Prime minister Keir Starmer has told senior MPs that he recognises the need to boost core skills in artificial intelligence, procurement and project management in the civil service.
Speaking at a session of parliament's Liaison Committee, which brings together select committee chairs, the PM cautioned that government would struggle to pay private sector rates for talent but insisted recruitment of qualified people was possible.
Starmer's comments came in answer to a question from Public Accounts Committee chair Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, who said billions of pounds could be saved through productivity improvements related to civil service skills.
Clifton-Brown pointed to reports of digital vacancies numbering 4,000, with AI skills among them. Other shortage areas include procurement and project management. He asked how government can make sure it hires the right people, when market rates of pay are "way over" what the public sector can offer.
Starmer replied: "We have put in place some measures to try and attract these skills in. We have had some success getting good people in to work on AI and tech and we want to improve on that because I think these are going to be a game changer."
The PM added: "We're pushing ahead. We're never going to be able to match the private sector. But I do think we can attract in good people. And I do think there are plenty of people who are technically gifted, have the skills that we need but also bring what civil servants bring: that sense of public service; to want to deliver."
He continued: "So we're having those discussions now, because I completely agree with you. We need those skills inside government driving this because this will change not only public services we're actually delivering as a government but the very way in which government delivers its services as well."
Starmer's comments echoed some of the themes in his recent Plan for Change speech, and a follow-up letter to civil servants last week. That encouraged officials to challenge barriers to effective delivery as ministers look to harness "the extraordinary potential of technology" to deliver a "rewiring of the British state".
PAC chair Clifton-Brown suggested that investing in digital record-keeping and replacing legacy computer systems – as well as more rapidly adopting AI – were also paths to delivering a further public-sector productivity boost.
Starmer agreed, and pointed to his record driving digitisation at the Crown Prosecution Service when he was director of public prosecutions.
"We have to improve across the board on AI and technology and delivery," he said. "That's in relation to the services that are delivered as the end product, but also the way that we do government."
The PM said there were countless examples of ways that improvement could be made, but described digital record-keeping as "crucial".
"The doing bit is the hard bit, which is driving it through government to make sure that we can bring that about," he said.
"Everybody will agree we need more technology, very few can deliver it. And it's the delivery bit that I'm focused on."
Clifton-Brown responded: "It needs you as prime minister to drive that."
'Woeful' HS2 procurement
The PAC chair also flagged procurement as an area where the government has the opportunity to save billions of pounds by spending money less wastefully. He cited a defence-procurement overspend of £16.9bn and "woeful" handling of the HS2 rail project as prime examples.
Starmer said he "couldn't agree more" and acknowledged there are "plenty" of departments that need to improve procurement.
"HS2 is a case study from the last government on how to mishandle a major project," Starmer said. "Over budget. Over time. Cut back. Almost a textbook example of what the last government got wrong when it came to big infrastructure projects.
"That doesn't mean we should abandon infrastructure projects, but it does mean we've got to do them differently; we've got to do them better. So I couldn't agree with you more."
Yesterday morning a separate PAC session took evidence from Department for Transport permanent secretary Dame Bernadette Kelly and new HS2 Ltd chief executive Mark Wild.
MPs were told that the government does not have a reliable estimate for the cost of completing the first phase of the high speed rail line linking London and Birmingham, or when services will start running.
Kelly told the hearing that estimates of £54bn-£66bn, in 2019 prices, which were provided to HS2 board members earlier this year, were not regarded as "reliable" by DfT. She said an agreed cost estimate would not be available until next year.
Wild took up his role this month. He has been tasked with assessing HS2's current position on cost, schedule and capability.