The Public Service Award

HMRC and HMT delivered HMG’s flagship economic interventions to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and protect businesses and jobs. CJRS (or the furlough scheme) has helped employers pay the wages of nine million people across the UK - over a quarter of the workforce. Over 2.7 million people have been supported by the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), and hundreds of thousands of businesses have been supported, including through Eat Out To Help Out (EOHO). These schemes have all been delivered as a partnership between experts from HMT and HMRC, who have operated as a single virtual team.They have been delivered successfully at a rapid pace.

Up to 630,000 non-shielded vulnerable people now have access to vital food supplies thanks to a new Defra, Kainos, Capgemini and KITS digital service. COVID-19 resulted in a 40-fold increase in demand for supermarket deliveries, and placed significant issues and barriers in front of non-shielded vulnerable people who were self-isolating or social distancing.Targeted at the elderly, disabled people, and those with long-term health conditions, the new service provides an England-wide self-service system which enables local authorities and charities to refer non-shielded vulnerable people to priority food delivery slots, while observing competition law and complying with GDPR data requirements.

The team successfully negotiated the UK’s first trade agreement for 50 years, with Japan.The agreement met all the objectives set for it and has been widely praised externally.This was the world’s fastest-ever trade negotiation, was conducted almost entirely virtually, in unprecedented circumstances, and with a heavyweight nation of the trade world. The team did so in collaboration with 20 government departments and agencies, under intense pressure and scrutiny, creating new ways of working.The team received a letter of praise from the Cabinet Secretary for their achievement.

Recognising exceptional service delivery.