Ministers are not properly trained for their jobs, MPs told

Ministers are "probably undertrained" for their jobs, the Cabinet Office minister, Ed Miliband, has warned, arguing that the government should use formal management and development tools which business leaders take for granted.

He has already stepped up support for his colleagues, introducing a short induction course for new ministers and encouraging departments to use the National School of Government - which normally works with senior civil servants - for further training.

Giving evidence to the public administration select committee, Miliband said he had discussed ways of developing skills training with Sir Gus O'Donnell, the cabinet secretary.

"Training is important. It's easy for people to be contemptuous of the notion of coaches and training; I think ministers are probably undertrained. There's a lot more we could do," he said. "Before working as a minister I've been a special adviser working with civil servants - but there are a whole set of issues around working with civil servants in daily life."

He suggested there were limits to how far the ministerial system could be professionalised, adding: "I have discussed in the past whether you could move to a more formalised system [of appraisal]. People might say - and might say about me - that promotion and so on are quite capricious. It's hard to have formalised appraisal. But government doesn't do enough - a lot of things the private sector would take for granted aren't done sufficiently."

Former Labour minister Nick Raynsford said: "The only difference I would take with his description is his use of the three letters 'der' in 'undertrained'. There's no organisation in the world with similar responsibilities which is as utterly cavalier as British government about the capability of the people it puts into ministerial positions. There's very little support the whole way through, no attempt to appraise performances and no attempt afterwards to use exit interviews to get their feedback."

Another former minister added: "It's basically hopeless. I was appointed before the weekend and was making big spending decisions on the Monday. I was offered a three-day course - about two months in - but it was political, not managerial. It was about getting messages out, rather than how to handle parliamentary questions or your private office.

"A lot more could be done. At the moment, ministerial folklore is passed on from grandees to juniors. On a practical level, unless you have worked within government, the relationship between civil service and parliament and politicians needs decoding."

Guy Lodge, senior research fellow on governance at the IPPR, added: "Ministers get overlooked in the debate about improving the skills base of government. There's a drive to improve the way civil servants are equipped to deal with key delivery challenges, but no equivalent for ministers."