Civil servants must work differently, says new boss

Civil servants have been told they will have to "do things differently" by their new boss, the cabinet secretary, on his first day in the job.

Sir Chris Wormald has promised a "rewiring of the way the government works", in a message to half a million civil servants.

Sir Chris, who previously ran the departments for health and education, has taken charge of the civil service less than two weeks after Sir Keir Starmer claimed "too many" officials were "comfortable in the tepid bath of managed decline".

The FDA union, which represents senior civil servants, has accused the new government of taking an "astonishing" and "really damaging" approach.

Labour officials entering government for the first time have privately complained that the Whitehall machine is bloated and outdated.

But FDA general secretary Dave Penman said civil servants "feel a sense of betrayal" by the prime minister.

In his all-staff message, Sir Chris said he was "deeply honoured" to take up his new job, adding it was his role "to support the prime minister and government to deliver for the country".

"The prime minister has been clear that he wants a re-wiring of the way the government works to deliver his recently announced Plan for Change.

"This will require all of us to do things differently - from working much more effectively across departments to taking advantage of the major opportunities technology provides.

"Throughout my career, I have seen the civil service adapt and change to achieve incredible things for the people of the United Kingdom. I know that together we will relish the opportunities the coming years will bring."

Sir Chris, who is 56, joined the civil service in the Department for Education in 1991, and later headed that department and the Department of Health and Social Care during the Covid pandemic.

He was the most experienced candidate on the final four-person shortlist for the cabinet secretary job.