The operational delivery profession is led by Stephen Banyard, HMRC’s acting Director General Personal Tax, who is the interim head of profession for operational delivery across the Civil Service. This follows the death of Lesley Strathie from HMRC who was responsible for creating the vision for the profession. That vision is:
- for people working in operational delivery to be recognised and valued as professionals
- to have transferable skills that are recognised and respected across government and the wider economy
- to achieve the same level of status as the more established professions.
The profession was created in 2008 and developed a three year work plan that lay the foundations to achieve Lesley’s vision. This programme of work has now ended and we have carried out a review of the programme to assess whether it was successful in delivering against its objectives.
The profession has made much progress over the last 3 years. Highlights include the development of:
- A clear definition for the profession
- Professional standards that apply across the public and private sectors
- A professional competency framework
- Operational delivery qualifications
- Career pathways
- An understanding of the future skills requirement for the profession
A summary of progress can be found is available.
Current strategy and programme plan
A new programme of work, extending from 2011- 2014 will continue to develop the profession further. Departments have now agreed a strategy and programme plan for 2011 – 2014, which outlines the aims and objectives for the next three years. During 2011/12 you can expect to see:
- the first cross government curriculum containing learning products that support the development of those working in the profession
- a new level 2 Diploma in operational delivery; more than 700 people are taking up this diploma in its first year.
- an enhancement of the fast stream offer to encourage new entrants to become operational delivery professionals
- regional communities and development programmes being set up (on a pilot basis) specifically for operational delivery professionals.
The future of the operational delivery profession
In 2010/11 the profession carried out an assessment of what operational delivery professional skills will be required in the future. Over 100 senior civil servants and directors contributed to the work and the findings are presented in the ‘future skills report’. This is an important piece of work for the profession and will inform the development of professional learning products and qualifications.