Whitehall needs more contract and procurement experts, say MPs

Whitehall must build up specialist expertise in outsourcing contract management and procurement or hopes of reform will founder, according to MPs in their latest broadside on civil service reform.

The recommendation is contained in a new Commons Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) report entitled Change in Government: the agenda for leadership which accuses the Government of lacking leadership and a central plan in its approach to the reform of the civil service.

"There is a wealth of evidence in Whitehall that Departments lack expertise and specialist knowledge and the confidence to make decisions and implement them quickly. Departmental silos remain a constant concern, along with a risk-averse culture and bureaucratic inertia," warns the study. 

The report argues for a "world-class centre of Government," led by someone with the authority to insist on delivery across the Civil Service. The Government should produce a comprehensive change programme articulating clearly what it believes the Civil Service is for, how it must change and with a timetable of clear milestones.

"The Government's change agenda will fail without such a plan," the Committe warns.

MPs welcomed proposals for greater transparency and the publication of more government data but asked how users would be empowered to use newly published statistics. 

"Data dumping does not on its own constitute transparency and good governance," PASC cautions. It recommends that the UK Statistics Authority should take a proactive role in ensuring that data released is "intelligible, objectively interpreted and in a readily accessible" form.

"The current institutional inertia highlighted by the Public Administration Select Committee means that too much time and money is spent taking corrective action, when a more effective approach would be to predict where change is needed and invest accordingly," commented Graham Kemp, head of public sector for supplier SAS UK.

For Whitehall to deliver on its ambitious reforms it needs to integrate data from across government, added Kemp. "By freeing data from Departmental silos, not only can Departments learn from each other more easily, but more informed decisions can be taken to help plan for the future."