What it was:

A talk with discussion on the Strategic Framework. This was part of the Deputy Director Leadership Programme held in London on 16 and 17 September 2019.

What I learned:

The strategic framework is a way of organising thinking and effort across Government and for addressing the big national challenges. It is expressed as outcomes for citizens.

It is long term – up to 2030 – can be seen as applying to both the citizen and the state, and posits that most government activity can be divided into one or more of the following six pillars:

• Security – a UK that is safe and secure for citizens
• Prosperity – a UK that is prosperous and productive
• Influence – A UK that is globally influential
• Sustainability – A UK that is sustainable and enduring for all current and future citizens
• Inclusion – all citizens feel included in a UK that’s fair and just, with a strong sense of community and cohesion
• Wellbeing – All citizens are cared for and live long, healthy lives

In discussion – most, perhaps all of us were in roles that spanned several, perhaps all, of the six pillars.

Senior leaders across Depts are engaged in ‘demonstrator projects’ that work across Departmental boundaries.

The ambition for each strategic framework project:

• Citizen-centred – put the citizen’s needs and views at the core of the outcome
• Open and inclusive – act with deep empathy and respect for the user and in our teams
• Adaptive – listen and evolve in response to user needs
• Human approach – consider people’s lives as a whole and structure outcomes around this
• Joined-up – work across the public sector system as a whole, from problem definition to delivery of solutions
• Long-term – set clear bold goals that endure based on outcomes that matter to the citizen
• Trusted – we earn a reputation of reliably delivering on the issues that matter to citizens, businesses and and beyond

What I will aim to do differently as a result:

Work across Departmental boundaries – perhaps use the Action Learning Sets as an opportunity to explore opportunities to do this.

Noting that these ambitions could easily apply to digital services – use the ‘ambitions’ above to think about digital projects.