The Cabinet Office has overall responsibility for capability within the civil service and should ensure departments have the capability required to achieve planned efficiency programmes.33 Capability shortfalls have led to problems on numerous occasions, such as in the InterCity West Coast franchise competition in 2012, where a lack of expertise contributed to its collapse, and the Common Agricultural Policy delivery programme, which suffered from a high turnover of senior leaders.34

The Cabinet Office has overall responsibility for capability within the civil service and should ensure departments have the capability required to achieve planned efficiency programmes.33 Capability shortfalls have led to problems on numerous occasions, such as in the InterCity West Coast franchise competition in 2012, where a lack of expertise contributed to its collapse, and the Common Agricultural Policy delivery programme, which suffered from a high turnover of senior leaders.34 Type: conclusion | Number: 14 | Response status: not_addressed Government response: 4. PAC conclusion: Skills shortages in the civil service could compromise departments’ ability to achieve efficiency savings. 4: PAC recommendation: HM Treasury needs to work with departments to understand the skills and capability required to deliver plans successfully, identifying any specialist a