Centre of Excellence
Government create Centre of Excellence for Project Managers.
The Government started a Major Projects Leadership Academy in 2012 in conjunction with Oxford University and Deloitte.
The aim is to create a Centre of Excellence. That’s so that the Government can produce a generation of World Class Project Managers that is the envy of anywhere.
This will, therefore, reduce their need to bring in outside companies to run projects.
They will reduce their reliance on expensive outside consultancies. It will also generate expertise in running projects in the Civil Service.
Indeed in the future no one will be able to lead any Government Project without having gone through the Academy.
Academy Director
They have chosen Dr Paul Chapman to be the Academy Director at Said Business School at Oxford.
He said ‘As you would expect from Oxford, we take an intellectually rigorous approach to addressing the three primary themes of the Academy: major project leadership, technical understanding of major project delivery and commercial capability’
They are going to take best practices from world class major project leaders and academics.
Furthermore, they want to develop the skills that will see large and complex major projects delivered to budget and on time.
They will deliver it in conjunction with Deloitte. The Cabinet Office Major Projects Authority (MPA) will manage it.
Government Means Business
The Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, said ‘When it comes to major projects, this government means business.
‘Taxpayers need to know that we will deliver major projects on time and to budget.
‘We do already have impressive expertise in the public sector at the moment. However, we want to take a long term view and build this within Whitehall.
It seems they want to wean themselves off the big consultancies when it comes to running projects.
Saving Taxpayers Money
The Minister said ‘Crucially, this will relinquish taxpayers from having to foot the bill for external consultancy to deliver the projects and services the country needs.
‘This is an important step in our plans to reform the Civil Service. We want to build world-class project leadership skills within government.
‘So, starting with our current leaders, we will develop a generation of professionals that are internationally recognised for their skill and expertise.’
This sounds like a great idea.
If this works, it will make a big difference to Government projects.
