07:45 Dodging the drips from no less that 3 leaks in the ceiling of the library, plus an enraged delegation from Information Rights complaining about a rogue fire extinguisher that has decided to go off for no reason, I fire off a couple of emails to building services on matters plumbing and health & safety. Not exactly cutting edge stuff for the Senior Civil Service, but a reminder that my role as a weapon of mass destruction, in the eyes of my staff, when trying to galvanise people into urgent action.
08:00 Glance at my emails – no surprises. Of course, no surprises: been issued with a Blackberry and have already read them on the train into work. Hmm..could be a ploy to ensure we never stop working?
09:00 Prepare a briefing for the Permanent Secretary taking him through the findings of the National Archives’ Information Management Assessment of the department. Also issue a number of emails arising from this, commissioning new guidance on retention schedules, and a communications strategy for the forthcoming reduction in the email quota for staff. From a Knowledge management perspective this makes absolute sense, but from a line of business perspective this will be view as a right royal pain – hence the need for a persuasive comms strategy.
10:00 Meeting with Chief Librarian to discuss finishing touches to a corporate Knowledge Management presentation that we will be rolling out shortly. As ever, KM is welcomed at a strategic level, but viewed with some suspicion by those in the line, so we need to set a balance between being principled and being pragmatic.
11:15 Catch up with my secretary to review my diary for the coming week, decide on which meetings to attend where there are date clashes, and to collect papers and rail tickets for my trip to the National School for Government.
11:30 Read, slightly amend, and approve two Parliamentary Questions that have been sent through to me. Both are PQs that seem to be asked annually, so Library and Information Services have provided text of what we said last time to ensure some continuity of response. PQs go off, as must I to another building to a meeting between the Permanent Secretary and the secretariat of the Dacre Review of the 30 year rule.
12:15 Meet with departmental lawyer and await Permanent Secretary
12:30 Still waiting
12:35 Permanent Secretary arrives as does 30 Year rule people, and meeting starts. Discussions range from transitional costs of moving to, say, 20 years to the possible knock-on effects on s35 and s36 of the Freedom of Information Act.
13:00 Shoot back to the office, and eat a sandwich while glooming over how I shave a thundering amount off the staff budget. Finally manage to balance the books with an exotic blend of retirements, voluntary early severance and capitalisation of some work.
13:30 Whizz over to Ministry of Justice (luckily, just over the road) to attend a case conference concerning a data protection case involving a number of departments. Cast of 1000s there (well, 15), with lawyers, FOI officials etc etc. We finally reach concensus on a way forward, and I come away reasonably happy.
14:30 Catch the tube out to Kew to go to the National Archives
15:30 Attend a meeting of the National Archives’ Seamless Flow Programme Board: this is addressing the issue of how electronic records will eventually move from their creator departments to the National Archives for long term preservation. I am the Senior User representing Government Departments, and have a particular remit to judge the likely impact proposals will have on departments, and the “sellability” of these to top management.
17:00 Finish the Programme Board, and catch the training to Sunningdale to attend the two day meeting of the Knowledge Council at the National School for Government
19:00 Catch up on pan-Government knowledge and information management news from other Knowledge Council attendees at the bar (naturally), before dinner.
22:00 Return to my room – some very interesting discussions on a range of issues ranging from career mobility between knowledge and information management groupings to the business justification for EDRM systems. Will now just log in remotely to send some emails…
23:15 Have sent off several emails, including one to a solicitor outlining the settlement terms concerning an Ombudsman’s adjudication and report that has recently been published – email had to be cross checked by a host of people including Legal, Ombudsman’s Office etc etc. Still, that’s done – time for bed. Ah – just noticed an email has come in this afternoon about the Committee of Departmental Librarians: “Would you be able to write up an example of a day in your life?” You wish…