The Government's policy paper ‘Transforming for a digital future', released last year, sets out its ambitions to transform digital public services, deliver world-class digital technology and systems, and attract and retain the best in digital talent – to improve the standard of public services in the UK.
The plan is divided into six missions, including transformed public services; one login for government; better data to power decision making; efficient, secure and sustainable technology; digital skills at scale; and a system that unlocks digital transformation.
Any technological or digital change programme of this scale requires consideration of talent and skills. However, the ‘Digital Skills at Scale' mission should be a top priority amongst the six missions. A corporation attempting to fix existing issues and achieve the above six missions by 2025 would have to simultaneously tackle software engineering, data engineering, systems audits and migrations, procurement, significant internal restructuring, and cultural shifts among staff and leadership. How can the public sector use data more effectively and construct systems without people with the skills to do the heavy lifting that these objectives require? Without the right skills, businesses would be under a lot of pressure.
There is a shortage of digital professionals across the UK labour market
The Office for National Statistics reports that vacancies in the UK have been at an all-time high for over a year, and the latest BICS survey shows that over 30% of business with 50 or more employees have been struggling with recruitment.
In February 2023 Gallup and Amazon released a report on digital skills in the UK labour market and concluded that ‘72% of businesses surveyed in the UK have a vacancy for workers with digital skills, but only 11% of UK workers possess advanced digital skills. More than two thirds (68%) of businesses find it challenging to hire the digital workers they need.'
It's right that the digital skills interventions the Government outlines include plans to upskill senior civil servants and a commitment to deliver specific training to The Digital, Data, and Technology (DDaT) professionals. But this does not go far enough. If employers want to resolve their digital talent shortages in 2023, they cannot, practically speaking, hire that talent. Employers, the Government included, need to create this talent.
How professional apprenticeship training can help equip civil servants with data and digital skills
The DDaT function has an apprenticeships strategy, and in December 2022 they released an update on the success of their Software Developer Graduate Scheme. They acknowledged in the release, however, that the scale of software developer vacancies across government is considerable: a July 2022 workforce report placed the figure at 3,683.
The question is one of scale: if vacancies hover above 3,500 and hiring demand outstrips the total number of extant software developers in the UK, then one practical response is to increase the volume of apprenticeship training, and to replicate the successes the government has seen on the existing DDaT apprenticeship schemes.
Local authorities are also attempting to adapt to the increased demand for digital skills. They are reviewing their digital services and capabilities to establish new ways of providing improved services and engagement with residents and the wider community.
It is important to recognise that local governments should have access to digitally equipped talent, such as software development apprentices and data analytics apprentices, so that local authorities can also work towards closing this digital capability gap. The Local Government Association published a resource in 2021 that suggested local councils develop an advanced digital skills pipeline by setting up formal learning programmes for technology professionals, giving people skills on specific technologies and skills through online learning, and imparting new skills through on-the-job training. Modern apprenticeships, often delivered virtually, are well-suited to equipping local authorities with these skills.
Digital and technology skills gaps, and a shortage of trained talent, are not unique to the public sector. Private sector employers face similar challenges and apprenticeships provide a practical solution, with digital apprenticeships seeing remarkable growth in the UK over the last four years.
Final thoughts
The ‘Transforming for a digital future' policy paper sets out a practical, objectives-driven roadmap for the public sector, which is welcome, but achieving the objectives in that paper depends on an increase in the digital capability of the government. Hiring alone, in an historically tight labour market, is unlikely to fill this digital capability gap. Increasing investment in training, creating the talent the sector requires, is one practical way to solve this particular conundrum.
David Palmer is market intelligence partner and future skills expert at BPP
@BPPGroup
