It has been a great pleasure to host a series of ‘Trinity Talks’ over the last two terms, when we invite people from very different areas of public life to share their experiences and insights with audiences from the College, the University, the city and beyond.

Our speakers so far this year have included Sir David Spiegelhalter on living with uncertainty, Gus Casely-Hayford and Laura van Broekhoven on the role of modern-day museums, Shabana Basij-Razikh on educating girls in Afghanistan, Dame Melanie Dawes on regulating harmful online content, and Sir Lawrence Freedman and Janina Dill on the future of European defence in the age of Trump. Each was fascinating, not least because of the excellent questions and contributions from the audience.

Last week it was a great pleasure to welcome Lord (Simon) Case, the former Cabinet Secretary, and Dr Hannah White, head of the Institute for Government, to talk about the health of the British state: how government works and why it fails. The audience included a number of former Permanent Secretaries and seasoned Whitehall watchers.

The speakers tried to avoid too gloomy an assessment, noting that there are some areas of public service that function quite efficiently, such as the recently restructured Passport Office, and that the UK does not suffer from the endemic corruption that afflicts the public sector in some nations. But they recognised that public and political confidence in the civil service and the wider state is lower than one would like, and understandably so, although partly for broader reasons such as the trend slowdown in economic growth.

You will be able to watch the event on our YouTube channel, but themes that emerged included the need for effective performance management and strong political leadership, since the civil service operates most effectively when it is serving ministers who have a clear set of priorities and pursue them consistently. With opinion polls pointing to strong performances by political parties with little experience of government, this could become all the more challenging.

For all the challenges confronting politicians, the civil service and the wider state apparatus, I was delighted that Simon and Hannah both urged students to consider a career in public service. As they pointed out, whether or not we agree with particular policies or platforms, it is important that people of goodwill put their heads above the parapet. We have a number of Trinitarians entering the Civil Service Fast Stream this year and I am sure that they will have a rewarding and fascinating time.

As for future Trinity Talks, next term we will welcome my Presidential predecessor Michael Beloff on sport and the law, Danny Dorling on health and inequality, and a distinguished panel of political and election experts on the May elections and their possible impact. You can find out more and sign up here.