Smarter delivery of public services
Public Accounts Committee
Closed
Inquiry
The day-to-day running costs of public services sit at around £400bn in spending by central government departments. The Operational Delivery Profession (ODP) is the public face of the civil service, and has 250,000 members providing most of these services to customers, from issuing passports and visas to operating courts and …
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17
Recommendations
12
Conclusions
1
Report
1
Oral session
1
Event
Activity timeline 3 events
19 Jan
2026
2026
22 Oct
2025
2025
Report published
14 Jul
2025
2025
Oral evidence
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
14 Jul 2025
View on parliament.uk
Julie Taylor · Department for Work and Pensions
Paul Morrison · Mitie Care and Custody
Sir Peter Schofield KCB · Department for Work and Pensions
Tom Greig · Home Office
Reports 1 report · click to expand
| Title | HC No. | Published | Items | Response |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 48th Report - Smarter delivery of public services | HC 889 | 22 Oct 2025 | 29 | Response document linked |
Recommendations & Conclusions
29 results
2
Conclusion
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
Require Heads of Profession to enable staff for raising ideas and improving services.
There are examples of innovation happening across government but more needs to be done to harness the ideas of the 290,000 members of the ODP for improving service delivery. There are 23 examples of innovation in the NAO’s report, which …
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HM Treasury
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3
Recommendation
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
Set out plan to encourage innovation and join up delivery between public and private sectors.
The ODP is not doing enough to join up with the wider public sector, including local government, which plays a large part in the delivery of public services, or with the private sector. The ODP’s focus is on the 290,000 …
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HM Treasury
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4
Conclusion
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
Monitor effectiveness of ODP strategy in building capabilities for better government services.
There are gaps in core operational delivery capabilities in government organisations which impact on the cost and quality of services it delivers. Operational capability across government is varied and weaknesses have real consequences for citizens. For example, where a department …
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HM Treasury
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5
Conclusion
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
Work with Government Digital Profession to define and include essential digital skills in framework.
It is vital that the ODP keeps pace with advances in new technology and artificial intelligence and the implications for the changing skills its members need. The ODP has created a skills framework, which sets out the skills that staff …
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HM Treasury
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6
Conclusion
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
Conduct analysis of SRRT usage to boost departmental capability for demand variation.
The Surge and Rapid Response Team (SRRT) is a valuable resource but should be there for genuine need and not as a containment for the lack of operational capability needed to deal with demand that should have been predicted or …
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HM Treasury
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1
Conclusion
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
Committee takes evidence on ODP's role in building capabilities for smarter services.
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the UK civil service’s ‘Operational Delivery Profession’ (ODP), and two of its departmental Heads of Profession, on how it is helping departments build the …
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HM Treasury
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7
Conclusion
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
ODP highlights critical role of operational capability at all levels for public services.
We asked why operational capability is so important for government. The ODP told us about the important roles its members have in serving citizens, such as in jobcentres, the Passport Office and dealing with planning applications. The ODP explained that …
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HM Treasury
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8
Recommendation
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
ODP acknowledges low public profile despite important role and achievements.
We asked about the status and profile of the Profession, observing that it was the first time the Head of ODP had appeared before the Committee in this capacity, and that the ODP seemed to have a very low profile. …
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HM Treasury
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9
Recommendation
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
ODP agrees to enhance visibility of career opportunities to attract young talent.
We asked about whether better visibility could encourage more young people to join the Profession. The ODP agreed that it should be talking more about the career opportunities that are available, such as through the Operational Delivery Fast Stream programme …
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HM Treasury
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10
Recommendation
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
NAO report highlights numerous examples of government innovation despite challenges.
There are 23 examples of innovation in the NAO’s report, which show it is possible for teams working across government to continuously improve and be innovative–even in adverse circumstances where operational delivery is highly challenging.14 Ensuing that everyone can contribute …
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HM Treasury
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11
Recommendation
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
Transformative government changes require innovation, learning from failure, and staff empowerment.
Witnesses told us that the transformative changes needed by government will require both large scale projects and day-to-day incremental improvements involving front-line staff.16 We asked how departments will remove the barriers to innovation by creating a working environment that encourages …
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HM Treasury
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12
Recommendation
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
Effective structures are needed for ideas to flow and foster continuous improvement.
The Departmental Head of Profession for the Home Office told us about the need to build structures that allow ideas to flow and give people time outside of their day job. He told us about HM Passport Office’s continuous improvement …
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HM Treasury
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13
Conclusion
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
ODP membership heavily concentrated in five major central government departments.
The ODP’s focus is on its 290,000 members in the Civil Service. These members work within central government organisations or arm-length bodies within those organisations. Around 80% of ODP members work in just five government departments: the Ministry of Justice, …
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HM Treasury
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14
Recommendation
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
Whole-system approach with private and local government partners vital for service delivery.
We asked about the importance of taking a whole system approach to service delivery. The Departmental Head of Profession for the Home Office described how his organisation has to work closely with four private sector partners to ensure the end-to-end …
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HM Treasury
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15
Recommendation
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
Significant challenges hinder ODP collaboration with local government due to differing models.
We asked several questions which explored how the ODP works with local government, given that local authority staff are not its members. The Departmental Head of Profession for the Home Office described some of the challenges created by the very …
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HM Treasury
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16
Recommendation
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
ODP must broaden capability building and career opportunities to local government.
The ODP also told us how it had invited two senior leaders from mayoral authorities to join the latest cohort of ODP Excel, a learning programme to improve participants readiness for senior operational delivery role, and attend its training events.25 …
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HM Treasury
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17
Recommendation
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
ODP recognises opportunities for learning and interplay with the private sector.
We asked about how well connected ODP was to the private sector. The ODP told us that there were opportunities to learn from the private sector about how to innovate in the delivery of public services, and said its Senior …
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HM Treasury
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18
Conclusion
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
Inadequate and varied operational capability across government negatively impacts citizens.
Operational capability across government is varied and often lacking in what matters most.32 Weaknesses in operational capability can have real consequences for citizens. For example, where a department lacks the capability to understand and deal with demand, the result is …
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HM Treasury
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19
Recommendation
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
ODP strategy outlines interventions to improve government capability and service delivery.
The ODP acknowledged that improving capability across government is crucial to delivering better services.36 Its approach to doing so, as set out in its strategy for 2025–28, includes interventions such as a professional skills framework for generic operational capabilities, apprenticeship …
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HM Treasury
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20
Recommendation
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
ODP lacks robust metrics to link capability interventions with service outcomes.
We asked how the ODP will know if this approach has been successful. The ODP told us that while it believed that investing in capability would deliver better customer service, and that customer satisfaction is a good measure, demonstrating causality …
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HM Treasury
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21
Conclusion
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
Operational Delivery Profession demonstrates progress in building data capabilities and monitoring tools.
We heard about the ODP’s progress in building its data expertise, gathering baseline data and creating data dashboards for particular programmes. The ODP also described how a new maturity matrix will help it measure the influence it is having within …
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HM Treasury
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22
Recommendation
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
Operational Delivery Profession's skills framework requires updating for evolving digital and AI capabilities.
The ODP has created a professional skills framework, which sets out the sorts of skills that staff need at different stages of their careers.40 It feels that this framework will be critical to the success of its strategy.41 However, the …
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HM Treasury
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23
Recommendation
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
Public sector AI adoption for service improvement remains nascent, hampered by significant skills shortfalls.
Improved digital capability can lead to reduced costs and better services for users. For example, automating straightforward types of demand can increase efficiency, and also enable operational delivery staff to spend more time dealing with customers with more complex needs, …
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HM Treasury
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24
Recommendation
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
Government departments demonstrate diverse uses of artificial intelligence to improve services and proactively identify risks.
We asked about the scope for government to make greater use of artificial intelligence to improve services. The ODP told us that there were numerous examples of individual departments using artificial intelligence in different ways. It told us about a …
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HM Treasury
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25
Recommendation
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
ODP collaborates with GDS to integrate operational and digital capabilities for service delivery.
Witnesses described the importance of bringing together operational and digital capabilities–for example, by doing work to make a process efficient before bringing in digital tools, such as AI.47 The ODP also described how it was working with the Government Digital …
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HM Treasury
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26
Conclusion
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
Government services require resilience for demand fluctuations, supported by ODP's Surge and Rapid Response Team.
Government needs to know that its services can adapt to peaks and troughs in demand and still meet user expectations. It is important to have the resilience to meet expected variations in demand as well as to respond to unexpected …
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HM Treasury
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27
Conclusion
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
Departments utilise Surge and Rapid Response Team for seasonal demand peaks and emerging crisis responses.
We asked about how departments were making use of the SRRT. The ODP explained how the SRRT helps to deal with seasonal peaks in demand, such as Winter Fuel payments, as well as with emerging crises, such as the collapse …
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HM Treasury
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28
Recommendation
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
Surge and Rapid Response Team provides immediate, high-quality, and flexible staffing solutions for departments.
We were told by the Departmental Head of Profession for the Home Office that a benefit of using the SRRT is that its staff can start straight away–for example, they are already security cleared, and can move around the world …
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HM Treasury
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29
Conclusion
48th Report - Smarter delivery of …
Departments should prioritise internal agility and automation for demand management, with SRRT as a last resort.
The ODP told us that the seasonality in demand in some departments meant that they would be repeatedly using SRRT.56 We asked about whether departments were in fact using SRRT as a “get-out” clause, building it into their capability plans, …
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HM Treasury
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