Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has plans to increase the level of understanding in the civil service of devolved areas of policy making.

It is absolutely critical that civil servants understand the unique nature of the devolution settlements and that they have the skills to operate confidently in an increasingly complex devolution landscape, particularly in the light of EU Exit.

My department leads a programme of work, “Devolution and You” which aims to increase devolution capability across the Civil Service. The program is a cross-administration and cross-Whitehall campaign led by Cabinet Office in partnership with the Scottish and Welsh Governments, it is supported by the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales, the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Northern Ireland Office.

The campaign aims to upskill civil servants across the Civil Service by strengthening understanding of the devolution settlements through bespoke training, communications and interchange programmes.

Civil Service Learning alongside the Policy Profession also offer a range of training programmes to embed devolution learning and increase civil servants understanding of policy making in relation to devolved and reserved matters.

• Each nation of the UK leads and hosts an annual SCS conference to learn from each other and build networks across the Policy Profession.
• Civil Service Learning provide a range of central learning opportunities, including online and face-to-face training, for all civil servants on Devolution & Intergovernmental Working.
• The online Devolution & Intergovernmental Working module is for all new and existing civil servants.
• Available to civil servants are the EU exit: devolution settlements and intergovernmental working events. Delegates hear the views of Permanent Secretaries, and other senior civil servants from the devolved administrations and territorial offices, on intergovernmental relations within the current political climate.
• The Fast Stream Induction programme includes a devolution workshop as part of their induction offer.