Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of commissioners from local government have attended the Commissioning Academy; and by which local authorities those commissioners are employed.

Through its programme of Civil Service Reform, the Government is taking urgent action to address long-standing skills gaps in the Civil Service. Our pioneering Commissioning Academy is building commercial capability across the public sector, and improving how public services are delivered.

To date 392 individuals have attended the central Commissioning Academy programmes, including 206 (52%) from central government. In the last year there was a 50% increase in demand for places on the programme, and it will be expanded to deliver 1,500 places by March 2016.

Commissioners have attended from the following local authorities:

Basildon Borough Council

Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council

Birmingham City Council

Bradford Metropolitan Borough Council

Bristol City Council

Canterbury and Coastal Clinical Commissioning Group

Cheltenham Borough Council

Cherwell District, South Northants and Stratford on Avon Councils

Cheshire East Council

Cheshire West and Chester Council

Cheshire West and Chester (a place-based group)

Cumbria County Council

Devon County Council

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council

Essex County Council

Fenland District Council

Gloucestershire County Council

Harborough District Council

Horsham District Council

Kent County Council

Knowsley Council (Health and Social Care Integration)

Lancashire County Council

Leicestershire County Council

London Borough of Barnet

London Borough of Haringey

London Borough of Lambeth

London Borough of Lewisham

London Borough of Sutton

London Borough of Waltham Forest

Lowestoft Rising (Place based group)

Manchester City Council

Milton Keynes Council

Norfolk County Council

Northamptonshire County Council

Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council

Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council

Shropshire

Somerset County Council

Southend-on-sea Borough Council

Staffordshire County Council

Stoke-On-Trent City Council

Suffolk Coastal

Sunderland City Council

Surrey County Council

Swindon Borough Council

Tamworth Borough Council

Tri-borough councils: Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster

Wakefield Metropolitan District Council

Walsall Council

Warrington Borough Council

Waverley Borough Council

West Sussex County Council

Westminster City Council

Wirral Council

Worcestershire County Council

A number of other programmes sit alongside the central programme under the Commissioning Academy umbrella. 78 officials have attended local programmes in Norfolk and Staffordshire, modelled on the central programme, 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.