Recommendation 9

HM Government Accepted

1. PAC conclusion: The Operational Delivery Profession’s (ODP’s) importance to the delivery of public services is not reflected in its external visibility, which means that opportunities are being missed to attract talented individuals to operational roles. 1. PAC recommendation: The ODP should set out how it will raise the external profile of operational delivery as a desirable career path in particular for students, sharing the benefits of membership and key successes, including by publishing an annual report which sets out how it is performing against its objectives. 24 1.1 The Profession agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: September 2026 1.2 The Operational Delivery Profession (ODP - the Profession) continues to promote operational delivery roles across departments, recognising that individuals currently base recruitment decisions on departments rather than profession. 1.3 The Profession will track application numbers of the ODP Fast Stream, launched in 2024, and the existing apprenticeship offer, which are open to both local authority colleagues and civil servants. Targeted marketing and social media gather insight and promote roles and highlight the benefits of a career in ODP. 1.4 The Profession raises its profile via senior talent recruitment including attraction from the private sector, secondment schemes and a senior development offer including the Senior Community of Practice (SCoP) and bespoke senior leadership programmes both of which are open to the wider public sector. 1.5 The Profession will suggest departments include ‘Introduction to ODP’ in new and existing schools’ outreach programmes, where it is not yet covered, and track impact. Recommendations will be made to departments for all ODP role recruitment packs to articulate the Profession’s purpose and benefits. The Profession will collaborate and learn from others, such as the Project Delivery Profession, who are achieving success in this space. 1.6 The Profession will increase focus on regional activity, identifying opportunities to work with operational delivery departments to maximise opportunities to promote the Profession as a career path. This will include exploring the use of Jobcentres in areas with high levels of government operational delivery activity to actively promote ODP recruitment and apprenticeships. 1.7 The annual business plan will include metrics to assess the impact of profile-raising activities and report on progress. The Profession will make this more widely available at the end of each financial year, with the 2025-26 plan due to be shared by August 2026.