Source · Select Committees · Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Recommendation 13
13
Accepted
Paragraph: 55
Cabinet Office must coordinate and evaluate system-level issues identified in People Survey.
Recommendation
Empowering departments, organisations and individual teams to respond to issues raised in the People Survey is in many cases a sensible approach. They will be best placed to respond to local issues and specific challenges. But other issues require a coordinating hand. Some of the questions asked in the People Survey concern matters - such as pay and benefits - over which individual departments and organisations have a limited capacity to respond, and these must be addressed at the system-level across the whole of the Civil Service. The Cabinet Office, as the body responsible for the conduct of the People Survey, also bears responsibility for evaluating its impact - not least to inform discussions about the future of the survey.
Government Response Summary
The Cabinet Office accepts the recommendation to enhance support provided around future People Surveys, recognising the need for a coordinating hand on system-level issues. They will consider how best to pool current resources, identify gaps, and cascade model policies and processes to assist departments in responding to survey findings.
Paragraph Reference:
55
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The Cabinet Office recognises that the current resources available to analyse results do vary by Department, and that additional guidance from the centre may help to provide improved consistency and support the promulgation of best practice. Any central guidance / support should be balanced with retaining Departmental autonomy and agility to address locally identified issues, and so we will work to balance this. Many Departments may have their own resources and toolkits, in addition to those available centrally. The team will consider the most effective means to pull together current resources, identify duplication and any gaps, and how best to cascade model policies, products and processes so that all Departments have the awareness of a wealth of resources on which to draw upon and support their analysis of People Survey results. The Cabinet Office accepts the recommendation to enhance the support provided around future People Surveys to promote Civil Service performance in responding to survey findings.