The House of Lords Public Services Committee has launched an inquiry into how the public service workforce will develop, taking into account its relationship with technology.
Titled Designing a public services workforce fit for future, it will focus on issues including the tools needed to make workers more effective and transform service delivery.
It will also look recruitment and training, any need for changes in the structure of the workforce – especially for better integration between services – and developing a workforce that involves users in the design and delivery of services.
Committee chair Baroness Armstrong (pictured) said: “Covid-19 has accelerated a trend that was going on even before the pandemic. Demand for public services is growing faster than the number of professionals who can deliver them.
“Healthcare, social care, education and other vital public services are stretched and can’t serve users as effectively as possible. Employees will need skills and training to drive the transformation of the organisations that they work for and to deliver the best possible services.
“Greater use of technology is inevitable but we must make sure that this doesn’t make life even more difficult for people who don’t have access to or struggle with technology.
“Our inquiry will identify where changes are needed and how they can be implemented.”
The call for evidence – open until 22 February – refers to eight principles from an earlier inquiry, including that advances in digital technology should be used to increase access to public services, particularly for hard-to-reach groups, but should be applied intelligently. It says that online services should never replace face-to-face services if to do so would disadvantage the service user.
Image from UK Parliament, CC BY 3.0
