About us
The Government People Group exists to work with departments, professions, and functions to build a modern, effective Civil Service.
Government People Group
The Government People Group exists to work with departments, professions, and functions to build a modern, effective Civil Service.
We support the government workforce with the right skills and capabilities. We are working with leaders to get the right people in the right jobs, with the right skills and continuous learning to excel in their roles.
We provide leadership, and in turn, create leaders with exceptional line management capability across departments, influencing partners in the wider public sector and beyond. This involves getting our retention and reward strategy right, nurturing specific skills, and creating pride and resilience in our workforce.
Our role is also to provide system leadership across central government in pulling together back-office services. Collectively, we help support the Cabinet Office’s priority to drive efficiencies, and reforms that will make government work better, to ultimately provide a better service to the public.
Government Skills and Curriculum Unit, and Leadership College for Government
Government Skills and Curriculum Unit, and Leadership College for Governme designs and delivers better training, knowledge and networks across the Civil Service and Public Sector.
Campus and Curriculum
Defining and providing a cross-Civil Service curriculum, including the internal delivery of parliamentary capability training. This enables 450,000 civil servants to have access to high-quality training relevant to Civil Service needs, aligned to its priorities, and create ways for the professions, functions and departments to contribute to the government campus.
College for National Security (CfNS)
The College aims to upskill the sector’s workforce, build resilient networks amongst professionals, and provide a platform for international collaboration. Its priority purpose is to provide strategic training for policy experts in the height of their careers and to ensure they have the latest science and technology skills.
Fast Stream & Emerging Talent (FSET)
The team helps the government build fairer, levelling up opportunities for all citizens to become qualified and experienced civil servants from entry to senior leadership. This covers schools outreach, T Levels, apprenticeships, internships and the flagship Fast Stream leadership development programme.
Leadership & Management Training
Building skills, knowledge and networks (through formal programmes, experience, and informal context) to develop current and future generations of operationally effective senior public servants.
Leadership College for Government
The Leadership College for Government equips public and Civil Service leaders with the skills, knowledge, and networks to solve today’s most complex problems.
HR Functional Standards, Capability, Performance and Strategy
This team leads on Functional standards, the capability programme, assessment and accreditation of the HR Function, and monitoring talent.
Functional Strategy
To improve the HR Functional Model within the Civil Service. Setting and progressing strategic direction for how the HR is organised to deliver effectively and efficiently within the Civil Service.
HR Capability
To deliver continuous improvements in HR Professional Capability and Talent. Ensuring that we build and maintain the HR professional skills needed to provide effective strategic support and operational services across the Civil Service, including reviewing what is required to deliver the future HR Operating model.
Corporate Centre and Design
Delivering internal services to ensure the business unit is well-governed, compliant, and enabled to deliver its committed outcomes efficiently. Services provided include: Financial Management, HR, Business Management, PMO and Portfolio, Communications, Policy and Strategy, Business Case Development, Architecture and Information Assurance.
Senior Talent and Resourcing
Senior Talent and Resourcing coordinates the selection and hiring of the most senior staff (Director Generals and Permanent Secretaries) Director General Workforce To deliver end-to-end talent and career management for Directors General (DGs), ensuring that the Civil Service has the right people and capabilities in place to respond to complex leadership challenges. Permanent Secretary HR To deliver excellent HR policies and practice in support of Permanent Secretaries, ensuring that the Civil Service has the highest calibre of senior leaders and that they can perform at their best.
Line Management Capability
This team is leading a programme that will transform and modernise how we build and strengthen line management capability and accountability across the Civil Service. It is a critical enabler of Civil Service Modernisation and Reform. Having capable managers will play a pivotal role in improving employee experience, wellbeing and motivation; contributing to individual and organisational performance and productivity.
The programme draws on best practice from academic research, professional bodies, and within government to achieve a number of key deliverables. These include: defining line management for the Civil Service, setting externally accredited line management standards with clear targets and measures to ensure we have the best managers leading and working in government to deliver better outcomes for citizens.
Ensuring excellence in line management capability is the golden thread throughout the employee lifecycle (recruitment, performance management, promotion). Informing the evolution of line management training and development, working in partnership with GSCU and departments to enhance and align management learning offerings, including a New Line Management Induction Programme
Shared Services Strategy
The Shared Services Strategy for Government was launched in March 2021, with the aim of modernising the back office of government. This includes replacing legacy systems which are facing end-of-life in terms of contract support and technology; it contributes significantly to Civil Service modernisation and reform.
The Cabinet Office Shared Services team is the policy lead for shared services in government, working across departments to make it easier for civil and public servants to use platforms for HR, finance and payroll.
Our ambition is to deliver the vision to free up Civil Servants to focus on what they do best: engaging with and delivering for citizens.
As the Strategy moves from planning into delivery, we are supporting clusters and functions to develop and implement change as a strategic delivery partner, whilst continuing to provide key assurance and alignment to the key strategic priorities for Ministers.
Government Recruitment Service
We aim to modernise and open up Civil Service recruitment to attract a broader, more diverse pool of talent. It’s also our priority to unlock the talent within the Civil Service, giving everyone the opportunity to fulfil their potential while making an important contribution to government. Find out more on the service’s page on GOV.UK.
Platforms, Data, and Interoperability
The Platforms, Data, and Interoperability team operates the Government People Groups’ employee servicing platforms. These include:
Live Service Operations
Delivering efficient, secure and continuously improving cross-government services, such as Civil Service Jobs, Civil Service Careers, Civil Service Learning, the SOP and Workday enterprise resource planning systems, and the Fast Stream Recruitment platform. The team also supports the customer relationship management system used by GRS.
Civil Service Data & Insight Services
Delivering end-to-end data and insight services from the development of Government Resources Insight Database (GRID) as a platform, through to the delivery of insights driven by GRID and its connected ecosystem of data sources.
Interoperability OneData Programme
This programme is delivering services to enable a flexible, efficient and effective Civil Service, in which we use technology and data to manage our workforce. The programme consists of four workstreams: Staff Transfers, Government Skills Campus, Central Employee Identifier and Integration Capability.
Recruitment Transformation Programme
This programme sets out to replace and redesign the existing cross-government recruitment platform (Civil Service Jobs), enabling data-driven, user-focused in-house recruitment. It is also delivering the automation needed to secure the future GRS operating model and workforce plan.
Pay, Policy, and Pensions
This directorate provides the strategy and coordination across Civil Service pay, pensions and employee policy and advice to all parts of the Civil Service including ministers, Civil Service leaders, HM Treasury, Government Functions and departments.
It develops and delivers, a focused, modern employment framework and effective policies, processes and practices that support each stage of the Employee Lifecycle and champions strategic initiatives that assist in building a skilled, innovative and ambitious Civil Service.
It covers: Reward Services and Strategy, TUPE and MoG consultancy services, the Civil Service Employment Framework; Employee Policy and Services, and Pensions; and national Trade Union relations. The Prime Minister is the official Civil Service pension scheme manager, the role is delegated to the Minister for the Cabinet Office and the Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary.
The Pensions team operates as the effective ‘Scheme Manager’ for Civil Service and Royal Mail pension schemes. There are over 2 million pension members across c.330 employers.