This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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New Permanent Secretary takes up post
08/07/2003
The new Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Executive
has told civil servants that they should take pride in
working in public service.
John Elvidge, who has succeeded Sir Muir Russell, was
addressing hundreds of staff from the Executive and other
public sector agencies days after taking up his post.
He said:
"Is public service something we can be proud
of?
Pride comes from the standards we apply to our
work. Commitment to delivery is one of those standards
- an important one.
So can we be sure we are making a difference to
the lives of people in Scotland?
The difference we saw for the woman with her
child in the nursery, the difference we saw for the
farmer whose livelihood is rescued from
destruction.
Commitment to public service is our lifeblood.
It is the reason I am proud to have the opportunity to
lead this organisation.
It is the reason most people here - including
me - chose to work in this organisation, whether in a
core Executive Department or one of our
agencies.
Belief that public services can be better and
can make their lives better is the reason people wanted
devolution. It is the reason they continue to expect
more from it - expect more from us. Everything we do
has the ultimate aim of making life better for
individuals and families and for Scotland as a
whole.
I know that connection can be hard to make.
Some of us are fortunate in having frequent contact
with the people who benefit from what we do. For others
of us the chain which leads to those people has more
links in it and we have to think harder about the
impact of what we do.
But everything we do can contribute to helping
others. The phone calls - particularly if you are the
first person someone looking for our help speaks to,
the drafting, the organising and storing of information
to help colleagues use it, and even the meetings -
sometimes particularly the meetings if we use them
constructively. What you do every day makes a
difference.
And the way you do it makes a difference too -
respect for others and their views, openness,
helpfulness, going the extra mile.
It all connects in some way to the quality of
life of people in Scotland. I am proud of this
organisation of the people who work in it because that
is our guiding purpose.
The expectations placed on us, the aspirations
people have for their quality of life, do not stand
still.
So we cannot stand still either.
To deliver the best standards of public
services of which we are capable, we need to ask
ourselves constantly whether we can find better ways to
do what we do and whether each of us is giving the
contribution we know we have it in us to give.
I strongly believe that it is always possible
to do better, often by learning from and building on
things we or others have already done well.
I get no greater personal satisfaction, even
after 30 years in the public service, than from
responding to new challenges or finding better ways of
responding to familiar ones.
Many people from inside and outside the
Executive, have been kind enough to congratulate me on
becoming Permanent Secretary.
Often they say they wish me well because they
believe I shall build on Muir Russell's achievements,
continue to pursue change. I intend to live up to that
belief.
But I shall only do that by focusing more on
you than on myself. I am one, you are many. Change and
improvement will come from the total impact of our
individual efforts. I can support you - and I will -
but your achievements are what will make the
difference.
So change comes from our desire to be the best
we can be. And it also comes from the desire of those
we serve - the people of Scotland - to have the best
quality of life we can. Changing the way we do things
to deliver for the people of Scotland.
It is both our internal purpose, a part of our
self fulfilment, and our external purpose, the basis of
our place in society.
I want to say more about our place within
Scottish society. My personal vision is of an Executive
which stands at the centre of Scottish life, widely
trusted, by earning a reputation for openness,
helpfulness, expertise and effectiveness.
We are the natural meeting point of the
interests which we saw at the beginning today - those
who want services, those who are our partners in
providing services, Ministers who direct our purpose
and colleagues here within this organisation who devote
their working lives to making a practical reality of
political intention.
We can do more to fill that central position.
We can do more to build shared purpose. We can do more
to bring together those who can deliver public services
to fulfil that shared purpose. To do that we must look
outwards more, we must both listen and share our
expertise and knowledge.
Working together with others is the key to
delivery. By working with the various parts of Scottish
society we come to understand more about their needs
and aspirations or those of the people on whose behalf
they speak.
And we give understanding to them from our
knowledge of the interests of others in Scotland and of
the practicalities of government.
By working with those who deliver services, we
understand more about how best to turn policy intention
into practical reality. And we give understanding of
the outcomes which policy is intended to
deliver.
That was the message of the inspiring work on
children's services we heard about earlier.
Delivering the right things in the right way is
more likely to be achieved - and is easier to achieve -
if we work with others. Time spent getting it right in
that way is time well spent.
So change and looking outward are things we do
in order to achieve delivery, in order to affect
people's lives for the better.
It is our success in delivering better quality
of life which gives meaning to public service.
It is success in meeting the challenges ahead
which will enable us to say "Public service is
something we can be proud of."
I want each of you to be able to feel that
pride. I want all of us to achieve things individually
which we can take pride in. I want all of us to be
proud to be part of a public service which delivers as
a team for the people of Scotland.
In a special webcast for an outside audience, Mr Elvidge
also says:
"Civil servants can, and do, make a difference by
helping to build the kind of society we all want to live
in.
"Our task is to put into practice the decisions which
politicians make in order to make society fairer, safer,
healthier.
"It is a purpose which we share with all those who work
in the public service: our partners in local authorities,
the NHS, and other public bodies.
"I am proud to have the opportunity to lead the Scottish
Executive over the years ahead. Proud because public
services can contribute to the quality of life of everyone
in Scotland.
"Every public sector leader has a share of
responsibility for the performance of the public sector as
a whole. Because of the position of the Scottish Executive
within the public sector, I have a particularly strong
personal responsibility.
"Responsibility to ensure that the commitment of all
those working to deliver public services, and the huge sums
of money spent in doing so, results in a clear improvement
in quality of life for people in Scotland.
"The more we succeed in that common purpose, the more
the world around us keeps changing as a result.
"And public expectations change too, moving forward,
reaching towards higher aspirations. We must change to
match these changed expectations.
"The Scottish Executive and our partners in the wider
public service must embrace change, view it as a positive
force, an inspiring challenge.
"Change, of course, is not a purpose in itself - it is a
means to an end.
"Our purpose is the delivery of better public services,
better legislation, better government.
"It is the core business of making Scotland a fairer
place, a safer place, and a healthier place.
"Political vision requires people who can translate it
into practice, who can make the difference.
"So, as I begin my tenure as the Permanent Secretary of
the Scottish Executive, I encourage everyone who works to
deliver public services to share with me pride in their
commitment to the public good, as we strive to deliver the
enhanced quality of life that everyone in Scotland wishes
to see."