There is still a digital skills shortage across UK industry and the public sector and, in December 2022, the NAO found that Defra had found it difficult to recruit and retain people with the right digital skills. Between October 2021 and October 2022, Defra ran recruitment campaigns for 244 digital, data and technology roles but could not fill 31% of these roles.26 CDDO told us that this problem was not unique to Defra: in October 2022, 14% of roles in the digital and data community were vaca...

There is still a digital skills shortage across UK industry and the public sector and, in December 2022, the NAO found that Defra had found it difficult to recruit and retain people with the right digital skills. Between October 2021 and October 2022, Defra ran recruitment campaigns for 244 digital, data and technology roles but could not fill 31% of these roles.26 CDDO told us that this problem was not unique to Defra: in October 2022, 14% of roles in the digital and data community were vacant across government. In June 2022, CDDO committed to reducing vacancies in the digital community across government departments to less than 10% by 2025. Type: conclusion | Number: 13 | Response status: accepted Government response: The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented. The government’s commitment to build digital skills at scale and reducing reliance on contingent labour, is set out in the 2025 Roadmap for Digital and Data. Across government, CDDO