Hudd presses the government to heed the warnings in last week’s damning report by parliament’s public accounts committee on managing early departures in central government.

He says: “We welcome recognition by the CSL's director of the need for a skills audit, but are disappointed that work has not yet started on a detailed audit or analysis to determine the capability requirements of the service.

“We need a better balance between generic capabilities and specialist skills. Relying on what is already known risks excluding the key specialist skills that a modern government depends on to operate successfully.”

The current definition of 22 civil-service professions is unhelpful, argues Hudd, and should be changed to clarify the scope of professional communities and to support external recognition. Prospect proposes developing a 'taxonomy' – effectively a scientific classification – of skills.

Read the full blog on the Guardian’s Public Leaders Network.

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