Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 20
20
Accepted
Require Chief Commercial Officer to develop and implement plan for digitally upskilling 6,000 GCF staff
Recommendation
We recognised that the Government Chief Commercial Officer was new in post but noted that it was reasonable to expect them to have considered how they intended to address issues surrounding digital commercial skills. We therefore asked how the new Government Chief Commercial Officer would bring the sea change needed. The Chief Commercial Officer agreed change was needed and recognised that while some areas already had “deep expertise”, the priority would be to “bring the floor of that experience up across the whole 6,000” and ensure that there was a “digital thread” across all commercial training in future. They committed to providing milestones showing what this would achieve, and by when.31 The Cabinet Office wrote to us after our evidence session to confirm that the Chief Commercial Officer would write to us within 8–10 weeks, to set out a plan and approach to digitally upskilling the 6,000 members of staff in GCF.32 Serious consideration should be given to the vast majority of new recruits in GCF having digital expertise.
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and details a three-phased approach to raise digital commercial capability across the 6,000 GCF staff, including mandatory training by September 2025 and March 2026, and a longer-term learning needs analysis. Additionally, a review of resources aligned to digital procurement will be undertaken by December 2025.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
4.1 The government agrees with the committee’s recommendation. Target implementation dates: first phase by September 2025, second phase by March 2026, final phase to be confirmed. 4.2 Within the GCF there are already 500 individuals who are considered experts in digital services procurement. These individuals are spread across departments in Digital Commercial Teams and lead the procurement of those services for their respective departments. 4.3 The government is seeking to build on this core expertise to broaden and deepen its digital commercial acumen across the GCF. GCF Capability, working with DSIT, has identified a three-phased approach to systematically raise the overall capability across the GCF. 4.4 This phased approach includes: • Phase 1: Raising the Baseline of Digital Capability. By September 2025. GCF and DSIT will have identified a number of existing courses that will raise awareness and understanding of digital services and technology. GCF staff will be required to complete these courses. • Phase 2: Broader Capability. By March 2026. To further build capability, there have been a further 11 hours of specific digital training courses identified by DSIT, which will need to be completed by GCF staff by March 2026. • Phase 3: Deeper Specialist Knowledge. A learning needs analysis will be carried out to identify the current skills gaps in commercial digital capability and identify the required training to overcome these. This will be carried out collaboratively by the GCF capability and DCCoE teams. Phase 3 steps are longer-term. 4.5 The government agrees with the committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: December 2025 4.6 The GCF in conjunction with the DCCoE, will undertake a review of the level of resources aligned to digital procurement, that will have contract management capabilities and the extent to which Senior Business Owners have completed both the Commercial Foundation Awareness Course and Contract Management Capability Programme. Further detail will be provided to the Committee in December, in line with the target implementation date of December 2025.