Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 12
12
Accepted
We asked how the Department intends to perform better than the market, which it needs...
Recommendation
We asked how the Department intends to perform better than the market, which it needs to do if it is to overcome the lack of supply of digital specialists. The Department told us that it has focused heavily on its brand and giving people access to interesting and innovative areas of work to develop their skills.35 It found that emphasising this in its job adverts increased the number of applicants, in one case by up to 20 times.36 We were keen to understand how the number of applicants is changing. The Department’s written response stated the average number of applicants for Defence Digital roles increased from 3.6 in August 2022 to 6.1 in November 2022.37 As well as rebranding itself, the Department told us it must work in a very different way with UK industry. This would increasingly include working with both larger-scale high-tech organisations, and small and medium- sized entities (SMEs), which currently find it too expensive to work with the Department.38 The Department reported that it met its target to recruit 150 digital specialists over the last 18 months, but that it needs to recruit 300 more in the next 18 months.39 Performance delivering major digital programmes
Government Response Summary
The department has established a dedicated talent acquisition team to support digital recruitment and is implementing the Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) and cyber pay framework which will help attract and retain talent.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
3. PAC conclusion: The department faces a considerable challenge to recruit the specialist digital skills that its strategy relies on. 3. PAC recommendation: In its update to us in six months, the department should also set out how it has changed its approach to recruitment and what quantified effect this has had. 3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2023 3.2 The department has established a dedicated talent acquisition team to support digital recruitment. It intends to implement the Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) and cyber pay framework which will help attract and retain talent - this offers enhanced pay ranges and 26 allowances, targeting skills gaps and enabling departments to compete more effectively in the labour market to attract new talent and improve retention. 3.3 Under Project ACCELERATE, the purpose of which is to improve digital processes and delivery (sponsored by the Second Permanent Secretary), the department is implementing the plan to expedite elements of the recruitment process that it controls. This includes new, innovative digital branded recruitment which was launched for the graduate recruitment campaign. The impact has been an 81.5% increase in applications (from 383 to 695), demonstrating the potential to improve the ability to attract applicants for digital vacancies. Consequently, the department intends to apply this approach to wider digital recruitments.