Leslie Evans was appointed as Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government on 1 July 2015. In this role, she is principal policy adviser to the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, and Secretary to the Scottish Cabinet. Leslie is the most senior civil servant in Scotland – the first woman to hold this role – and leads a team of over 5,000 civil servants.

The event was chaired by Calum Miller, Chief Operating Officer and Associate Dean of the Blavatnik School of Government and former senior UK civil servant. The talk was followed by a Q&A with Leslie Evans, Jennie Barugh (Director for Performance and Strategic Outcomes) and Carol Tannahill (Chief Social Policy Adviser).

Leslie’s talk forms part of her Permanent Secretary Fellowship at the Blavatnik School.

Please find the text of the speech available here.

The talk was livestreamed and recorded on the Blavatnik School of Government YouTube channel (see below).