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Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

Civil service workforce: Recruitment, pay and performance management

Status: Closed Opened: 10 Jan 2024 Closed: 28 May 2024 7 recommendations 13 conclusions 1 report

The Committee has regularly raised issues of staff capacity, skills and workforce planning in the civil service in the past, and warned in December 2020 that the lack of specialist skills in the civil service affects both the efficiency and the effectiveness of government projects. The Government declared in 2022 that it would cut civil …

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Twenty-Third Report - Civil service workforce: Recruitment,… HC 452 22 Mar 2024 20 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

2 items
1 Conclusion Twenty-Third Report - Civil service wor… Rejected

Committee took evidence on civil service recruitment, pay, and performance management

On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Cabinet Office, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and the Ministry of Justice about civil service recruitment, pay and performance management.1

Government response. The government rejects the committee's observation, stating that the Civil Service People Plan 2024-2027 already outlines specific actions, commitments, and timescales for delivery, with formal governance and a new data dashboard in place.
HM Treasury
6 Conclusion Twenty-Third Report - Civil service wor… Rejected

Civil Service People Plan lacks target performance levels and robust workforce data metrics

However, the commitments and metrics in the Civil Service People Plan do not set out target or expected levels of performance against which the Cabinet Office can measure and evaluate the success of the Plan. For example, recruitment times will be measured using a common time to hire metric, but …

Government response. The government rejects the observation, stating the Civil Service People Plan does outline specific actions, commitments, timescales, and metrics, with an evaluation strategy in development and a new People Data Dashboard implemented.
HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

1 session
Date Witnesses
5 Feb 2024 Esther Wallington · HM Revenue and Customs, Fiona Ryland · Cabinet Office, Mark Adam · Ministry of Justice, Sir Alex Chisholm · Cabinet Office View ↗

Correspondence

2 letters
DateDirectionTitle
26 Feb 2024 — Joint correspondence from Sir Alex Chisholm, Civil Service Chief Operating Offi…
26 Feb 2024 — Correspondence from Mark Adam, Chief People Officer, Ministry of Justice, re Ci…