Coffee House interview: Ursula Brennan

Few government jobs are as demanding as that of Permanent Under-Secretary, or PUS, in the Ministry of Defence. With Liam Fox as your boss, General David Richards as your colleague, and an exhausted, overspent department to run, it is no surprise that when Bill Jeffrey retired many of the government’s most senior officials – including, it is said, No 10’s Jeremy Heywood – balked at the challenge.

Forward stepped Ursula Brennan, who until then had held the ministry’s No 2 job before a career in the Ministry of Justice, and what is now the Department for Work and Pensions. Here, Mrs Brennan has kindly agreed to answer a few questions about her role:

Daniel Korski:
The Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) remains controversial, with many experts voicing concern about both its speed and the decisions made. Looking back, what would you have liked to have seen done differently; and, looking forward, what reforms will in 20 years be seen as the most important?

Ursula Brennan:
The timing of the new Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review simply didn’t give us the luxury of a lengthy SDSR.