Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 25
25
Accepted
Government acknowledges urgent need for enhanced digital commercial skills but lacks a clear plan.
Recommendation
We asked the Cabinet Office the extent to which it felt that government was “moving from a basic digital world to an evolved digital world” and whether addressing issues with digital procurement, at the speed needed, could help this transition. The Cabinet Office agreed that “procurement and commercial teams can be a catalyst in the change that we have to make”. It accepted that it needed to both recruit some different skills, and to “step up the skills and the training programmes that we have.” It recognised that this needed to be a comprehensive package, and committed to coming back to us on this with more detail.42 GCF acknowledged that government needed to do more to build digital commercial skills across the base “lifting that whole level and making sure that it is consistent across government and all departments”. GCF accepted that more could be done, but did not say what that would look like in practice. For example, we observed that when we asked GCF what more it was doing to upskill people in the commercial field, they did not instinctively mentioned going to the GDS team for advice, support or building relationships.43
Government Response Summary
The government accepts the recommendation to build digital commercial skills, detailing a three-phased approach with target dates. This includes mandatory courses for GCF staff by September 2025, further specific digital training by March 2026, and a learning needs analysis for deeper specialist knowledge.
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.