CMI welcomes the Major Projects Leadership Academy

Commenting on the news Petra Wilton, Director of Policy and Research, at the Chartered Management Institute said “It is very encouraging to see that Francis Maude is setting up an initiative to plug skills gaps in senior civil servants across Government departments.  Here at the Chartered Management Institute we continue to champion management training and the creation of the Major Projects Leadership Academy at Oxford University should provide excellent practical and theoretical project leadership training. In the last two years, civil servants in Whitehall have wasted over £31bn of tax payers’ money, analysis by the National Audit office (NAO)* have revealed, so looking at solutions to address this is very welcome.
 
“Currently, however, the Academy will only be training approximately 350 civil servants and is only focusing on project management of so-called large projects, for example, the High Speed rail link between London and Birmingham and the Olympics. To truly strengthen expertise within the civil service, it is vital that the number with access to professional management training is expanded. It is not only the large projects where cost savings can be made and we urge the Government to extend this initiative more widely to improve  efficiency and the quality of service delivery across the UK.”

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Further information:

Hattie Fitzgerald
Telephone: 020 7010 0828
Email: harriet.fitzgerald@kindredagency.com

• * The Times in January 2012  http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article3280448.ece

NOTES TO EDITORS

• CMI is the only chartered professional body dedicated to raising standards of management and leadership across all sectors of UK commerce and industry. CMI is the founder of the National Occupational Standards for Management and Leadership and sets the standards that others follow.
   
• By setting minimum professional standards – built into our qualifications, membership criteria and learning resources – we recognise individual capability and give employers confidence in their managers’ performance.
  
• As a membership organisation, CMI has also been providing forward-thinking advice and support to individuals and businesses, for more than 50 years. As the only organisation to offer qualifications from Level 2 (GCSE) to Level 8 (PhD), CMI is committed to equipping individuals with the skills and knowledge to be exceptional managers and leaders.
  
• Qualifications and accreditations such as Chartered Manager, combined with products such as CMI’s Continuous Professional Development scheme and the online support resource, ManagementKnow, support the development of management and leadership excellence across the UK.
  
• Through in-depth research and policy surveys of its 90,000 individual and 450 corporate members, CMI maintains its position as the premier authority on key management and leadership issues