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Government Skills Board Meeting - 22 June
Author: Sue Ferns, Created 13/07/2006 09:00:46
The most recent meeting of the Board of the Government Skills Sector Skills Council was held on 22 June.
Key issues for discussion included:
* The pros and cons of expanding the remit of Government Skills to include aspects of local government. It was agreed that further work was needed to scope this work; the resource requirement; and risks and benefits of involvement across a wider footprint.
* The need for a diversity audit of GS work programmes linked to the Civil Service 10-point diversity plan. It was agreed to involve a wider group of stakeholders in this work, including union experts.
* The value of a targeted approach in developing the Sector Skills Agreement in order to ensure delivery of priority programmes. A working group will be established to take this work forward.
Hugh Lanning of PCS led a discussion on the importance and relevance of Skills for Life for the Civil Service. Hugh highlighted the value of a joint approach to work in this area, based on voluntary participation by individuals and underpinned by access to training opportunities. The added value of ULRs was emphasised, both for individuals and in organisational terms.
There was also a presentation from the Permanent Secretary of MOD, focussing on progress in implementing the Professional Skills for Government programme. He acknowledged that it was difficult to manage skills requirements alongside the job cuts programme particularly in the light of locational restrictions. Procurement and commercial “astuteness” were identified as key skills requirements in delivering the Defence Industrial Strategy. However, it was recognised that there were also skills implications in relation to PFI projects and the growing importance of intelligent customer capability. It was said that MOD was stronger on project management skills, though good project managers were “thin on the ground” and more interchange with other government departments would be helpful.
It was further reported that MOD had made good progress in integrating PSG thinking into HR processes. Core PSG skills were part of the MOD single skills framework, and personal development plans at Grade 7 and above were PSG-based. MOD had identified 19 job families, each with a skills champion, and Heads of Profession were developing functional skills for each job family. Bearing in mind the close working relationships between civilian and military staff, there was scope for a more unified defence skills development framework. A gap analysis was in progress, and procurement was one of the priority areas for upskilling. More progress was also needed on Skills for Life for civilian staff, and there was an unresolved debate about the appropriate balance of depth v breadth of experience (i.e. how much specialisation is needed) for staff with the potential progress to Grade 7 and above.
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