Sub-questions

To what extent does achievement of the programme depend on external consultants?

Does the organisation have the required skills, experience and commitment appropriate to the stage of the programme?

Has the organisation assessed whether skills are available in government to deliver the programme and other concurrent and upcoming priority programmes?

Has the organisation considered the potential costs of securing skills that are in short supply?

Is there an appropriate level of programme management expertise in place?

Are there communication links between the programme team and those responsible at a senior level for current and future operational models?

Are the resources deployed in the right places?

Is there sufficient capacity to deliver the programme?

Does the programme team have access to support services outside the core team, for example legal, commercial, evaluation analysis?

Has the (core) programme delivery team been involved in the design of the programme and/or are they confident of their understanding of the programme and its deliverability?

Essential evidence

Organisation chart with numbers and roles.

Recruitment Plan for key posts within the programme.

Resources - examples from our studies

Our report on E20: renewing the EastEnders set (see also Q13) found that the BBC's planning in 2015 for its renewal of the EastEnders set did not consider the specific skills required in the programme team. Subsequently, in 2017 a BBC internal audit report identified that the team had inadequate expertise in construction project management. This meant there was limited construction knowledge to manage the programme's design, procurement and construction activities, which contributed to, for example, coordination problems with the Front Lot design, resulting in the need to commission internal and external reviews to resolve design issues and inconsistencies. It also meant that there was ineffective technical review and challenge of programme documents and decisions. In 2017, the BBC recruited a new programme director and a Front Lot project manager - both with construction experience - and in early 2018, the programme director carried out a capability assessment that identified the resources required for the remainder of E20.

Capability in the civil service (2017) examined the government's approach to identifying and closing specialist capability gaps in the civil service. Capability means the civil service's ability to implement policy effectively, requiring the right number of people, with the right skills, in the right place, supported by effective accountability, governance and information. Our report included a particular focus on plans to address specialist capability gaps, including in the management of major projects. Although the civil service had skilled people, many major projects have drawn on the same pool of skills. For example, in rail projects such as Crossrail and Thameslink, skilled civil servants had performed a number of project roles or have been moved to fill skills gaps for new priorities or projects. Our report noted that government had recently accepted that project leaders and accounting officers need to assess whether projects were feasible at the outset, including whether departments had the right skills to deliver them.

Other relevant reports

The new generation electronic monitoring programme (paragraph 14)

The Defence Nuclear Enterprise: a landscape review (paragraph 13)

Investigation into land and property acquisition for Phase One (London - West Midlands) of the High Speed 2 programme (paragraph 7)