Public Servants of the Year Awards 2004

ENTRY DEADLINE EXTENDED

There is more time for you to nominate excellent public sector workers for the Public Servants of the Year Awards 2004. Following the recent postal strike in London, the entry deadline has been extended by one week to 7 December 2003.

These prestigious awards, run by Public Finance magazine in partnership with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), the Cabinet Office and the Office of Government Commerce, seek to recognise and reward excellence and outstanding achievement displayed by individuals and teams from Britain's 4 million public sector workers. We are looking for nominations for all sectors of people working within the public sector from cleaners and dinner ladies to chief executives and non-execs.

We are delighted that the Prime Minister, Tony Blair has endorsed the 2004 awards. Click here to view the Prime Minister’s message.

THE AWARDS CATEGORIES

The awards are split into two categories:

Individual awards:

• Breaking New Ground – The Award for Innovation
• Inspiring Success – The Award for Leadership
• Raising the Standard – The Front-line Worker Award
• Nothing is Impossible – The Turn-round Manager Award
• Making a Difference to People – The Social Inclusion Award
• Working Together – The Award for Progress through Partnership
• On Board – The Award for a Non-Executive’s Contribution

And Team awards:

• Central Government
• Local Government
• Housing
• Education
• Health and
• Uniformed Services.

THE JUDGING PROCESS

The judging of entries takes place in two stages. An initial evaluation is carried out by a panel of scrutineers who award marks against a consistent marking scheme; every entry is seen by two scrutineers and the marks given are then moderated by the Project Advisor, Brian Smith a former President of Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy. This process produces the long-list of entries, which are then marked by the panel of judges.

The judging panel agrees the short-list (the finalists) and then selects the winners in each category. All the judges and scrutineers are independent and are chosen because of their expertise and prominence in a particular field. They bring a wealth of public service understanding and experience and are committed to progress within the public sector.

Members of the judging panel are:

• Prof. Sir Michael Lyons
  Chair, INLOGOV, Birmingham University (Chair)
• Dame Rennie Fritchie
  Commissioner, Office of the Commission for Public Appointments
• Rabbi Julia Neuberger
  Chief Executive, King’s Fund
• Dr Norman Perry
  Chief Executive, the Housing Corporation
• Michael Peters
  Consultant Director of Educational Services, The Tribal Group
• Roger Singleton
  Chief Executive, Barnardo’s
• Victor Smart
  Head of Media, Audit Commission
• Sir John Stevens
  Commissioner, Metropolitan Police
• Dr Wendy Thomson
  Prime Minister’s Adviser on Public Services Reform, OPSR

VOLUNTEERS FOUND

The response to our request for scrutineers in the last e-newsletter was overwhelming. We have been delighted (and surprised) by the amount of support from people willing to give their time over the Christmas holidays to marking awards entries. We now have a full team for the 2004 awards and are grateful to all who expressed interest in this activity.

INTERESTED IN SPONSORING AN AWARD?

Our awards sponsors are companies with close links to the public sector and all are pleased to publicly demonstrate their support by giving recognition to those among our public servants who have delivered exceptional service. A very small number of awards are still available for sponsorship. To learn more about becoming a sponsor and the generous benefits package, call Peter Wright on 020 7543 5731 or email him at peter.wright@publicfinance.org.

WANT TO ATTEND THE AWARDS CEREMONY IN MAY 2004?

We are delighted that Dermot Murnaghan (BBC Breakfast) and Mary Nightingale (ITN News) will once again host the ceremony at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel on Monday 10 May 2004. Tickets are available to individuals and organisations who want to enjoy this glittering occasion. Companies wishing to entertain public sector clients will find this appropriate setting an ideal opportunity to cement relationships and enjoy a splendid black-tie event celebrating outstanding achievements and networking with other organisations. Discounts are available for CIPFA exhibitors and sponsors. For more information, contact Laura Kerr on 020 7543 5872 or email her at laura.kerr@cipfa.org.

DON'T FORGET THE TIMETABLE:

NEW Entry Deadline: 7 December 2003
Judging: February 2004
Finalists notified: March 2004
Awards ceremony: MONDAY 10 MAY 2004

**For a print-friendly version of this e-newsletter, please click on File/Print/Properties and select 'lansdcape' as the orientation OR view and print the text-only version here.

To unsubscribe from the Awards e-newsletter, please click here.

© CIPFA 2003. All rights reserved