Government Skills
Government Skills is leading work to strengthen engagement between the Civil Service and the higher and further education sectors.
The Training Needs Analysis was commissioned to look at the skills requirements and the learning and development needs within the government's Policy Profession. It was a joint collaboration between the policy profession and the common action project in Government Skills. Seventeen government departments, including Devolved Administrations, took part in the research.
Government Skills commissioned research to explore the costs and benefits of a qualification or accreditation-based approach training. The study focused on defining a wide range of alternative costs and benefits.
The report considers the direct and indirect costs of a qualification approach and the benefits of such an approach to workforce development, including wider economic value and value to individuals and the Civil Service.
Experian was commissioned by Government Skills in January 2009 to evaluate the Apprenticeship Pathfinder within the Civil Service, to help Government Skills identify the benefits of apprenticeships to individuals and their departments, and evaluate the lessons learnt for a subsequent roll-out.
Government Skills carried out some research among Permanent Secretaries – the key customers of the Skills Strategy for Government – to measure their satisfaction with its work.
The research took place in March and April and involved interviews with a range of Permanent Secretaries and HR directors, carried out by the research agency, Experian. The results of the interviews has been very helpful in reinforcing other feedback that Government Skills is focusing on the right skills issues.
Government Skills commissioned research into the factors that affect take up and demand for qualifications amongst our employers and employees to inform the development of a strategic qualifications framework. Government Skills is taking forward the development of this framework and as part of this work is considering which of the recommendations in the report will enable it to make the greatest impact.
Government Skills commissioned research into productivity in the public sector. The report outlines how a skilled and well-qualified workforce can improve productivity within central government, and ultimately to help to assess the effectiveness of Government Skills in the economic language increasingly used by Government and stakeholders. Government Skills is now considering how to best take the recommendations forward in the context of the Skills Strategy for Government.
