Professions in the Civil Service
The workforce in the Civil Service is made up of a wide range of professions and includes every kind of professional – from beekeepers and veterinary surgeons, to bomb disposal experts and accountants. There are currently 22 recognised professions, each led by a government head of profession.
The Civil Service Reform Plan confirms that a new Civil Service Competency Framework, replacing Professional Skills for Government, has been fully rolled out from April 2013.
Design and development of the framework has involved extensive consultation across Government including SCS interviews, operational focus groups, profession leads and Heads of D&E .
In April 2012, the framework was launched in Home Office, Business Innovation and Skills, Department for Communities and Local Government, Department for Culture Media and Sport and the Valuation Office Agency.
The new framework focuses as much on behaviours as on skills. This includes promoting and supporting behaviour that focuses on achieving results, continuous improvement and breaking down hierarchies and silos.
It supports the delivery of a pacier, innovative, results-orientated culture and ensure consistent high standards are used for recruitment, promotion and performance management across the Civil Service.
Alignment to the Professions
All professional frameworks have been aligned to the new generic framework from April 2013 in order to achieve consistency across the Civil Service.
Finding your professional network
Information about these professional networks is on the Civil Service website:
- Government Communication Network
- Government Economic Service
- Government Finance Profession
- HR Professionalism and Performance
- Government Internal Audit profession
- Government IT Profession
- Government Knowledge and Information Management Network
- Operational Delivery Profession
- Policy Profession
- Government Procurement Service
- Government Social Research service
- Government Science and Engineering
- Government Statistical Service
- Property Asset Management
Developing professional standards
For many professions, standards have already been set and are in use. In other areas such as policy development and operational delivery (where there are no equivalent professions outside the Civil Service), heads of profession in government departments are working with Government Skills to develop standards.
Heads of profession also need to work with departmental HR teams to ensure that standards are embedded into departmental business processes.
‘Embedding Professional Skills’ provides good practice principles to support professions, departments and devolved administrations in incorporating professional skills standards into business processes.
Download Embedding Professional Skills guide [PDF file, 423kb]