Whitehall to launch digital and data secondments to lure tech specialists

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The UK government is launching a digital and data secondment scheme with FTSE 100 companies in the hope of attracting hundreds of external experts into Whitehall, the Cabinet Office minister has revealed. 

Jeremy Quin said he was determined to “tap into the talent” of the private sector but was “aware of how incredibly competitive that market is” in tech skills.

He said secondments would be “a great way for an employer to invest in their team . . . by allowing them to go and stretch what they’re doing right at the heart of government”, adding it would be “an extremely interesting experience” for any secondees.

In an interview with the Financial Times ahead of an announcement on Whitehall reforms on Wednesday, Quin spoke of his own experiences on loan from Deutsche Bank to the Treasury, where he served as a senior corporate financial adviser during the 2008-09 financial crisis before entering parliament.

“I know personally how having someone from the outside is welcomed by the civil service,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of very talented people. They like the different perspectives that come from a commercial background or a different background that can be brought to play.”

The government will seek specialists for senior roles including in artificial intelligence, data architecture and digital engineering. Quin said that while two-year secondments organised by some government departments were “fantastic”, the scheme would be flexible regarding the duration of placements.

The number of placements on the scheme, due to launch in autumn, will not be capped. “If I had hundreds offered, we’d be taking hundreds,” said Quin. It will later be extended to the science and engineering sectors.

The government is also eager to facilitate exchanges in the other direction, securing opportunities for officials to gain experience in industry.

It is expected that most secondees would remain under the contract and payroll of their permanent employer, with their salary costs recharged to the government.

Alex Thomas, programme director at the Institute for Government think-tank, welcomed the initiative, arguing the civil service “needs more specialist skills” in the digital realm and faced stiff competition on salaries.

He said there appeared to be “genuine enthusiasm” in quarters of the private sector to “work for the public good”.

However, he warned ministers would have to work hard to dispel an “erroneous perception” that Whitehall is beset by “slow, sclerotic project management” in order to attract the best talent.

Beyond secondments, Quin is pushing to recruit more private sector professionals into permanent roles in the senior civil service by removing barriers to entry. 

The drive includes reducing the “80 days plus” timeframe it takes to make appointments and banning “gobbledegook” adverts that confuse applicants with jargon. At present only one in five senior civil service jobs goes to external candidates. 

Asked about the difficulty of competing with the private sector on pay regarding senior tech and digital roles, Quin insisted the government “do aim to be competitive” and added that civil service pensions were “a very significant benefit” compared with those offered by many companies.

He added that “extra flexibility” has been introduced on salary, explaining: “Where there are specific skills that we really need to get after, we are investing more to ensure that we get people over the line.” Quin is also keen to introduce “capability-based pay” structures in future.

Earlier this month the government accepted the recommendations of the senior salaries review body on pay for the senior civil service, which called for a 5.5 per cent increase for 2023-24.

A separate government digital apprenticeship programme will aim to support the recruitment of 500 digital, data and tech professionals this year. 

On Wednesday, Quin will provide a broader update on the government’s ongoing programme of Whitehall reform. He will disclose that Whitehall’s cost-cutting measures saved £4.4bn last year, including about £1bn in tackling welfare fraud following the creation of the public sector fraud authority.

He will also announce that the government is making a pilot programme on artificial intelligence a permanent unit for exploring automation and innovation across Whitehall. 

AI tools are already assisting military recruitment, department for education calculations about apprenticeship placements, and a department of work and pensions programme to help disabled people into work, said Quin.

Later this year the Cabinet Office minister also plans to create a publicly accessible register of social policy evaluations, so that mandarins can see what interventions have succeeded and failed in the past across other departments. 

At present officials must rely on “trial and error” to find out if proposed social policies have been previously implemented elsewhere in government.