Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 14
14
Accepted
Slow and un-diverse recruitment processes hinder government cyber security community development.
Recommendation
We asked the Cabinet Office why civil service recruitment processes remained a barrier. The Cabinet Office noted data suggesting it took on average nine months to recruit technology specialists. The Cabinet Office described this as not being good enough and said that it was trying different ways of shortening the time it takes to recruit. The Cabinet Office raised that it could also do much more to make government’s cyber security community more diverse. The Cabinet Office’s statistics showed that only around 20% of government’s cyber security community were women.28
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and is implementing reforms to address cyber skills gaps, including integrating relevant teams into DSIT by November 2025, attracting talent via programmes like Cyber Fast Stream, and establishing a new Cyber Resourcing Hub to streamline recruitment. DSIT will also work with departments to understand skill gaps and use 2025 data to address vacancies, committing to set targets for this early next year.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Spring 2026 2.2 The government acknowledges the ongoing cyber skills gaps across the public sector and is taking active steps to implement reforms that address this challenge. As part of the announced Machinery of Government change, Cyber, Digital and Data teams focusing on capability and skills will be fully integrated in DSIT by November 2025. 2.3 The government is attracting and upskilling new cyber security talent into government, through several comprehensive talent programmes including the Cyber Fast Stream, Cyber apprenticeships and the Government Cyber Skills Academy. 2.4 Through a new Cyber Resourcing Hub, government is creating a clearer and stronger government employer value proposition to attract candidates within a competitive market and streamlining the recruitment process. 2.5 As part of work to deliver the Government Cyber Skills Strategy, DSIT will continue to work with departments to understand their cyber skills gap and the local action departments are taking to address this. 2.6 2025 workforce data will be utilised to identify cyber vacancies in government and support departments’ plans on how they can fill these vacancies through current programmes and initiatives. 2.7 Early next year, DSIT will set how many of the anticipated cyber vacancies in government its central initiatives will address and how it will assist departments in their efforts to fill the remaining workforce gaps.