Local government bodies outperformed central government over the last 12 months in investing in projects, according to an analysis of the value of the project management role by the Association of Project Management (APM).
Higher education has also grown its project management spending. The figures reflect the continued investment into technology led change in both academia and the public sector.
Analysing the gross value added to the national economy by project management, the APM survey found local government added a value of £6.18 billion to the economy. This is an increase of 6% since the last survey, taken before the Covid-19 pandemic in 2019 when local government project management delivered £5.84 billion in added value.
The survey did not break down the spending by local government, some of which will be into buildings and other non-technology projects, but the digitisation of the public sector has been a major focus of local government projects, spurred on by DLUHC investments.
Golden thread
Across the entire economy, there was a 51% growth in project based activity, and project budgets have increased by 45%, The Golden Thread: A study of the contribution of the project profession to the UK’s Economy finds. The report stated that 2.32 million work in project management.
Central government’s gross value add via project management has declined since 2019 by 7%. Despite this number, parts of central government are heralded for their major projects by the report, including the Department for Transport and the Lower Thames Crossing, a major road-building project in the Dartford area of south east England. APM also highlighted the Rapid Charging Fund to increase the availability of electric vehicle rapid charging points across the country.
Higher education has increased its gross value added by 54% since 2019.
The report highlights how the national skills shortage poses a risk to the project management profession and, therefore, the public sector organisations recruiting these skills.
“The gap between the demand for project management skills and the availability of talent globally continues to increase,” the report states.
APM surveyed 567 organisations in all sectors for the report and worked with professional services firm PwC and an Academic Advisory Group to analyse the results.
