11 The OGC and departments have recently taken steps aimed at improving commercial skills but some important issues have not been addressed fully. Departments have recruited commercial directors, established commercial units and introduced skills initiatives. The OGC has introduced a number of initiatives including: skills assessment through PCRs; a graduate training programme; and commercial skills frameworks. It has also produced a skills strategy Building the procurement profession in government that has been largely endorsed by departmental permanent secretaries. There remain, however, some important issues that are not being addressed fully. In particular, the loss of commercial expertise through the regular rotation of civil servants, and the need to allocate commercial expertise where and when it is needed most.
12 Current OGC and departmental initiatives have so far had limited impact. The OGC and departments have performed limited measurement of the impact of their commercial skills initiatives against their objectives. Fourteen of 16 departmental commercial directors believe, however, the OGC has done little to address commercial skills gaps in their own departments. The OGC has developed initiatives to support the improvement of commercial skills, but the ultimate responsibility for ensuring staff have the commercial skills rests with departments. Our analysis shows that there has been a lack of departmental engagement with some OGC initiatives. A proposed virtual skills academy and a mid-career development programme were abandoned due to a lack of support and some departments continue to run initiatives which duplicate those of the OGC. The OGC considers that, with greater departmental engagement, its initiatives will be effective in the long term.