Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 18
18
The civil service also needs to ensure it has people with the right skills to...
Conclusion
The civil service also needs to ensure it has people with the right skills to address net zero challenges.69 We previously reported that some departments had failed to provide detailed assessments of the climate impacts of their capital expenditure plans for spending review 2020, despite HM Treasury requesting that they do so. HM Treasury told us that the main reason for this was that the relevant capability was concentrated in the Department. HM Treasury recognised that there was more it could do to ensure departments have the necessary tools and capabilities.70 The Department told us that, in conjunction with HM Treasury, it has been providing training to other departments to help them account better for carbon in the assessments they make.71 Separately, we also previously reported that the Cabinet Office acknowledged that some skills are particularly scarce in the civil service, such as the ability to lead large projects. It planned to make upskilling the civil service a key focus of its civil service reform process.72 The Cabinet Office’s 2021 Declaration on Government Reform highlighted the need for, among others, science and project delivery skills in the civil service, albeit without referencing net zero as a unique challenge.73
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Spring 2023 5.2 The Net Zero Strategy set out the government’s initial response to the Green Jobs Taskforce. 5.3 This includes plans to work with industry to create the skilled workforce needed to deliver our climate targets. This includes green apprenticeships, retraining bootcamps, setting up the Green Jobs Delivery Group with industry, and publishing a climate and sustainability strategy for education and children’s’ services. For example, heat pump installer training is taking place across the United Kingdom, with numerous providers offering courses. Through the Skills Training Competition, the government spent nearly £6 million on training for tradespeople delivering green home energy improvements. 5.4 The Net Zero Strategy recognises the importance of the Civil Service having the right skills to deliver net zero. It sets out a series of measures – including a new training offer for all civil servants to be rolled out shortly. The recently published Declaration on Government Reform identifies reducing carbon emissions and other elements of net zero as a priority. Other measures include expanding training for Fast Streamers on net zero and embedding net zero in the standards for the Policy Profession, for the first time explicitly recognising that good policy making requires an understanding of the climate impacts of decisions. 5.5 Significant wider work is underway to improve Civil Service skills. An overhaul of Civil Service training was launched in January 2022 that will equip civil servants with the skills and knowledge to deliver the best possible public services, become less reliant on expensive external consultants, and build back stronger, fairer, safer and greener. The new Curriculum and Campus for Government Skills will transform training and development for civil servants from the core knowledge needed at the beginning of their career through to specialist training in areas such as economics, data usage, the physical sciences, and constitutional issues.