Closed petition Implement regular competency assessments of Ministers to inform training plans

Closed on 19 July 2021

Supporting Ministers to maintain or improve their competence should ensure that our leaders “seek first to understand before they take action”. Ministers don’t need to be an expert in the field but need to be able to represent the departments needs with competence and understanding.

Regular introspective, quantifiable assessing of knowledge, skills, and attitudes by experts could produce a gap analysis and training plan to develop a professional level of competency in a department’s leadership. If a minister falls short of the standard expected, a timeframe to develop in those areas, should be allowed. Then the Prime Minister would need to decide whether to keep the Minister on.

The average score across Government should be published regularly, alongside yearly targets.