This report is based on the lectures on Civil Service reform delivered at meetings of the Public Management and Policy Association (PMPA) by two distinguished experts – Professor Vernon Bogdanor, Professor of Government, Oxford University and Sir Richard Wilson, Head of the Home Civil Service.

Although both lectures were delivered before the June 2001 General Election, their relevance has been reinforced by the new administration’s commitment to delivering better public services – articulated in the theme ‘delivery, delivery, delivery’.