Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 3
3
Accepted
Set out plan to encourage innovation and join up delivery between public and private sectors.
Recommendation
The ODP is not doing enough to join up with the wider public sector, including local government, which plays a large part in the delivery of public services, or with the private sector. The ODP’s focus is on the 290,000 members in the Civil Service and not on the capability of operational delivery professionals in the wider public sector, for example in local authorities. However, many government objectives involve both central and local government—for example, the delivery of planning services—and a lack of join up will hinder their effective delivery. The ODP described the benefits of building networks and told us how it has invited a small number of mayoral authority staff to its learning events. However, there is untapped potential for central and local government to more routinely learn from each other and to collaborate on building capability. For example, the skills framework the ODP has created would be relevant to local authority staff. Further, the ODP helps its members build career paths by highlighting roles in other government organisations to its members, but there is no visibility of opportunities across the local and central government divide. There is further potential to join up more with the private sector, which is not only involved in the end-to-end delivery of public services but is also a potential source of innovative ideas for how to improve them. recommendation The ODP should set out how it will encourage innovation and join up delivery between: • central government and local government, by more routinely placing members in local government roles, using its capability development and learning offers to facilitate better connections, providing career paths, and sharing learning; and • central government and the private sector through facilitating two-way secondment opportunities and knowledge sharing. 4
Government Response Summary
The Profession is actively sharing its professional frameworks, promoting collaboration through events and programmes, and collaborating on initiatives like the new operational delivery apprenticeship with the wider public sector. It is also facilitating public and private sector engagement through partnerships like WIG and GovXchange, and promoting secondment opportunities.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The Profession agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented The Profession is now actively working with the wider public sector, including local government, by sharing relevant elements of the profession offer, including the Professional Skills Framework and access to the Centre of Excellence. The Profession will continue to promote development and collaboration opportunities through events such as ODP roadshows and the Senior Community of Practice (SCoP), where learning is drawn from across government, the wider public sector, and private sector organisations. The Profession will continue to invite wider public sector colleagues, including those from local government, to participate in the OpDel Excel programme for Director and Deputy Director-level colleagues. It will also continue to collaborate with the wider public sector on aspects of the profession offer, such as the recent collaboration with local government to co- design the new operational delivery apprenticeship. The Profession has explored and identified opportunities to increase public and private sector engagement, by working with the Whitehall and Industry Group (WIG) and departments will be encouraged to engage in programmes such as GovXchange, which encourages secondments between ODP colleagues and their counterparts in local government. The Profession is also linking into departmental secondment activity and has launched an awareness and promotional campaign to highlight the benefits of loans, secondments, and managed moves, particularly for Senior Civil Servants, between the civil service and the private sector.