Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what support he has given to commissioners in local government to attend the Commissioning Academy.

The Government worked very closely with the Local Government Association to set up and develop the Commissioning Academy.

Since June 2012, 527 delegates have attended Commissioning Academy programmes. Of these 392 have attended the central Commissioning Academy programmes, including 206 (52%) from 53 local authorities.

A number of other programmes sit alongside the central programme under the Commissioning Academy umbrella. 78 have attended local programmes modelled on the central programme in Norfolk and Staffordshire, with participants drawn from local authorities and other public sector bodies in the local area. In addition, 8 councillors have attended a streamlined programme for local authority elected members.

Feedback from participants has been consistently positive. Independent research by the Local Government Information Unit on the impact of the Academy found that 71.9% of survey respondents felt their involvement in the programme was already having a tangible impact and they were confident it would lead to a positive outcome for citizens.

The Government continues to work with the sector to encourage even greater local authority take up of the programme.