Francis Maude: We must reform the public sector That's why we're implementing a Civil Service Reform plan to deliver a less bureaucratic, faster civil service - one that is armed with the skills and capabilities needed to tackle the challenges we face today. What we need more than ever are effective commissioners who can deliver better outcomes for citizens and better value for money on ever tighter resources, who will embrace new and innovative ways of delivering public services that better reflect the needs of their user. Today the launch of a new Commissioning Academy is set to help build that new wave of expert commissioners. We've created this Academy with the support of the Local Government Association, for the whole public sector. It is open to all public sector commissioning organisations, including central government departments, local authorities, health bodies and judicial services. This marks a key turning point for public service delivery in this country. The Commissioning Academy is set to play a vital role in training up capable, confident and courageous commissioners across the public sector. But we are clear that underpinning these reforms there needs to be reform of Government itself - which is why we are committed to building new skills and capabilities in the Civil Service, and also across the public sector. At the moment there are still too many authorities and public bodies where commissioning approaches remain unimaginative, too focused on process and too risk averse. But we know there are exemplary Councils pioneering new, innovative approaches to redesigning services. For example, Wiltshire County Council has redesigned its Short Breaks service in partnership with parents and carers of disabled children. They've cut out the bureaucracy around assessing family needs to help approximately 1,000 families access their Short Breaks service per year, whereas only 100 families benefitted under the old model. Whether things are working well - or not going as well as they might, it's vital that we do more to join up and learn from each other's experiences - and that is where the Commissioning Academy comes in. The Commissioning Academy will bring together senior commissioners from across the public sector to learn from the example of the most successful commissioning organisations. Improving commissioning skills is clearly a big priority. The landscape for public service delivery in this country is changing fast. With more and more services set to be commissioned from the outside - whether by employee-led mutuals, joint ventures, social or charitable enterprises or conventional commercial providers - we need many more public servants with commercial skills. The public sector isn't yet ready to meet this challenge - but it will be. Our cultures and ways of working won't change overnight - but we can and must move at pace. Because Civil Service Reform and wider public sector reform isn't optional or an added bonus to economic and public service reforms that are taking place. It is fundamental to the delivery of more efficient and effective services for our citizens. The Commissioning Academy will be crucial in helping the public sector develop the cadre of professionals that can deliver the innovative, user-friendly, efficient, 21st Century public services local communities need.