Seeing the Big Picture:
Civil Service examples by grade

I work as an EO in a team handling applications for a student finance scheme. The department had set an objective to cut the time students waited for a decision before the start of term, because late payments were causing some students to drop out.

I read the objective and the policy paper behind it, and realised that my team’s work queue was ordered by date received, not by course start date. That meant some customers starting in September waited behind applications for courses starting in January.

I checked 200 open cases and found 46 with a September start that were more than three weeks old. I proposed to my manager that the queue be sorted by course start date during the peak period, and explained how this linked to the departmental aim. I considered the impact on students starting later in the year, and asked a colleague in the policy team whether the change raised any fairness issues. They confirmed it did not.

My manager agreed and the change was introduced within a week. By the start of term, 94% of September starters had a decision, up from 81% the previous year, and two other teams adopted the approach for the next peak.

As an HEO analyst in a regional employment support team, I noticed from monthly data that referrals of people aged over 50 had risen by 30% in a year, while local programmes were designed mainly around younger jobseekers.

I looked into the wider context. The department had just published a strategy prioritising older workers, and labour market reports showed the trend was likely to continue as more people over 50 left work after ill health. I shared these findings with my manager and two regional colleagues, and asked what they were seeing locally.

I wrote a short paper setting out the trend, how it linked to the new strategy, and three options for adjusting the local programmes. I met two employers and a community charity to understand what older jobseekers needed, and included their views. I recommended redirecting 15% of workshop places to a digital skills course for over-50s, which fitted the strategy and could be delivered within the existing budget.

The regional board approved the proposal. In the first six months, 180 people over 50 completed the course and job outcomes for that group rose from 22% to 31%. The national team later used my paper as a model for other regions.

I lead a Grade 7 policy team developing guidance on how local authorities inspect rented housing. Midway through, I learned that another department was consulting on energy efficiency rules for the same properties, which could have meant landlords receiving conflicting requirements.

I set up a meeting with my counterpart in that department and with colleagues from the Treasury and the housing regulator to map where the two pieces of work overlapped. I reviewed research on rising energy costs and on the likely impact of both policies on tenants in older properties, and considered the political sensitivity of adding costs for landlords ahead of a spending review.

I proposed a joint approach: one set of guidance covering inspection and energy standards, with a shared timetable in line with the government’s strategic priority on net zero. I briefed my director and the minister’s office on the benefits and the risks, including a two-month delay to my own milestone, and brought together the views of stakeholders, including tenant groups and landlord associations, at a joint workshop.

Ministers in both departments agreed the joint approach. The combined guidance reduced the inspections landlords would face from two to one, which the impact assessment estimated would save the sector £18m a year.