Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his written ministerial statement of 26 October 2026 on the National School of Government and Public Services, how much was spent across government on externally provided learning and development for civil servants in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office manages two central Learning Frameworks contracts through which departments can procure specialist external learning and development services. The spend through these contracts over the last three financial years was:
| KPMG | EY |
2025/26 | £ 83,632,040 | £30,605,762 |
2024/25 | £ 79,749,108 | £34,552,122 |
2023/24 | £ 86,556,291 | £38,138,864 |
Please note that this information relates to the expenditure through the Cabinet Office-owned central contracts, it does not cover all civil service learning and development expenditure across departments.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 30 September 2026 on the establishment of the National School of Government and Public Services, what the cost is of the learning and development pilot campaign designed by Omnicom; how long that campaign will run; and what measures will be used to judge its success.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The value of this work was £15,134.00 in 2025-26. The scope of the work was the strategy for a pilot behaviour change campaign, an implementation plan, and an evaluation framework based on the Government Communication Service evaluation cycle. Following the launch of the National School of Government and Public Services, we will consider how best to implement behaviour change campaigns to help build a skilled Civil Service.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his written ministerial statement of 26 October 2026 on the National School of Government and Public Services, what the (a) budget and (b) staff headcount is of the National School for (i) 2026-27 and (ii) 2027-28.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The initial budget for the National School of Government and Public Services for 2026-27 is £172m. This is subject to departmental transfers and is reviewed as part of regular business planning. The majority of this budget (£138m) is for the Fast Stream graduate scheme, including salary costs for those on the Fast Stream. Our current FTE is 390.86, this figure is reviewed regularly as part of internal workforce, resourcing and recruitment planning.
Budget and staff headcount for 2027-28 will be agreed through the Cabinet Office business planning process.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Written Statement of 26 October 2026 on the National School of Government and Public Services, HCWS410, what contingency arrangements are in place if the National School is not ready to take over delivery of contracted services by April 2028.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The National School of Government and Public Services is committed to reducing reliance on large professional learning services organisations. A detailed transition plan is under development to increase internal design and delivery and reduce expenditure on external providers over time. The School is working with our current training providers on exit and transition plans, whilst also increasing internal capacity to design and deliver. Where the School still requires access to specialist and technical external partners, from 2028 a new commercial model will provide the ability to contract directly to a range of specialist, small and medium-size UK organisations. This change is managed by effective governance and programme management, which includes contingency planning should plans and timetables change.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his written ministerial statement of 26 October 2026 on the National School of Government and Public Services, which (a) courses, (b) programmes and (c) digital platforms currently provided by prime suppliers will transfer to in-house delivery by the National School, and on what date each will transfer.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The National School of Government and Public Services is committed to reducing reliance on large professional learning services organisations. A detailed transition plan is under development to increase internal design and delivery and reduce expenditure on external providers over time. We are starting to implement this transition, delivering more training in house - especially for core skills, Digital, Data & AI (DDI &AI) and leadership and management.
The majority of the DDI &AI learning offer is already insourced with further courses and programmes across the curriculum in development. Products currently provided by prime suppliers for core skills and leadership and management are undergoing review. This will inform decisions as to which products and courses should be insourced between now and 2028. This will remove duplication and reduce expenditure on external providers over time to provide better value for the taxpayer.
There are currently no plans to bring digital platforms currently provided by suppliers in-house.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his written ministerial statement of 27 October 2026 on the National School of Government and Public Services, what the legal and organisational status of the National School is; who its accounting officer is; and to which Minister it is accountable.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The National School of Government and Public Services is part of the Cabinet Office. Catherine Little is the accounting officer of the Cabinet Office. The National School is accountable to the First Secretary of State.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 30 September 2026 on the establishment of the National School of Government and Public Services, what the total amount is that his Department has spent on external consultants, advisers and agencies in connection with establishing the National School since 20 January 2026.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The total is £286,117 since 20 January 2026.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Pursuant to the answer of 30 September 2026, to Question 29135, on National School of Government and Public Services: Consultants, for what reason the HM Government crest is not to be used for the National School of Government.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The National School of Government and Public Services uses the royal coat of arms in common with all government organisations.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his written ministerial statement of 26 October 2026 on the National School of Government and Public Services, and the contracts for Centralised Civil Service Learning and Training Services awarded to KPMG LLP and Ernst & Young LLP, what the value of each contract is; how much has been paid under each contract to date; and why those contracts were awarded directly and not through competitive tender.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office manages central Learning Frameworks contracts through which departments can procure specialist external learning and development services.
The EY contract was awarded in 2020 under a Crown Commercial Framework (RM6145) and is for expenditure up to a maximum of £195m, depending on demand - the spend up to end September 2026 was £161,622,467.
The KPMG contract awarded in 2020 was also awarded under the same Crown Commercial Service Framework, this was valued at up to £237m, ended in 2024, and the total spend was £235,132,270.
There was subsequently a further contract to KPMG as a direct award. This contract was up to £186m, and total spend to end September 2026 was £167,630,873. The services covered by the contract could only be provided by KPMG at that time for technical reasons, as set out in the published award notices.
A Notice was published in July 2026 that two further contract awards are intended to be made to KPMG and EY as direct awards under Procurement Act 2023 as they concern the supply of services by existing suppliers which are intended as an extension to existing services in circumstances where:
(a) a change in supplier would result in receiving services that are different from, or incompatible with, the existing services; and
(b) the difference or incompatibility would result in disproportionate technical difficulties in operation or maintenance.
In line with previous and current central learning contracts, when enacted, these latest contracts will be fully based on a ‘pay as you use’ basis without any value, volume or exclusivity guarantees.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his written ministerial statement of 27 October 2026 on the National School of Government and Public Services, what the (a) capital and (b) running costs are of converting and operating The Hawkhills, Easingwold, as the residential campus of the National School; and how many residential places it will provide.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Hawkhills campus currently operates as a fully functioning residential training facility, providing 102 en-suite bedrooms, conference suites and classrooms to support the UK Resilience Academy under an existing Cabinet Office service contract running until April 2028.
We are currently exploring the future estate requirements of the National School at The Hawkhills and elsewhere to inform planning across these sites. Longer-term operational cost allocations will be finalised alongside the development of the National School’s operating model.
Our estates requirements are subject to formal business case approvals, planning, and standard commercial procurement processes to ensure rigorous value for money for the taxpayer. Site running costs are currently met through existing Cabinet Office baseline contract arrangements, and longer-term operational cost allocations will be finalised alongside the development of the National School’s operating model.