The Capability Review programme was announced in 2005 by the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O’Donnell. A model of capability was developed and the Capability Review programme was run for the Cabinet Secretary by the Capability Review team until 2009. These reviews were led by a team of external reviewers.
Phase 1 of reviews took place in 2006-07 and Phase 2 reviews were carried out in 2008-09.
In 2009 the model of capability was refreshed. A small working group and a larger consultation group, consisting of a wide range of stakeholders from central government departments, local government, the private and voluntary sector as well as academia, considered ways to strengthen the model for the future. In 2010/11 changes were made to the process to enable Departments to own and write their own Capability Action Plans Phase 3.
The Civil Service Reform Planhas undertaken to replace Capability Reviews with Departmental Improvement Plans which will be led by Departmental Boards. More detail about Improvement Plans will be published once the pilot phase has been completed.