Guidance

Introduction to the Government Consulting Hub (HTML)

Updated 22 August 2022

This guidance was withdrawn on 1 February 2023

The Government Consulting Hub officially closed on 31 January 2023

Welcome to the Government Consulting Hub!

Our aim is to be a powerful resource to help the Civil Service reduce the amount it spends on consultancy, maximise value where we do use consultants, and grow the skills and capability of civil servants to deliver consultancy-type work and to deploy consultancy type skills.

We want to be clearer where consultants should be utilised in the future, how we can work better together and how we can learn from consultancy assignments to uplift capability in the Civil Service.

There are Five core components to the GCH programme: Strategic Consulting; the Consultancy Playbook; GCH Knowledge Platform; GCH Capability & Skills; and Triage.

We began in May 2021 by publishing the Consultancy Playbook and since then we have reduced Government’s spend on external consulting through a blend of GCH services and support. Including Direct Savings of using GCH consultancy instead of going to market, recommendations through our Triage service and upskilling across Government with our Knowledge & Skills offer. We have established an Advisory Network, set up a digital Knowledge Exchange Platform, established our Triage function and continue to provide direct Consultancy across Government.

We are working passionately on the Government’s highest priorities in a focused, fast-paced, dynamic and exciting environment.

GCH Objectives

In FY20/21, a Government report found that ~£1.5 billion is spent on external consulting by HMG. This had to be reduced significantly.

GCH was set-up to initiate cross government reform, and has three core objectives:

• Maximising value from HMG’s expenditure on consultancy engagements.
• Reducing HMG’s expenditure on consultancy engagements.
• Growing the Civil Service’s internal capability, including delivering work commonly undertaken by consultants.

About GCH

The Government Consulting Hub is a new cross-government management consultancy team working at the centre of Government.

We are based in Cabinet Office and funded by all Government departments. GCH provides senior civil servants and Ministers with an option to use internal Civil Service resource for complex and time-bound projects, and ensures with CCS and GCF that we get most value when HMG does go to market for external consultancy.

The team works with departments on HMG’s highest priorities in a focused, fast-paced, dynamic and exciting environment.

We work at speed and with rigour on the most challenging problems across government. We provide impactful and evidenced strategic advice and use our specialist skills to deliver results and meet clients’ needs.

Five core components of GCH

Triage assessment

Provides a senior expert and market centric perspective to support departments to effectively examine their potential demand for external consultancy work, and to help shape proposals before they are too advanced to meaningfully adjust without disruption.

Consultancy Playbook

Provides specific guidance on when and how to buy consultancy services. It was developed with HMG colleagues and industry, and is now being used across departments. Further tools and communications are rolling out to ensure it is fully used, with a refresh of the Playbook in 22/23.

Knowledge

Maximises the generation, capture, retention and reuse of knowledge developed by or accessed through consultancy assignments and firms. Embedding this culture of seeking and sharing knowledge, supported by a new digital knowledge platform for Government, will help build the capability of the Civil Service.

Skills

Manages the ‘Core Consulting Skills for Government’ cohorts for the Fast Stream and for mainstream civil servants. GCH is also onboarding for the first ‘Core Consulting Skills for Senior Leaders’ programme.

Strategic Consulting

Delivers strategy consultancy projects, in line with government priorities. To date, demand for the Hub support on assignments is high and growing. Every assignment delivers a direct cost saving on external consultancy fees, plus enduring capability and knowledge uplift for the Civil Service.

Triage

Reducing spend and maximising value when HMG uses consultancies

The Triage team focuses on reducing departmental spend on external consultancy through proactively challenging consultancy requirements in the early stages of the commercial lifecycle and recommending the utilisation of internal HMG resources for delivery.

We provide holistic expert and market centric advice that challenges departments to effectively examine their potential demand for consultancy work by understanding if previous work within HMG can be reused or internal resources utilised.

If departments do go to market, we help shape proposals so that outcomes are clear and the learning from assignments is fully captured to maximise the opportunity for ‘buy it once’ when procuring market expertise.

Consultancy Playbook

Providing impactful guidance across HMG

The Playbook provides clear, consolidated policy guidance that comprehensively advises when and how to buy consultancy services. It was developed through collaboration between HMG colleagues and industry, and is widely used to drive effective cost savings across departments.

Further interactive tools and guidance continue to be developed as part of the Playbook implementation, with a refresh version for FY 22/23 due to be issued in Summer-Autumn 2022 with updated case studies and best practice examples to further embed learning and best practice across HMG.

Knowledge

Generating and Leveraging Knowledge across HMG

Maximises the generation,capture, retention and reuse of knowledge assets developed by or accessed through consultancy assignments internally and through industry.

Embedding this culture of seeking and sharing knowledge, supported by GCH’s digital Knowledge Exchange platform for consultancy and advisory work across government, will help build the capability of the Civil Service and reduce the need to engage the market for problems that have already been solved elsewhere, sharing thought leadership and sourcing knowledge to address emerging challenges.

We will work across GCH and the Civil Service to ensure knowledge sharing as business as usual and to ensure optimal return on investment for high value reusable assets.

Skills

Upskilling civil servants to succeed

GCH has, with the Government Skills and Curriculum Unit (GSCU), launched ‘Core Consulting Skills for Government’ cohorts for Fast Stream and for mainstream civil servants and the ‘Senior Leaders’ Consultancy’ programme investing in the skills to be an effective senior advisor.

Our current focus is to increase the scale of these courses, as well as develop an extended skills offer and launch the Applied Consulting Skills Offer.

GCH will also begin to develop a Consultancy Pathway for advisory teams within HMG covering standards, standardisation of the operating model, and the consultancy career path. This provides a direct capability uplift.

Strategic Consulting

Government’s centre of excellence for Consulting

We deliver strategy consultancy projects, in line with government priorities.

To date, we have delivered over 22 consultancy assignments and demand for the Hub’s support on assignments is high and growing. Every assignment delivers a Direct Saving on external consultancy fees, plus enduring capability and knowledge uplift for the Civil Service.

This reduces reliance on external consulting firm, and leads to greater efficiencies through a blend of Direct Savings^{[footnote 1]} as well as broader impact across Government through advice provided to clients accessing the GCH Consultancy offer.

Get in touch!

governmentconsultinghub@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

1. Direct Savings - As a result of GCH Consulting Assignment vs An external consultancy rate card, excluding taxes and expenses. Including savings from relevant co-sourcing consultancy arrangements. ↩