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Whitehall is too ‘tame, reactive and risk-averse’, says UK’s top civil servant
UK NewsPolitics•November 11, 2026 at 6:00 AMNational

Whitehall is too ‘tame, reactive and risk-averse’, says UK’s top civil servant

By Rowena Mason Whitehall editor•The Guardian - UK News

Antonia Romeo pledges to ‘rewire’ civil service by incentivising and rewarding top performersWhitehall is too “tame, reactive and risk-averse”, the cabinet secretary has said, as she set out a “completely new approach” to managing the performance of civil servants.With Andy Burnham and his deputy, Louise Haigh, in the audience, the UK’s most senior civil servant, Antonia Romeo, gave a lecture saying she would bring radical change to Whitehall as it deals with uncertainty caused by AI and global political tensions. Continue reading...

Antonia Romeo pledges to ‘rewire’ civil service by incentivising and rewarding top performers

Whitehall is too “tame, reactive and risk-averse”, the cabinet secretary has said, as she set out a “completely new approach” to managing the performance of civil servants.

With Andy Burnham and his deputy, Louise Haigh, in the audience, the UK’s most senior civil servant, Antonia Romeo, gave a lecture saying she would bring radical change to Whitehall as it deals with uncertainty caused by AI and global political tensions.

Continue reading...

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