Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 26
26
Accepted
Digital commercial expertise is unevenly distributed across government departments, lacking universal provision.
Recommendation
We observed that our predecessor Committee saw examples where departments made mistakes in designing and procuring digital programmes, particularly where legacy technology was involved. We were concerned that some larger departments are better served with digital skills than some of the smaller ones, but that even in large departments this expertise is not always utilised. We asked whether there would be a set of commercial people with digital skills in every department. The Cabinet Office told us that it did not know. We therefore asked what government was doing to make sure every single department was up to speed. GDS told us that often, the challenges and the ability to meet them were not evenly distributed across departments, and that the departments with the biggest challenge were often the teams who did not have sufficient scale. It said that this was dependent on the size of a department’s digital estate, rather than the department’s size alone.44 41 Qq 32, 39 42 Q 51 43 Qq 38, 41, 56 44 Qq 55–58 17
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and outlines a three-phased plan to raise digital commercial capability across the GCF, including mandatory digital training courses for staff by September 2025 (Phase 1) and an additional 11 hours of training by March 2026 (Phase 2), with a longer-term learning needs analysis for 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.