Prime minister David Cameron thanked the civil service for its integrity, professionalism and ethos at the Civil Service Awards last week.

The PM said he wanted “to say a very big thank-you to the civil service for what you do.” In particular, he said that he was struck by the “professionalism of the British civil service. We came in with a very different programme to what went before, but the transition process and the impartiality seen not just in Number 10 but throughout Whitehall is really impressive. It’s something we should be proud of as a country.”

He also praised the civil service for cutting back on expenditure, stating that “the civil service has done a really difficult job putting [spending cuts] in place.”

Finally, he praised the “great ethos of public service. People aren’t civil servants for the money or the reward or the pension; they are civil servants because they care about our country, they want to serve the country.”

The awards were hosted at Lancaster House, and were also presented by outgoing cabinet secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell, incoming cabinet secretary Jeremy Heywood, and the next head of the civil service, Sir Bob Kerslake.

There were 16 awards, four of which were won by the Home Office. Home Office permanent secretary Helen Ghosh said that the awards demonstrate “we are innovative, energetic, enthusiastic. I’ve been there 11 months and have never met a group of people who are so devoted to what they do.”
Sir Gus O’Donnell said: “All those who were nominated, I hope you feel really proud. This is my biggest fix of the year, I am so proud.”

Click here to see all the winners.

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Written by Joshua Chambers, CSW