Recommendations & Conclusions
20 items
2
Conclusion
Thirtieth Report - Challenges in implem…
There is no clear plan to replace or modernise legacy systems and data that are critical to service provision but are often old, unsupportable, vulnerable and a constraint on transformation. Legacy systems, some of which date back to the 1970s, are widespread across government, which relies on them for important …
Government response. 2022. It should report against these metrics annually to enable Parliament and the public to determine what progress it is making towards meeting the objectives set out in the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan. 2.1 The government agrees with the …
HM Treasury
3
Conclusion
Thirtieth Report - Challenges in implem…
Departments have failed to understand the difference between improving what currently exists and real digital transformation, meaning that they have missed opportunities to move to modern, efficient ways of working. The Cabinet Office concedes that too often operations and services fail to recognise the fundamental 6 Challenges in implementing digital …
Government response. 4. PAC conclusion: Skills shortages in the civil service could compromise departments’ ability to achieve efficiency savings.
HM Treasury
4
Conclusion
Thirtieth Report - Challenges in implem…
Digital programmes often fail to have their own single programme office to support the programme director to align all aspects throughout the lifetime of the programme, including integration of legacy and future systems. Although the Cabinet Office has started to try to strengthen central oversight of digital programmes, government’s digital …
Government response. 5. PAC conclusion: Departments often struggle to track benefits as closely as they track costs
HM Treasury
5
Recommendation
Thirtieth Report - Challenges in implem…
Departments have failed to develop a modern professional approach to IT operations needed to support business change and transformation and have created an over-reliance on outsourcing. Departmental IT functions are often not structured or funded in a way that allows them to run and update their core systems Challenges in …
Government response. 6. PAC conclusion: Government efficiency drives tend to be one-off events rather than being embedded as a continuous priority.
HM Treasury
6
Conclusion
Thirtieth Report - Challenges in implem…
There is a large gap between the demand for and supply of the digital specialists that government needs, and it is hard to get the right balance of in-house and outsourced skills. Government has been excessively reliant on outsourcing and has failed to retain sufficient in-house capability. The Central Digital …
Government response. 1. PAC conclusion: The pandemic has demonstrated the importance of departments retaining sufficient capacity to respond to emergencies when identifying potential efficiencies.
HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
Thirtieth Report - Challenges in implem…
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Cabinet Office and HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) on the challenges in implementing digital change in government.1
Government response. 2. PAC conclusion: Past experience shows that attempts to improve efficiency can inadvertently reduce the quality of services or increase costs elsewhere – what this Committee has called cost shunting.
HM Treasury
7
Conclusion
Thirtieth Report - Challenges in implem…
Many of the systems government use are not really geared up to modern technology and some date back to the 1970s.14 The Cabinet Office told us that government is a difficult environment for digital projects, partly because these previous systems and old data, known as ‘legacy’, can stand in the …
Government response. 2: PAC conclusion: There is no clear plan to replace or modernise legacy systems and data that are critical to service provision but are often old, unsupportable, vulnerable and a constraint on transformation. 2: PAC recommendation: At the start of …
HM Treasury
8
Conclusion
Thirtieth Report - Challenges in implem…
The risks associated with legacy systems include that they can be difficult and expensive to support, lack operational resilience for key government services, and be vulnerable to cyber-attack. This exposes government to what is likely to be an uncertain but high level of financial risk from potential operational and cyber-related …
Government response. 2: PAC conclusion: There is no clear plan to replace or modernise legacy systems and data that are critical to service provision but are often old, unsupportable, vulnerable and a constraint on transformation. 2: PAC recommendation: At the start of …
HM Treasury
9
Conclusion
Thirtieth Report - Challenges in implem…
Departments typically do not have a good understanding of their IT estate, legacy systems are often poorly understood because of their age, and replacing these systems 10 Q 7 11 Dr Jerry Fishenden, Professor Mark Thompson and Assistant Professor Will Venters submission page 2 12 Qq 13–14 13 Qq 27, …
Government response. 2: PAC conclusion: There is no clear plan to replace or modernise legacy systems and data that are critical to service provision but are often old, unsupportable, vulnerable and a constraint on transformation. 2: PAC recommendation: At the start of …
HM Treasury
10
Conclusion
Thirtieth Report - Challenges in implem…
The Cabinet Office concedes that too often operations and services fail to recognise the fundamental inefficiencies of legacy systems and the data they contain.26 The National Audit Office reported that government has been trying to improve its digital performance for the past 25 years27 but has not been successful in …
Government response. 2: PAC conclusion: There is no clear plan to replace or modernise legacy systems and data that are critical to service provision but are often old, unsupportable, vulnerable and a constraint on transformation. 2: PAC recommendation: At the start of …
HM Treasury
11
Conclusion
Thirtieth Report - Challenges in implem…
Government has developed several systems to meet new requirements, such as for checking and processing applications under the EU Settlement Scheme. However, the deadline for EU Exit and Government decisions on the timetable for withdrawing the rights previously exercised by EU nationals meant that these systems all had to be …
HM Treasury
12
Conclusion
Thirtieth Report - Challenges in implem…
The Cabinet Office pointed to the role that central platforms such as GOV.UK Pay and Notify have played, for example sending alerts and test results to citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic.31 But the functions they perform are relatively straightforward commodity services that are already easily available and used extensively in …
HM Treasury
13
Conclusion
Thirtieth Report - Challenges in implem…
Government has not properly structured and resourced technology departments against good standards. This makes it difficult to manage the integration and connections between different systems, especially legacy systems, both within and outside programmes.34 This lack of resource and structure means that digital programmes do not have a strong technical design …
Government response. 4: PAC conclusion: Digital programmes often fail to have their own single programme office to support the programme director to align all aspects throughout the lifetime of the programme, including integration of legacy and future systems. 4: PAC recommendation: The …
HM Treasury
14
Conclusion
Thirtieth Report - Challenges in implem…
Government’s central digital functions are relatively immature. Government only created the Central Digital and Data Office this year and set up the other central functions within the last decade. The Cabinet Office told us that they have started to strengthen central oversight of digital programmes, but we do not yet …
HM Treasury
15
Conclusion
Thirtieth Report - Challenges in implem…
According to a recent report, government has had to rely on external contractors and consultants to make critical decisions on core design and architecture choices, which need a long-term and holistic view across government.38 The report recommends government creates a strong, expert central team with real ‘teeth’ to take ownership …
HM Treasury
16
Conclusion
Thirtieth Report - Challenges in implem…
Funding for departmental technology functions is often not allocated in a way that enables them to both run and update their core systems and support business transformation. This Committee has seen in other digital programmes that the current spending review processes, which set separate capital and revenue allocations in short, …
HM Treasury
17
Conclusion
Thirtieth Report - Challenges in implem…
Government accepts that it is important to have deep digital, data and technology expertise preserved within departments. Government has excessively outsourced programmes and has very thinly resourced the internal client function capability within departments. That has been a problem and has led to a dependence on external experts, without sufficient …
Government response. 5: PAC conclusion: Departments have failed to develop a modern professional approach to IT operations needed to support business change and transformation and have created an over-reliance on outsourcing. 5: PAC recommendation: The Central Digital and Data Office should set …
HM Treasury
18
Conclusion
Thirtieth Report - Challenges in implem…
Departments have made technology choices too early in the life of digital programmes before they have fully understood the business problem the programme is seeking to address.42 Departments have then over specified supplier contracts to a degree of detail which does not match the department’s knowledge and this has resulted …
HM Treasury
19
Conclusion
Thirtieth Report - Challenges in implem…
Ten years ago, government had little in-house digital capability and outsourced most technology programmes.47 The Cabinet Office blamed the failure of many programmes in the past on too much outsourcing of poorly understood services, and insufficient resourcing of the intelligent client function within departments.48 For example, NHS England did not …
Government response. 5: PAC conclusion: Departments have failed to develop a modern professional approach to IT operations needed to support business change and transformation and have created an over-reliance on outsourcing. 5: PAC recommendation: The Central Digital and Data Office should set …
HM Treasury
20
Conclusion
Thirtieth Report - Challenges in implem…
The Cabinet Office accepted that government still has a capability problem and is not as sophisticated as it needs to be.52 There are not yet enough people with the depth 41 Qq 12, 73 42 Q 4, 73 43 Qq 4, 46, 63 44 Q 4 45 Q 48 46 …
Government response. 6: PAC conclusion: There is a large gap between the demand for and supply of the digital specialists that government needs, and it is hard to get the right balance of in-house and outsourced skills. 6: PAC recommendation: The Central …
HM Treasury