Strategy from the centre
Whitehall, the centre of government and public strategy.
- Level
- Bitesize
- Learning time
- 1 hour 15 minutes
- Where
- Strategy and the future
- Price
- £39
When you step up to a higher level, what you paid in the last 12 months for lower-level courses inside the bigger course comes off its price, in proportion to how much of each is inside it, whichever topic it's from. Courses at the same or a lower level don't give credit against each other. A Focus course or above always costs at least £15. Read the full terms
Certificate of Completion
Overview and Outcomes.
Overview
Decisions made at the centre become strategic choices for every local body. Starting in Whitehall, the course looks at the Civil Service and its four Code values, ministerial accountability and the Carltona principle, Number 10, the Cabinet Office, the 2026 Civil Service review and No.10 North. It then treats the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 and the Best Value Duty consultation as live strategic choices, sorting what is mandated, shaped locally or easily missed, and applying Cynefin, Five Forces and the Strategic Choice Approach so that leaders can respond with strategy rather than compliance.
What you'll develop
In this Bitesize, you will develop the ability to:
- Describe the structure, functions and four core values of the Civil Service, and how merit based recruitment makes impartiality achievable.
- Distinguish what new legislation mandates from what it leaves open to local choice and what is easily missed.
- Distinguish the constitutional theory that ministers alone answer to Parliament from the practice of Permanent Secretaries giving evidence as Accounting Officers.
- Apply Cynefin, Five Forces and the Strategic Choice Approach to the same legislative change, explaining what each lens reveals.
- Assess current changes at the centre of government, including No.10 North and the Cabinet Secretary's review, without assuming their outcome.
- Assess whether your organisation is running a compliance response or a strategic response, and identify the common pitfalls it is most drawn to.
The Modules.
1 hour 15 minutes of learning.
- 04Whitehall and the Centre of Government: The Civil Service, No10 and No10 NorthThis module looks at how the machinery of British government is run: the scale and top roles of the Civil Service, its functions of advice, delivery and continuity, the four Civil Service Code values and merit based recruitment. It compares the constitutional theory of ministerial accountability, including the Carltona principle, with committee practice, then examines Number 10, the Cabinet Office, the 2026 Civil Service review and No.10 North.43 min
- 09Strategy in the Public Realm: The Reorganising StateEnglish local government is working through genuinely new strategic terrain. This module treats the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 and the Best Value Duty consultation as live strategic-choice problems rather than compliance updates. It sorts the Act's demands into what is mandated, shaped locally or easily missed, applies Cynefin, Five Forces and the Strategic Choice Approach to it, and contrasts compliance responses with strategic responses.37 min