Cabinet Secretary Dame Antonia Romeo wants to give small teams across Whitehall the freedom to hire specialists quickly and change the procedures that slow down public services.
Speaking at the London School of Economics on 10 November, Romeo said public service productivity remained almost 3% below its pre-pandemic peak and the Civil Service needed to earn back public trust. Cabinet Office transcript of Antonia Romeo’s LSE lecture
In the OECD’s latest survey, conducted in 2025, 39% of UK respondents rated their trust in the Civil Service at six or higher out of ten, down from 45% in 2023. The OECD average in 2025 was 45%. OECD UK trust survey, 2025 results · OECD UK trust survey, 2023 results
Romeo said artificial intelligence could take on routine work, citing its use in helping halve processing times for routine householder planning applications. She argued that the bigger gains would come from redesigning the entire process around that technology. She said human judgment would still be needed and departments must be able to explain how they reach decisions.
She also called for shifting more power and resources out of Westminster. She said 100 civil servants had been matched to secondment roles in mayoral authorities, with more to follow.
“Trust is earned primarily through consistent delivery, reliability and fair outcomes,” Romeo said. The government plans to publish a revised Civil Service Code in spring 2027, its first update in more than a decade. A review of how the permanent Civil Service is organised and run is due to report to the Prime Minister before summer 2027. Cabinet Office transcript of Antonia Romeo’s LSE lecture
