Capability Reviews: Progress and Next Steps - The Civil Service

the creation of the new CSCG and the strengthening of resources to maketransformational government a reality, further action is needed.Departments agree that the centre should create an infrastructure that allows themto learn from each other and from outside, and that it should be a small, high-qualityresource. To ensure that this happens, CSCG will:• work with a small group drawn from across government and outside (with anominated sponsor member from the CSSB) to identify:– what corporate infrastructure, incentives and support are needed to addressknowledge transfer and capability gaps; and– a method, some pilot projects and any supporting infrastructure needed toimplement the ‘task teams’ approach to address specific capability issues;• work with the HR profession to identify what more is needed to ensure that thereis the right corporate capability in the right place and how to release capacity toareas of greatest need; and• build up a small number of subject experts in key areas not covered bythe professions to ensure that we have the ability to broker and add value tocross-government networks in those areas – for example, board effectivenessand change.In addition and in response to the evaluation, progress is being made in a numberof other areas to strengthen the vertical and horizontal dimensions of reform.These are set out below.Reviews of PSA capabilityThe evaluation recognises that the new cross-cutting PSAs make it even moreimportant that departments have the ability to work effectively across traditionalboundaries to deliver the strategic priorities of the government of the day. This isa difficult area and one where most departments can improve, as set out in theoverarching report that accompanied the Tranche 3 reviews.PMDU and the Capability Reviews Team are working together with departments todevelop a new PSA review tool aimed at identifying and tackling the key barriers todelivery. This will be piloted over the next few months.Changes to the Capability Reviews programmeThere are a number of programme changes that will be made over the next12 months to strengthen the programme and ensure that departments improvetheir capability. These are described below:• ‘Two years on’: At the two-year point, departments will be re-reviewed andre-scored, based on the current model of capability. The re-review will bepublished and involve external review team members in a way similar to the60 TAKE-OFF OR TAIL-OFF?: THE FUTURE OF THE PROGRAMME