‘We have balanced the urgent response to the pandemic with the legal requirements that underpin civil service appointments’: Civil Service Commission chief Pete Lawrence on 2020 2020 was a year unlike any other, with the coronavirus pandemic upending the work of government and changing how we live our daily lives. Senior figures from across the civil service tell us how the unprecedented 12 months affected them, and look ahead to 2021 Pixabay What are you proudest of government achieving in 2020? I am extremely proud of the way in which the civil service is now really embracing Going Forward into Employment and other life chances schemes which provide opportunities to those who would otherwise face barriers to employment in the civil service. My small team has worked tirelessly this year to promote the concept, support departments in developing schemes and advertising roles, and working with candidates who are going into daunting and life changing experiences. The Going Forward into Employment programme which is led by the commission has, as I write, just reached start number 80 where a veteran has been appointed through the programme to lead the veterans’ strand of our own work; it is important that we understand the lived experiences of those we are seeking to help.