The FINANCIAL -- Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, announced yesterday that Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford, will design and deliver the new Major Projects Leadership Academy.

According to Saïd Business School, the MPLA is a leading-edge initiative from the Major Projects Authority designed to develop a cadre of world-class major project leaders within the Civil Service to direct major government projects of high complexity and cost, such as the Olympics and High Speed Two.

Saïd Business School, in partnership with Deloitte, will design and deliver a one year development programme drawing on the resources of the University of Oxford, and in particular the work of the BT Centre for Major Programme Management at the Saïd Business School, which is the leading centre of research and teaching on major programme management internationally.

Over four years, 150 Project Leaders will undertake the Academy with the first two cohorts starting in October 2012.  The Academy consists of three, 5 day-long residential modules delivered over a 12 month period and will blend action learning, masterclasses and mentoring from experienced and highly-skilled practitioners.  It will address three primary themes:  Major Project Leadership, Technical Understanding of Major Project Delivery and Commercial Capability. ‘As you would expect from Oxford, the Academy programme is intellectually rigorous,’ said Dr Paul Chapman, Academy Director at Saïd Business School.

‘But it will also focus on the practical skills necessary to develop senior practitioners that can deliver very large and complex projects on time and on budget. We will be drawing on our considerable experience of working with senior project practitioners from around the world, as well as our research insights in developing the first programme of its kind for the public sector. The Academy will further enhance and build the skills of already capable project specialists in the public sector by giving them exposure to the ideas, experiences and best practice from world-class major project leaders and academics, and connecting them to their peers across Central Government and beyond.’

By developing and retaining the skills of senior project leaders across government, the Major Projects Leadership Academy is intended to reduce the need for expensive external consultancy and return major project leadership capability to Whitehall. Its focus will be on building expertise to ensure that future projects meet their objectives on time and on budget, providing the desired outcome, and representing value for money for taxpayers.  In future no one will be able to lead a major government project without undertaking this development course.

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