Public services are presently going through huge changes in response to a range of issues such as the Big Society agenda, increased localisation, greater demands for service user voice and control, increased public expectations and a greater mix in terms of the economy of welfare services. Public service organisations are grappling with significant changes at a time when they are also making significant cuts to budgets. The public service organisations of today are no longer large public sector organisations such as the local authorities of the past but are likely to be smaller in size and increasingly likely to exist in the commercial sector or the third sector. These changes have significant implications in terms of the types of roles that public servants undertake and their career trajectories. Whereas in the past an individual might start out in a junior role in a public sector organisation and work their way through various parts of that organisation, today it is more likely that individuals will work in a range of different organisations and institutions over the course of their career and also cross sectoral boundaries. Even where individuals may remain in the same organisation it is likely that they will be required to work more closely with those from other organisations, institutions and sectors as public services become ever more diversified. The existing knowledge and practice around career development of public servants is yet to catch up with these developments. There is no common and shared route through which public servants are developed or through which they can gain access to information about the types of roles available and the skills and competencies they may need to develop. The training of public servants has traditionally focused too much on the core civil service, whereas the majority of people who work in public services may not fit this model. Whilst those who work outside of the public sector are often trained and developed through different routes. This is compounded by the fact that professionals within the public service workforce (e.g. doctor, social worker, teacher, accountant, lawyer) are trained specifically for that role to a certain set of standards and expectations. Further, the notion of the 'public sector ethos' has been too associated with those working in the public sector which does not well reflect the myriad of organisations who today are involved with designing and delivering public services. Neither does this effectively take account of the shifting role of service users as co-designers, co-producers or citizens. This project aims to build on the findings of the University of Birmingham's Policy Commission into the 'Future of Public Services' which identified the desperate need to pay attention to the changing nature of the roles undertaken by public servants and the associated support and development needs. This project is a partnership arrangement between the University of Birmingham and Birmingham City Council and aims to establish: the existing knowledge base on this topic; undertake new research into public service roles; and, to establish a knowledge portal which should support other public servants and public service organisations. The knowledge portal will set out details about the context of public service, the range of roles which are developing in public service, the skills and resources that are needed to fulfil these roles, an indication of where existing development opportunities are available and detail on the sort of local and national government support that might be required for public servants and public service organisations.