If We Haven't Needed It For 10 Years, Why Do We Need It Now?

Ministers will bring in a new “school of government” for senior civil servants to train them in AI and other skills – more than a decade after David Cameron axed the previous college for Whitehall.

Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the prime minister, will announce the new body in a speech on Tuesday setting out the government’s plans to “rewire” the civil service for modern times. Cameron’s decision to close the previous national school of government at Sunningdale has been widely considered a mistake, with growing fees for external providers.

Considered a 'mistake' by whom? Anyone we should take any notice of?  

Ahead of the speech, Jones said he was determined to “work with the civil service to change the system, promote innovation and build in-house state capacity to get things done”.

Aimed at improving the training of senior civil servants, its programme will include knowledge on economics, finance, policy, leadership and management, commercial, AI, data and digital, programme and project management and delivery.

Maybe it's just me, but shouldn't they have all that already, in order to get to be senior civil servants in the first place? 

His speech, due on Tuesday with a promise to “move fast, fix things”, will build on existing plans to halve government spending on external consultants and reduce departmental administration costs by 16% over the next five years, delivering savings of £2bn a year by 2030.

Aha! That's who consider this a mistake then - the consultants who were suckling at the teat of government! 

In an interview with the Times last week, Jones also suggested he would increase performance-related pay and more civil servants would be “shown the door” if not meeting standards.

Oh, when have I heard that one before?