Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 7
7
Accepted
Develop strategy for attracting and retaining civil service skills for hospital construction.
Conclusion
The Programme is over-reliant on consultancy services. NHP has depended heavily on external consultants since its creation, with 62% of posts filled using consultancy services in February 2023. DHSC estimates it will spend a further £842 million on consultancy services between 2023–24 and 203031. Some use of consultancy is to be expected on major construction programmes, but, as well as being expensive, over-reliance risks a lack of continuity and failure to build in-house capability. NHP aspires to be a long-term programme of hospital improvement well beyond 2030, so it is vital that the public sector itself acquires and retains the right skills. Recommendation 7: DHSC should work with HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office to develop a strategy for attracting into the civil service and retaining there the skills it needs to run a rolling programme of hospital construction; it should write to the Committee by March 2024 setting out what it will do differently in future.
Government Response Summary
The government commits to writing to the Committee by March 2024, as requested, to outline its strategy for attracting and retaining civil service skills for the NHP. It states it already has a recruitment strategy, is actively recruiting, and is procuring a programme delivery partner.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. expertise. External professional and technical expertise is a regular part of large construction programmes, and the NHP’s approach is in line with other major government programmes at this stage. The NHP has a recruitment strategy that covers the full breath of its required resource over the duration of the programme lifecycle, and the procurement of a programme delivery partner. The department regularly engages with HM Treasury and Cabinet Office on this and will write to the Committee by March 2024 as requested. There is a shortage of skilled specialists across the Civil Service which affects the delivery of many major government projects, and there have been difficulties in recruiting people to senior leadership positions in the NHP. The NHP is actively recruiting into key roles in the department and NHSE, including project and programme management, digital and workforce change, procurement and other commercial expertise. Resourcing is regularly monitored by the NHP People Committee to ensure that the NHP has the right level of resources to deliver the programme effectively. The NHP also recognises that some roles are more appropriate to fill with specific external expertise, examples being architects and engineers. Specific external expertise will be procured through a programme delivery partner. NHSE launched the procurement for this delivery partner in November 2023. The government’s view is that a programme delivery partner approach is necessary to enable the NHP to secure the flexible capability it needs to meet emerging risks and challenges, but that as the programme matures, it may be possible for some of this resource to eventually be replaced by directly employed individuals.