In the midst of a series of major challenges to Government in
developing responses to Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic and the
UK’s 2050 net-zero carbon target, the Committee is launching
an inquiry on progress in developing specialist skills across
the civil service.
Civil service skills and capabilities were thrown into focus
in recent years as the UK built towards its departure from
the European Union - a focus greatly sharpened as we adapt to
a global pandemic emergency. The Committee continues to
scrutinise aspects of the Government’s response to Covid-19
and the civil service’s capacity and capability to respond to
a range of challenges.
Government supports the development of specialist skills
through cross-government functions, which develop and deliver
expertise to government departments. This inquiry will focus
on the NAO’s report on the
Cabinet Office’s progress across four of those functions
in particular: Commercial, Digital, Finance and Project
Delivery, including the Cabinet Office’s oversight of the
functions; progress in developing specialist skills within
the functions; and areas where the functions need to develop
further.
The NAO finds that the Cabinet Office now sets clear
expectations for the performance of functions and requires
regular reporting on their costs and benefits. Functions have
also become more established as the means for advancing
specialist skills and expertise across government.
However, the functional model to fully succeed, departments
need to consistently embed that functional expertise in their
business planning, and Government could exploit functions
more effectively to support cross-government working. In
addition, to support recruitment and retention HM Treasury
now allows functions and departments to exercise some pay
flexibility – but this can lead to workforce management
issues.
Transcript attached to this email
