Government Skills
Government Skills is the Sector Skills Council (SSC) for central government. Our overall purpose is to improve the delivery of public services by working with employers to reduce skills gaps. We will reduce skills gaps by delivering the Skills Strategy.
This strategy (agreed with employers in January 2008 and published in April 2008) is built around the PSG competency framework, which sets out the skills which people need to get on and move up in the Civil Service.
For more information, see About us.
SSCs are Sector Skills Councils. Each major sector of the UK economy has a SSC – and Government Skills is the SSC for central government. There are 25 SSCs in total and they are all licensed by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills [External website].
Their overall purpose is to work with employers in their sector at a strategic level to reduce skills gaps and shortages, in order to improve productivity, business and public service performance.
As the ‘voice of employers’, they give employers the opportunity to influence how public money to support skills development is spent. More specifically, employers in each sector decide together – through a Sector Skills Agreement or skills strategy – what their SSC should focus on. SSCs then work with employers to implement the agreed actions and employers often lead and participate in individual programmes.
SSCs also have specific responsibilities to maintain and review the National Occupational Standards which apply within their sector, and the associated qualifications. (A qualification must be based on these standards to be nationally recognised.) They also collect and communicate data on skills gaps and needs within the sector.
We cover:
In total, this adds up to around 800,000 staff.
No. The needs of local government are met by an organisation called SkillsPlus [External website].
SkillsPlus is part of the Improvement and Development Agency, an organisation for employers in local government.
Local government has a very large and diverse workforce and so nearly all SSCs cover some of its employees. As a result, the main role of SkillsPlus is to act as a two-way communication channel between local government and SSCs. It makes sure that:
Government Skills was established in 2006. Since then we have:
It depends who you are:
If you are an employer in the sector
We represent your views on skills, and work with you to develop skills and solutions to common skills issues. Currently we are:
We also carry out research and have developed a range of toolkits and guidance for our employers.
To find out more:
If you are an individual
We are working to set standards across the sector. If you work in central government, these standards will guide your learning and development. This means you will be able to develop your skills and broaden your expertise to make the most of your career. We give you information about what skills you need and how to develop them on the Civil Service website – see PSG competency framework [External website].
If you are a training provider
We can give you with information about the standards and skills requirements which apply in the sector. These are set out in the PSG competency framework [External website].
We can also tell you about the priority areas in the Skills Strategy. We cannot give you information about existing or upcoming training contracts because Government Skills does not have any responsibility in this area. You can read a bit more about individual employers and their own procurement decisions in Using the site – go to Training providers.
If you are in the HE or FE sector
As part of recommendations in the Skills Strategy, Government Skills will develop a more active dialogue between employers in central government and representative bodies from the higher and further education sectors. We can tell you about our priorities in this area under our Skills Strategy and our current approach to qualifications and professional standards.
To find this information on our website, see Using the site.
Like other SSCs, we are governed by a board with members drawn from across the sector. For organisational purposes we are based within the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) and are accountable to DIUS ministers. We also receive some funding from DIUS. However, like other Sector Skills Councils, Government Skills is predominantly funded by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, to whom we also report.
For more information, see Governance.
Since Government Skills was established in 2006, we have radically improved the evidence base on current and future skills needs in the sector. At the macro level, the main skills gaps (identified by employers and employees) are:
For more information about the data on skills needs and gaps, see Skills Strategy evidence base.
The table below (taken from a survey of staff in the Civil Service part of our sector) shows how we match up to Lord Leitch's targets for 2020.
In the Civil Service we already exceed the Leitch 2020 targets at Level 3 and 4, and are close to the Level 2 target.
For further results, see:
About 30 people. To see how we are structured, take a look at our organisation chart [PowerPoint, 695 KB, 1 page].
Government Skills prides itself on being a good place to work, where we practice what we preach. We are keen to recruit people with the right skills and aptitude.
Please see our Current vacancies.
Our address is:
Government SkillsYou can find us using this map.
If you have a question in a particular area, please see the list of contacts in Who to speak to.
If you cannot find the right person to speak to, please call our general enquiries line – 020 7276 1611.
You have three options to find out what you need to know.
