Parliamentary Search

Written question asked by Mike Wood (Conservative) on Friday, 28 August 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 2 September 2026. It was answered by Mark Ferguson (Labour) on Monday, 7 September 2026 on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

Civil Servants: Training

Question

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the contract awarded to KPMG, 22 May 2026, for Civil Services Learning and Development Services, Ref: C2980 Republished, for what reason external consultancy companies have been used to procure Civil Service Learning.

Answer

The Civil Service values its people, invests in their growth, and is serious about building the capability to meet the challenges of the future. This autumn the National School of Government and Public Services will formally open its doors to civil servant learners. The learning the school provides will boost public sector productivity and accelerate the pace of progress towards delivering the excellent, digitally-enabled public services to be expected from a modern state.

Many of the Civil Service’s training needs can be delivered in-house, by civil servants and the government is committed to reducing outsourced training contracts. But we also need experts to help with our specialist needs, whether that be digital training, professional qualifications, or executive leadership development, as well as access to academia and business schools. In these cases, we need to buy training.

In the meantime, we need to provide continuity of current provisions of essential training and development for civil servants while the government accelerates the transition to an in-house delivery model through the new National School of Government and Public Services. The contract awarded to KPMG for Civil Service Learning and Development Services is for the provision of training services and not consultancy services. This service is delivered by a specialist learning arm of the business separate to KPMG’s consultancy service.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
20948
Session
2026-27
Related items
Subjects
Contracts Civil servants KPMG Training
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk