Cabinet Office National News Release Briefing Note:

Civil Servants ready to tackle economic downturn

Civil Servants are working harder than ever to deliver crucial public services as demand soars during the economic downturn Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell, said this evening.

In a speech to the Lancaster University Business School, Sir Gus explained how the Civil Service has a central role to play in helping Britain through the challenges of the financial climate.

Sir Gus O'Donnell, Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service said:

"The downturn is the biggest challenge now facing the UK government. Responding to these unprecedented events has been, and remains, the main challenge for the Civil Service. However we have strong foundations in place and are continuously evolving to meet new demands."

"We are tackling the recession head on by making sure frontline staff are ready to help people get back into work, as well as setting up the National Economic Council to assist people and businesses through the difficult times."

"Pressures on the Civil Service are increasing but we continue to deliver great services, be it officials at the Treasury working day and night to tackle the global financial crisis or staff at a Job CentrePlus handling twice as many enquiries as normal."

Sir Gus said that a new public service ethos was behind the rise in applications for Civil Service jobs. The Fast Stream graduate programme has seen a 33 per cent rise in applications on last year as people realise it is important to do something to help others through the credit crunch.

Sir Gus said:

"What defines and binds together all civil servants is a set of shared values: honesty, objectivity, integrity and impartiality. I am proud that in a recent survey of Fast Streamers 90 per cent said it was important to them to have a job that benefited wider society - in the private sector this was just 15 per cent."

Notes to editors:

* Sir Gus will deliver the Lancaster University Business School 's Sir Roland Smith Lecture at the Royal Society of Arts in London tonight.

* A check against delivery version of Sir Gus's speech is below; the full text will be published at http://www.civilservice.gov.uk on Thursday.

* There are 487,000 civil servants; the lowest number for almost a decade.

* The Civil Service makes up less than 2% of UK employment and around 9% of public sector employment.
* The Civil Service has delivered £26.5 billion of annual efficiency gains.

* The majority of Civil servants work outside London in operational delivery roles and earn less than £25,000.

* The Civil Service is becoming increasingly diverse; for example, the proportion of women in the Senior Civil Service has almost doubled over the last decade.

Last Updated ( Monday, 02 March 2009 )