Thirty-second Report - Specialist Skills in the civil service

The government agrees with the recommendation but outlines existing mechanisms, such as annual reviews of SCS pay and exceptions, promotion of Pivotal Role Allowances, and sharing allowance data to encourage pay coherence, rather than committing to a new review of these processes.

The government accepts the recommendation, committing to continue publishing detailed diversity statistics, developing a new Civil Service Inclusion strategy, and launching the Government Recruitment Information Database (GRID) by April 2022 to improve data-driven decision making and recruitment diversity.

The government accepts the recommendation and is taking steps to improve annual workforce projections, align data standards across functions, improve consistency and transparency of workforce data through process convergence, and collect more effective functional data via the ACSES for 2021.

The government explicitly disagrees with the recommendation's timeline, stating that functions will need additional time beyond April 2021 due to contextual pressures and data availability, although some functions like HR and Finance aim to publish blueprints in 2021 or 2021-22.

The government's response detailed aspects of the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, which did not address the recommendation for the Cabinet Office, HM Treasury, and functions to agree on a consistent methodology for measuring costs, benefits, and impacts by July 2021.

The government's response provided information about cash access and related legislation, which did not address the committee's introductory statement about taking evidence on specialist skills in the civil service.

The government agrees with the Committee's observation regarding challenges in attracting and retaining specialists due to civil service pay rules, outlining existing measures such as departmental pay delegation, pay exception processes, SCS pay reviews via the SSRB, and the use of Pivotal Role Allowances.

The government agrees with the committee's observation that pay flexibility can be effective, outlining existing mechanisms such as departmental pay delegation, pay exception processes, SCS pay reviews via the SSRB, and the use of Pivotal Role Allowances for specialists.

The government agrees with the observation and confirms it is already implementing measures, such as annual reviews of SCS pay and exceptions, and promoting Pivotal Role Allowances, with the next SCS pay exception review due in Summer 2021.

The government is developing a new Civil Service Inclusion strategy to replace the 2017-2020 strategy, focusing on talent, fairness, and a broader view of diversity, with individual functions like Finance also launching their own diversity strategies.

The government outlined its existing policies and frameworks for pay and retention, confirming that pay matters for grades below SCS are delegated to departments, and detailing how SCS pay, pivotal role allowances, pay exceptions, and specialist pay frameworks like DDAT are managed across the Civil Service.

The government accepted the recommendation, agreeing to work towards a consistent Civil Service-wide dataset by May 2021. It is already improving annual workforce projections, aligning data standards across functions, and working to improve the consistency and transparency of workforce data and ACSES returns.

The government agrees with the committee's observation, detailing ongoing steps to improve annual workforce projections, align data standards across functions, enhance workforce data consistency, and improve functional data collection via the ACSES for 2021.

The Cabinet Office is committed to addressing skills gaps and enhancing strategic workforce planning across the Civil Service by May 2021, having already established the Government Skills and Curriculum Unit and improved annual workforce projections.

The government acknowledges the importance of capability blueprints for functions and confirms commitment to their formulation and publication, explaining that additional time beyond April 2021 is needed due to contextual pressures and data availability, while detailing progress for Commercial, Finance, and HR functions.

The government explicitly disagrees (despite this being a conclusion), stating that functions will need additional time beyond April 2021 to finalise capability blueprints due to contextual pressures and data availability, although some functions aim for completion in 2021 or 2021-22.

The government explicitly disagrees with the Committee's perceived recommendation regarding capability blueprints, citing contextual pressures and data availability for delays, while outlining current progress by various functions.

The government agrees that data on impacts is poor and is taking specific steps, including a project that identified four key factors for assessing functional improvement and a widespread agenda of culture-change to ensure Green Book guidance on measuring costs and benefits is followed.

The government agrees with the committee's observation, outlining existing frameworks like the "measuring the impact of government functions" project and the Green Book methodology which assess and guide efficiency and impact across government functions.

The government agrees with the Committee's conclusion, stating a target implementation date of April 2021 for the project to measure the impact of government functions using four key factors, and outlines details of this work.