If you are a civil servant, complete the new Alternative People Survey.

People outside the civil service constantly talk about civil service reform. They talk about Whitehall, the machine, blockers, bureaucracy, delivery, productivity, digital, AI and culture. Some of that commentary is useful, but a lot of it is lazy.

But the working reality of civil servants needs to be part of the evidence. I hear from lots of people informally, and more people need to describe what is actually happening. It is not the official or political story, but rather the day-to-day experience of trying to get useful work done inside the system.

Last year’s Alternative People Survey gave some useful outputs. It was self-selecting, so it should be read carefully, but that is precisely why this year’s survey is important.

The more civil servants complete it, the harder it becomes to dismiss the findings as just the views of the unusually frustrated, unusually engaged or unusually vocal.

I’m keen to find out the following:

• Are processes helping work happen, or are they getting in the way?
• Is specialist expertise properly valued?
• Are poor performance and poor behaviour being dealt with properly?
• Are people using AI safely, usefully and with enough clarity?
• Do departments have the capability and capacity to deliver what they are being asked to do?

These are not abstract reform questions. but shape whether good work is possible.

So if you are a civil servant, please complete the survey.

Not because it will capture everything. but because reform is weaker when the people doing the work are missing from the evidence.