Recommendations & Conclusions
20 items
2
Conclusion
Thirty-second Report - Specialist Skill…
The civil service struggles to attract and retain specialist staff. Since 2010 the civil service has been subject to pay restrictions, which have limited its ability to offer progressive pay packages to staff. Areas such as Digital and Commercial have struggled to recruit and retain specialists because there is strong …
Government response. 2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2021 2.2 The Cabinet Office confirms that all matters related to pay for grades below the Senior Civil Service (SCS) are delegated to departments. Functions have introduced measures …
HM Treasury
3
Conclusion
Thirty-second Report - Specialist Skill…
There is still a long way to go to ensure the civil service retains and promotes those from different backgrounds. The more diverse an organisation, the better decisions it makes. The civil service has made a commitment to be more diverse at all levels across both departments and functions. To …
Government response. 3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: March 2021 3.2 The Civil Service is a geographically diverse employer with 4 out of 5 civil servants being based outside of London, and distributed throughout the country, but …
HM Treasury
4
Recommendation
Thirty-second Report - Specialist Skill…
Departmental data is not good enough to support functions’ development of comprehensive workforce plans. The Cabinet Office acknowledges it does not have the data it needs across all functions to accurately assess what skills the civil service has and where these should be deployed to maximise impact. Departments each have …
Government response. 4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: May 2021 4.2 As set out in the response to recommendation 1, the Cabinet Office is already taking steps to improve the annual workforce projections exercise which will provide …
HM Treasury
5
Conclusion
Thirty-second Report - Specialist Skill…
Seven years on from their introduction, functions still have not developed clear plans to help maximise their impact, and lack strategic direction. The Department requires all functions to put in place their own ‘capability blueprint’. Blueprints should include a clear operating model and set out the organisational capacity for each …
Government response. 5.1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 5.2 The Cabinet Office confirms that Heads of Function are committed to formulating, implementing and publishing their own capability blueprints (strategic plans), and recognises that functions will need additional time beyond April …
HM Treasury
6
Conclusion
Thirty-second Report - Specialist Skill…
Only a few of the fourteen functions have been able to demonstrate the benefits of their activities. Most functions have not been able to quantify their costs and benefits. The Cabinet Office admits there are difficulties measuring the impact of some functions, such as the HR function. Progress has been …
Government response. 2020. HM Treasury, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (the department) and the British Business Bank (the Bank), based on a limited evidence of the underlying challenges for businesses, developed the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (the Scheme). The …
HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
Thirty-second Report - Specialist Skill…
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from Cabinet Office and HM Treasury on specialist skills in the civil service.1
Government response. 2020. This sought views on the key considerations associated with cash access, including deposit and withdrawal facilities, cash acceptance, and regulatory oversight. The government is considering the responses and will seek to set out its next steps in due course. …
HM Treasury
7
Conclusion
Thirty-second Report - Specialist Skill…
The Cabinet Office recognised that rules introduced in 2010 on civil service pay make it difficult to attract and retain skilled specialists in some areas.15 Some skills, such as the ability to lead large projects, are particularly scarce. The Cabinet Office told us the areas which experience the highest levels …
Government response. 2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2021 2.2 The Cabinet Office confirms that all matters related to pay for grades below the Senior Civil Service (SCS) are delegated to departments. Functions have introduced measures …
HM Treasury
8
Conclusion
Thirty-second Report - Specialist Skill…
Some functions, such as the Commercial function, have introduced pay flexibility in order to try and increase recruitment of specialists. The Cabinet Office told us that the use of flexibilities in the Government Commercial Organisation had been an effective way to bring in external talent and to consolidate internal talent. …
Government response. 2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2021 2.2 The Cabinet Office confirms that all matters related to pay for grades below the Senior Civil Service (SCS) are delegated to departments. Functions have introduced measures …
HM Treasury
9
Conclusion
Thirty-second Report - Specialist Skill…
Pay flexibilities can however lead to disparities in specialist pay, which can create an internal market between departments for those with specialist skills. To tackle this, the Cabinet Office explained how it is managing the issue. For senior civil service pay grades, pay exception processes have been put in place …
Government response. 2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2021 2.2 The Cabinet Office confirms that all matters related to pay for grades below the Senior Civil Service (SCS) are delegated to departments. Functions have introduced measures …
HM Treasury
10
Conclusion
Thirty-second Report - Specialist Skill…
The more diverse the people in an organisation, the better run it is and the better decisions it makes. As part of the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy the civil service has committed to setting and working towards targets to increase the flow of ethnic minority and disabled staff …
Government response. 3.4 On plans for further reform, the Cabinet Office is developing a new Civil Service Inclusion strategy to replace the 2017-2020 Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion strategy. The strategy is likely to focus on the themes of talent, fairness and …
HM Treasury
11
Conclusion
Thirty-second Report - Specialist Skill…
The Cabinet Office also recognised the importance of retention. One of its key aims is to look at how people progress within the civil service once they are in post. The Cabinet Office acknowledged it can take three to five years for someone to fully understand their role, and stated …
Government response. 2.2 The Cabinet Office confirms that all matters related to pay for grades below the Senior Civil Service (SCS) are delegated to departments. Functions have introduced measures to address pay disparities by, for example, establishing robust pay exception case processes. …
HM Treasury
12
Conclusion
Thirty-second Report - Specialist Skill…
Ideally, all functions would have access to workforce statistics from a consistent civil service-wide data set. However, functions are still largely reliant on departmental data on staffing, which is variable in quality and is not always detailed enough for functions to use.22 The Cabinet Office told us that while it …
Government response. 4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: May 2021 4.2 As set out in the response to recommendation 1, the Cabinet Office is already taking steps to improve the annual workforce projections exercise which will provide …
HM Treasury
13
Conclusion
Thirty-second Report - Specialist Skill…
The Cabinet Office is looking to put in place measures that will allow it to identify what skills an individual has so that they can be best deployed to maximise impact. The Cabinet Office noted that the Project Delivery function is ahead of the other functions in this regard, as …
Government response. 4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: May 2021 4.2 As set out in the response to recommendation 1, the Cabinet Office is already taking steps to improve the annual workforce projections exercise which will provide …
HM Treasury
14
Conclusion
Thirty-second Report - Specialist Skill…
The Cabinet Office told us that the challenge of EU exit and EU transition, alongside the concurrent risk of the covid-19 pandemic, has sharpened its thinking about skills and has improved the effectiveness of strategic workforce planning across the civil service. The current situation has forced the Cabinet Office to …
Government response. 1.2 The Cabinet Office is committed to working with functions and departments to identify and address skills gaps and, as set out by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster during his Ditchley lecture on 27 June 2020, this will …
HM Treasury
15
Conclusion
Thirty-second Report - Specialist Skill…
Developing detailed plans for each function—also known as ‘capability blueprints’— is fundamental to the effective operation of the functional model in government. The National Audit Office report found that without capability and capacity plans in place it is difficult for functions to understand their own impact, or for departments to …
Government response. 5.1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 5.2 The Cabinet Office confirms that Heads of Function are committed to formulating, implementing and publishing their own capability blueprints (strategic plans), and recognises that functions will need additional time beyond April …
HM Treasury
16
Conclusion
Thirty-second Report - Specialist Skill…
We believe blueprints are a key part in setting out the operating model for each function, and an important control tool for managing the relationships between functions and departments. Once they are in place it will be easier for functions to collaborate and share best practice, as well as work …
Government response. 5.1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 5.2 The Cabinet Office confirms that Heads of Function are committed to formulating, implementing and publishing their own capability blueprints (strategic plans), and recognises that functions will need additional time beyond April …
HM Treasury
17
Conclusion
Thirty-second Report - Specialist Skill…
Despite the lack of capability blueprints in place, HM Treasury shared with us positive examples of cross-government collaboration. The Treasury told us it had integrated functions into major investment decisions, with all functions involved in the appraisal of capital programmes throughout the Spending Review process. HM Treasury also told us …
Government response. 5.1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 5.2 The Cabinet Office confirms that Heads of Function are committed to formulating, implementing and publishing their own capability blueprints (strategic plans), and recognises that functions will need additional time beyond April …
HM Treasury
18
Conclusion
Thirty-second Report - Specialist Skill…
The Cabinet Office’s ‘blueprint’ exercise in 2018 set consistent expectations for functions and introduced more regularised reporting from functions on their performance, costs and benefits.32 The National Audit Office noted that data quality would be central to the success of these reporting initiatives but found cross-departmental data to be poor.33 …
Government response. 6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: April 2021 6.2 In 2020, the measuring the impact of government functions (to deliver better outcomes and public services) project, commissioned by the Civil Service Chief Operating Officer from …
HM Treasury
19
Conclusion
Thirty-second Report - Specialist Skill…
The Cabinet Office explained that the Digital function has made progress identifying the cost savings of moving to permanent staff from contract labour and, as part of this, the function has recognised the indirect cost benefit of retaining skills within the organisation. It also told us that the maturity of …
Government response. 6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: April 2021 6.2 In 2020, the measuring the impact of government functions (to deliver better outcomes and public services) project, commissioned by the Civil Service Chief Operating Officer from …
HM Treasury
20
Conclusion
Thirty-second Report - Specialist Skill…
The Cabinet Office told us that the Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA) is in the process of developing a new project to allow comparison of impact assessments across the functions. As part of this, the GIAA has developed a standardised methodology and metric so that the functions are able to …
Government response. 6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: April 2021 6.2 In 2020, the measuring the impact of government functions (to deliver better outcomes and public services) project, commissioned by the Civil Service Chief Operating Officer from …
HM Treasury