Stefan Czerniawski
@pubstr.at
Blogging less than the olden days. Still working to make public services better, now in healthcare regulation.
Reposted by Stefan Czerniawski
It's sometimes hard to remember that public services can be delivered with pride and self confidence
November 1, 2025 at 11:27 AM
It's sometimes hard to remember that public services can be delivered with pride and self confidence
It's sometimes hard to remember that public services can be delivered with pride and self confidence
November 1, 2025 at 11:27 AM
It's sometimes hard to remember that public services can be delivered with pride and self confidence
The very excellent @bbcradio3bot.bsky.social seems to have quietly died a couple of days ago. Does anybody know what might have befallen it and whether it can be revived?
October 27, 2025 at 8:01 PM
The very excellent @bbcradio3bot.bsky.social seems to have quietly died a couple of days ago. Does anybody know what might have befallen it and whether it can be revived?
The theme of the walk was autumn ending
October 25, 2025 at 5:34 PM
The theme of the walk was autumn ending
October 18, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Tangentially reminded of an extraordinary weaving installation in a tunnel in Holborn years ago - eerie, mesmerising, and strangely beautiful
clapham-omnibus.blogspot.com/2009/10/chor...
clapham-omnibus.blogspot.com/2009/10/chor...
October 18, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Tangentially reminded of an extraordinary weaving installation in a tunnel in Holborn years ago - eerie, mesmerising, and strangely beautiful
clapham-omnibus.blogspot.com/2009/10/chor...
clapham-omnibus.blogspot.com/2009/10/chor...
Reposted by Stefan Czerniawski
Register is open for UKGovCamp 2026!
Join us on 17 January 2026 for a free, community-led unconference where public sector people meet to share ideas, collaborate, and improve services.
Spaces are limited. Secure your spot today: forms.gle/tL5q1ZBHYxAq...
Join us on 17 January 2026 for a free, community-led unconference where public sector people meet to share ideas, collaborate, and improve services.
Spaces are limited. Secure your spot today: forms.gle/tL5q1ZBHYxAq...
UKGovCamp 2026 Registration
Our next annual in-person event is:
free to attend,
in Birmingham,
on Saturday 17 January 2026.
Please note: Registration does not guarantee a ticket because:
the event is always oversubscribed,...
forms.gle
October 17, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Register is open for UKGovCamp 2026!
Join us on 17 January 2026 for a free, community-led unconference where public sector people meet to share ideas, collaborate, and improve services.
Spaces are limited. Secure your spot today: forms.gle/tL5q1ZBHYxAq...
Join us on 17 January 2026 for a free, community-led unconference where public sector people meet to share ideas, collaborate, and improve services.
Spaces are limited. Secure your spot today: forms.gle/tL5q1ZBHYxAq...
Music stands in place for the solo performer
October 12, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Music stands in place for the solo performer
Reposted by Stefan Czerniawski
My hero is a farmer, not a duck. Which will only make sense if you read this new piece by me, the start of a new substack which I am bravely calling How To Run A Country.
howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/its-the-de...
howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/its-the-de...
It’s the despair that’s going to kill us
Time to cheer up
howtorunacountry.substack.com
October 10, 2025 at 9:05 AM
My hero is a farmer, not a duck. Which will only make sense if you read this new piece by me, the start of a new substack which I am bravely calling How To Run A Country.
howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/its-the-de...
howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/its-the-de...
"When you’re trying to bring about significant change in any complex system, it’s impossible to know up front exactly what’s going to work, how the various risks are going to pan out or how the context is going to change."
'Being a leader isn’t about becoming great at everything': Civil service reform DG Janet Hughes sets out her priorities
Hughes, who became Cabinet Office DG for civil service reform and efficiency in June, on bringing the spirit of One Team Gov to her new role, test ...
www.civilserviceworld.com
October 1, 2025 at 5:53 PM
"When you’re trying to bring about significant change in any complex system, it’s impossible to know up front exactly what’s going to work, how the various risks are going to pan out or how the context is going to change."
A strange little demonstration outside Broadcasting House - a handful of people with a banner bigger than they are proclaiming that "Bullets will not silence us - RIP Charlie Kirk" against a stylised union flag.
The ratio of confusion to word count seems remarkably high.
The ratio of confusion to word count seems remarkably high.
October 1, 2025 at 5:37 PM
A strange little demonstration outside Broadcasting House - a handful of people with a banner bigger than they are proclaiming that "Bullets will not silence us - RIP Charlie Kirk" against a stylised union flag.
The ratio of confusion to word count seems remarkably high.
The ratio of confusion to word count seems remarkably high.
Thick mist last night, clear blue skies this morning. Autumn beyond doubt.
September 29, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Thick mist last night, clear blue skies this morning. Autumn beyond doubt.
Reposted by Stefan Czerniawski
Much of what is written about "digital identity" veers (often wildly) across two broad lanes: 1) the concept of your 'identity' and 2) means by which you prove a claim in relation to that (usually that you are either The Person, or that some fact is true - without necessarily revealing who you are).
September 28, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Much of what is written about "digital identity" veers (often wildly) across two broad lanes: 1) the concept of your 'identity' and 2) means by which you prove a claim in relation to that (usually that you are either The Person, or that some fact is true - without necessarily revealing who you are).
This is even more than usually heart stopping. My cousin was on that same transport from Tarnów. He died in Auschwitz in 1941 - and I suddenly wonder, if he had survived a longer, might he too have been released. And how much would have been different if he had.
27 September 1921 | A Pole, Jerzy Bogusz, was born in Nowy Sącz.
He was deported to #Auschwitz from Tarnów on 14 June 1940 in the first transport of Poles to #Auschwitz.
No. 61
In 1942 he was released from the camp. He survived the war. He passed away in 2016.
He was deported to #Auschwitz from Tarnów on 14 June 1940 in the first transport of Poles to #Auschwitz.
No. 61
In 1942 he was released from the camp. He survived the war. He passed away in 2016.
September 27, 2025 at 11:18 AM
This is even more than usually heart stopping. My cousin was on that same transport from Tarnów. He died in Auschwitz in 1941 - and I suddenly wonder, if he had survived a longer, might he too have been released. And how much would have been different if he had.
ID cards aren't about the cards. @paulclarke.com has been thinking longer and harder about this than most of us, and this thread is an excellent place to start
I'm seeing so many takes around parts of the "ID card" melange, I have to add a few.
It's not about cards. It's about registers. A register is a definitive 'true source' of data, about people, places, buildings, whatever.
It's not about cards. It's about registers. A register is a definitive 'true source' of data, about people, places, buildings, whatever.
September 27, 2025 at 11:00 AM
ID cards aren't about the cards. @paulclarke.com has been thinking longer and harder about this than most of us, and this thread is an excellent place to start
The theme of the walk was orchards.
September 13, 2025 at 5:58 PM
The theme of the walk was orchards.
Not from the Onion
Who needs the top bit anyway?
Who needs the top bit anyway?
Congress and Trump may compromise on the SLS rocket by axing its costly upper stage
“At $4 billion a launch, you don’t have a Moon program.”…
arstechnica.com
September 8, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Not from the Onion
Who needs the top bit anyway?
Who needs the top bit anyway?
Some ministers make clear decisions and stuff happens as a result. Some ministers avoid making decisions and so stuff doesn't happen.
Every civil servant I have ever worked with prefers the first kind to the second mind.
Every civil servant I have ever worked with prefers the first kind to the second mind.
This is literally why strategists in No10 decided they needed a bigger reshuffle - the frustration Starmer and his aides felt that some ministers had been totally captured by skittish departments slowing things down. (Is that true? Who knows!)
Genuine frustration from civil servants over the reshuffle - not about anyone in particular, just the time spent training a minister on a new remit, getting them properly briefed on complex topics, only to have to disappear to another department and have to start all over again
September 5, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Some ministers make clear decisions and stuff happens as a result. Some ministers avoid making decisions and so stuff doesn't happen.
Every civil servant I have ever worked with prefers the first kind to the second mind.
Every civil servant I have ever worked with prefers the first kind to the second mind.
There is a certain pleasing irony in this list
September 2, 2025 at 12:58 PM
There is a certain pleasing irony in this list
A #FixTheForms masterclass today from @edfenergy.com
A bill arrives with an estimated meter reading. It's a bit off, so let's update it with a more accurate one. Off we go to the website. Log in to MyAccount it says. Which is reasonable enough, except that I don't have any such logon details.
A bill arrives with an estimated meter reading. It's a bit off, so let's update it with a more accurate one. Off we go to the website. Log in to MyAccount it says. Which is reasonable enough, except that I don't have any such logon details.
August 31, 2025 at 4:44 PM
A #FixTheForms masterclass today from @edfenergy.com
A bill arrives with an estimated meter reading. It's a bit off, so let's update it with a more accurate one. Off we go to the website. Log in to MyAccount it says. Which is reasonable enough, except that I don't have any such logon details.
A bill arrives with an estimated meter reading. It's a bit off, so let's update it with a more accurate one. Off we go to the website. Log in to MyAccount it says. Which is reasonable enough, except that I don't have any such logon details.
A superb rendition of Alexander's Feast from the Irish Baroque Orchestra at the proms
The hallelujah chorus was a rousing encore - extra credit to the woman in the row behind me who felt inspired to sing along and who definitely knew some of the notes.
The hallelujah chorus was a rousing encore - extra credit to the woman in the row behind me who felt inspired to sing along and who definitely knew some of the notes.
August 30, 2025 at 10:19 PM
A superb rendition of Alexander's Feast from the Irish Baroque Orchestra at the proms
The hallelujah chorus was a rousing encore - extra credit to the woman in the row behind me who felt inspired to sing along and who definitely knew some of the notes.
The hallelujah chorus was a rousing encore - extra credit to the woman in the row behind me who felt inspired to sing along and who definitely knew some of the notes.
Never had Bletchley down on my list of places to search for gold
August 27, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Never had Bletchley down on my list of places to search for gold
The theme of the walk was beyond the harvest
August 24, 2025 at 5:37 PM
The theme of the walk was beyond the harvest
Reposted by Stefan Czerniawski
I wrote something about being a postman: hmshale.com/2025/08/22/o...
On being a postman
After Stanley came home I started applying for jobs. Lagom was closed for business and I needed to find a way to earn money again. But I was still very anxious about my capacity to do work, and abo…
hmshale.com
August 22, 2025 at 8:56 AM
I wrote something about being a postman: hmshale.com/2025/08/22/o...