on the threats to government,
People are our strongest defence our attackers don’t think in silos which helps our team and
when it comes to security, and of cyber, personnel or physical, departments work out how best
almost all security incidents have so neither should we. to protect ourselves.
a decisive human factor, such
as clicking on a malicious link or How joined up is
leaving documents on the train. government security? How are we making sure we
While government is are recruiting and developing
responsible for keeping its The changes we are making the best talent to counter the
staff and information safe, civil over the next two years will increasing sophistication of
servants also have an important deliver much more consistency, cyber and other threats?
role to play. This may sound with security services being
daunting and many people delivered by centralised units We want to build the next
are put off or confused by rather than separate services generation of security
complicated security rules, within each department. These professionals to include a
but there are a number of simple bigger and more capable diverse range of talent. Our
things you can do to keep teams will ensure that skills and recruitment approach will
yourself safe at home and work. resources can be more evenly be to attract people from a
Most of this is just common distributed across government wide variety of backgrounds,
sense and good judgement. enabling greater sharing of best including bringing more women
Staff should refer to the practice, less duplication and into the profession and those
Government Security Principles more opportunities for security from groups of protected
and Behaviours. You should also practitioners to develop and characteristics. We need people
make sure you’re aware of your progress within the profession with a wide range of skills such
department’s security policies We will also be introducing as commercial, technology,
and who to notify if there’s baseline standards and clear HR, communications and risk
a problem. compliance processes across management to name but a few.
government. We recognise that, A more diverse workforce
Given the prominence of cyber at the moment, security policies will provide fresh perspectives,
threats and attacks in the media and standards are not applied innovation and better reflect the
and elsewhere, is there a risk consistently across government, businesses we support.
that we lose a holistic approach which makes it hard to assess the
to security? risks that we face. The changes Why should people want to
we will be introducing will result work in government security,
Yes, I think there is a danger that in more effective performance compared with a role in a big
we lose our holistic approach. monitoring and a clearer picture private sector company?
We have been doing personnel of how we are dealing with
and physical security for so many security threats. Government can offer a scale
years we sometimes see the Security is also becoming a and scope of challenge that
cyber threat as something so cross-government function, far exceeds that found in the
new and different that it almost alongside digital, HR, commercial commercial sector. Government
becomes a domain unto itself. and finance. This is allowing us to business involves dealing with
In many cases, the people on create much greater integration millions of people and with
the other end of the keyboard and collaboration between the billions of pounds – experience
who want to do us harm have different functions and helps us that can’t be matched
exactly the same intent as those learn from each other. commercially.
It also offers an opportunity to government to deliver now and in sharing of security services, best
tackle the most severe threats the future. practice and expertise.
and build deep relationships We want to empower our staff We will create a new culture
with the security and and we are committed to their where security is seen as an
intelligence agencies and wider development, so that they can integral part of everyone’s role,
national security community, have clear and exciting careers enabling them to do their job
both in the UK and abroad. within government security. We effectively.
want to ensure that government We will create a new structure
What is your vision of how security is a brilliant area to work for government security with
government security will look in in to attract and retain the very expert professionals providing
the future? best talent. high-quality, dynamic security
We must transform our security services that protect and enable
Our vision is to have a thriving systems to modernise and protect government to deliver now and in
security profession made up against an ever-evolving range of the future.
of subject matter experts who threats. We want to bring together Security is an essential part of
provide high-quality, dynamic departments and security teams, good government – we need to
security services that enable and foster cross-government protect to enable.
© Crown copyright 2017
You may re-use this information (excluding
images and logos) free of charge in any format
or medium, under the terms of the Open
Government Licence.
To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.
gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/2/
or email psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk

Civil Service Quarterly 15

Загружено:

Сведения о документе

Авторское право

Доступные форматы

Поделиться этим документом

Поделиться или встроить документ

Параметры публикации

Этот документ был вам полезен?

Это неприемлемый материал?

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Civil Service Quarterly 15

Загружено:

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

CIVIL SERVICE QUARTERLY

Issue 15 FEATURE Subscribe for free here:

ACTIVE CYBER DEFENCE FOR THE UK

SCIENCE IN EMERGENCIES Christopher J. M. Whitty, interim Government Chief Scientific 6

THE CIVIL SERVICE QUARTERLY INTERVIEW: 24

Civil Service Quarterly opens CONTACT US EDITORIAL BOARD

Civil Service Quarterly 15: Security in government

facility of its kind in the world, • Policy Propeller: transforming

Let us know what you think by email (csq@cabinetoffice.gov.uk) or on Twitter #CSQuarterly

WINNING THE STRATEGIC

Dan Chugg, former Head, C-Daesh Coalition Comms Cell, describes

Global Coalition graphic for digital channels

Two years on, Daesh, which

Christopher J. M. Whitty, interim Government Chief Scientific Adviser

(Picture: Simon Davis/DFID)

the early warnings has been

VA ADVISORY SUMMIT ELEV: 1666M RMK: ASH CONCENTRATIONS

FROM CRIME SCENE TO COURT –

Charlie Stansfield, Content Manager, Defence Science and Technology

From fireworks to fuselages, illegal use of fireworks to cause establishing whether an

EXHIBIT A: TELLTALE TRACES several hundred metres underground on the

RECRUITMENT AND The progression from graduate HORIZON SCANNING

Forensic Case Officer analysing a car to recover traces

The requirements are:

Forensic Case Officer working to recover

ACTIVE CYBER DEFENCE FOR THE UK

Ciaran Martin, Chief Executive, National Cyber Security Centre

3. Helping public bodies easily the first 24 hours, compared to

Attackers also learn what ADVENTUROUS AGENDA

Since June 2016, the NCSC has * Malware is software designed

CIVIL SERVICE TRANSFORMATION

THE WHAT WORKS TEAM:

END-OF-LIFE SUPPORT TRIAL, CABINET THE EDUCATION ENDOWMENT

Figure 1: College of Policing’s Crime Reduction Toolkit. Source: http://whatworks.college.police.uk/toolkit/Pages/Toolkit.aspx

Endowment Foundation (EEF) practitioners rarely have the dissemination strategies.

POLICY PROPELLER: TRANSFORMING

Policy Propeller workshop in progress

INTERVIEW WITH CAMPBELL McCAFFERTY,

What are the biggest What are your priorities

Вам также может понравиться