A public services workforce fit for the future

What effect have COVID-19 and Brexit had on Britain’s public services workforce?

That is one of the issues to be explored by a new inquiry launched today (24 January) by the House of Lords Public Services Committee.

Publishing a call for evidence, the committee will explore community-level initiatives and the role of the private, voluntary and charitable sectors in delivering public services.

The inquiry will focus on:

• recruiting, retaining and training the public services workforce;
• tools needed to transform service delivery and workforce effectiveness;
• changes needed to the structure of the workforce, particularly to enable better integration between services;
• developing a workforce which involves users in the design and delivery of services.

Committee chair Baroness Armstrong said:

“COVID-19 has accelerated a trend that was going on even before the pandemic. Demand for public services is growing faster than the number of professionals who can deliver them.

“Healthcare, social care, education and other vital public services are stretched and can’t serve users as effectively as possible. Employees will need skills and training to drive the transformation of the organisations that they work for and to deliver the best possible services.

“Greater use of technology is inevitable but we must make sure that this doesn’t make life even more difficult for people who don’t have access to or struggle with technology.

“Our inquiry will identify where changes are needed and how they can be implemented.”