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Deborah Collins

Moving around Government is not every GLS lawyer’s choice – but it has enabled Senior civil servant Deborah Collins to build a highly successful and exciting career.

Deborah, a solicitor, joined the GLS in 1991 after applying for a legal post at the DTI. “The pull was that I’d already worked on Government-led privatisations in private practice, and I was fascinated by the public service, variety and politics of Government work,” she says.

“The push was that I was fed up with the job I was doing in the city. I was highly paid and highly bored, and it was a rare weekend when I wasn’t in the office for most of one day.”

So Deborah took the plunge and moved to Government – where the decision was immediately taken for her to relocate on loan to the Registry of Friendly Societies. “It was a tiny outfit which regulated small financial institutions like charities,” she recalls. “My job was a mixture of advice and casework, and – like all my posts in Government – it proved extremely interesting."

“What struck me immediately was that the GLS provides a highly supportive learning environment. In you fail at a task in private practice, that’s it really, whereas in the GLS you’re given a lot of coaching. It’s far more inviting and far more intellectually stimulating. I have never been tempted to return to the city."

“During my early years in Government, I tended to go where people put me – it worked to my advantage to move to where there was a business need. Latterly, I’ve made the decisions myself about where to go next.”

In mid-1993, Deborah’s loan period came to an end and she was assigned to the legal division of the DTI which advised on the Post Office. Then, in July 1995, she moved to the legal team of what had been the Department of Energy, which was subsumed into the DTI. She undertook a broad-ranging role with much advisory and contract work and the drafting of often complex Statutory Instruments.

In May 1997, she applied for a post at COLA – the Cabinet Office (European Secretariat) Legal Advisers. This specialises in European law, and her job was a mix of advisory and co-ordination work.

"COLA is at the heart of Government and, through the GLS, I began to tap into the wider Whitehall network. The GLS enables you to access specialist legal advice across Government. It’s a fantastic resource to have,” she says.

Deborah’s next port of call was the Department for Education and Employment, now the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). “I applied for a job on promotion to the Senior Civil Service,” she says. “It was primarily in discrimination law, which was new to me, although the job also had a heavy European law content. I did it for three years, which made it my longest posting ever.”

She then moved to the Highways Agency (part of the Department for Transport) for 14 months to do a mix of casework and Bill work, which gave her experience of the operational delivery aspect of Government. Then, in 2003, she returned on promotion to the DTI to head a team of advisory lawyers covering energy, the Post Office, and European law. “Much of what I’d done before came together in that job, so there was real synchronicity,” she says.

“My current job was created as a result of restructuring within the DTI. In November 2004, I became Head of Enforcement within the Legal Services group, which covers investigations and prosecutions work. I have a mandate to review the whole organisation with a view to managing the rising workload and delivering savings while maintaining our high reputation for quality."

“I have two years in which to implement my proposals, although I’ll probably stay longer to review what I’ve done. There are 120 people in my team, 20 of them lawyers, although the job is more about leadership than management – I only directly manage four people. It’s great fun and very stimulating."

“The beauty of the GLS is that you can choose what type of career you have. I’ve gone down the organisational and management route, combining very demanding work with bringing up a family. But that isn’t for everyone, and there’s enough variety within the GLS to cater for a broad range of people and interests.”