Recommendations & Conclusions
24 items
2
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defra’s a…
Accepted
Defra does not have a strategy or vision needed for its long-term digital transformation. Defra has so far focused on stabilising its legacy applications by seeking to mitigate the biggest risks of cyber-attack or operational failure and is moving towards enhancing and transforming these applications. But it does not yet …
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Defra does not have a strategy or vision needed for its long-term digital transformation. Defra has so far focused on stabilising its legacy applications by seeking to mitigate the biggest risks of cyber-attack or operational failure and is moving towards enhancing and transforming these applications. But it does not yet have a strategy for the transformation of its digital services and is not taking a proactive approach to challenges, such as reducing reliance on paper forms and making applications available on mobile phones. It has instead tended to be reactive and focus its efforts on areas that need to be addressed more urgently, such as implementing the IT systems needed for EU Exit. We would expect Defra to look at the digital needs across all of the organisations within the Defra Group and consider where it can make savings and improvements. Many different technologies and standards are used across Defra owing to how it has grown and developed over time, and the different approaches to technology adopted by different organisations within Defra. Defra does not yet have agreed standards for IT systems across the Department and its organisation that would ensure they are developed in a more consistent way across the Group. Recommendation 2: Defra should: a) develop its longer-term digital and data strategy, and ensure that this reflects the digital needs of organisations across the Defra Group; b) write to the Committee by the end of March 2024, outlining details of the actions planned in its strategy, including the measures it will use to monitor performance and how it will establish and implement Group-wide standards for technology and architecture.
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Government response AI summary
Defra agrees to develop its longer-term digital and data strategy, committing to write to the Committee by March 2024 outlining details, performance measures, and implementation of group-wide standards. They have also approved £43 million investment for 2023-24 and started refreshing architectural policies.
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HM Treasury
3
Recommendation
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defra’s a…
Accepted
Defra has not given enough attention to the impact of its poor digital services on its users. To users, legacy IT systems feel outdated or lack functionality and they are 6 Tackling Defra’s ageing digital services at higher risk of temporary crashes. Defra has recently upgraded its system that vets …
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Defra has not given enough attention to the impact of its poor digital services on its users. To users, legacy IT systems feel outdated or lack functionality and they are 6 Tackling Defra’s ageing digital services at higher risk of temporary crashes. Defra has recently upgraded its system that vets and farmers use to record bovine tuberculosis test results. Previously vets had to buy old laptops to be able to run the programme. Many legacy systems still rely heavily on paper forms or documents. Defra and its organisations handle around 14 million paper transactions each year. Defra intends to reduce its reliance on paper forms but is unable to say when this will happen. Despite the advantages of digital forms, there are barriers to increasing the use of digital-based applications and processes which Defra does not yet fully understand. For example, some customers prefer paper-based licenses, and Defra is working to understand and address the barriers to more of its customers using digital solutions. Defra does not measure the costs to its customers of its unmodernised digital services but is now attempting to include these in business cases for specific changes. Recommendation 3: In its Treasury Minute response, Defra should set out how it will identify the problems and costs faced by its service users as a result of unmodernised services, and how it is going to address each of them.
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Government response AI summary
Defra agrees to identify user problems and costs by using best practice techniques like user research and service assessments, which will inform service roadmaps. It will initially focus on nine priority services from the CDDO’s Top 75 list, aiming for a 'great' standard by 2025.
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HM Treasury
4
Recommendation
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defra’s a…
Accepted
Defra is at risk of wasting money on digital services because it has not yet taken decisions on business transformation. In parallel with its work on legacy, Defra is embarking on a fundamental review of the structure of its organisation, including potentially major structural changes to the bodies and organisations …
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Defra is at risk of wasting money on digital services because it has not yet taken decisions on business transformation. In parallel with its work on legacy, Defra is embarking on a fundamental review of the structure of its organisation, including potentially major structural changes to the bodies and organisations that form the Defra Group. Some decisions about digital services need to be taken without delay. But without clarity on what the transformed Defra will look like, it is difficult for its digital specialists to prepare. If Defra makes decisions and undertakes work as part of improving its digital services before it has decided the future shape and structure of its business operations or before it has determined what its digital requirements are, it risks limiting the usefulness of the systems and causing future problems. It has assured us that it would not invest in building new digital systems that would have to be rebuilt to fit its new business model. Recommendation 4: As part of the Treasury Minute response, Defra should set out how it will ensure that investment and new digital systems put in place before it has made key decisions about the future shape, structure and digital needs of the Defra Group, will not need not to be rebuilt.
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Government response AI summary
Defra explains that its existing governance structures, including a single Portfolio Approval Board and Technical Design Authority, ensure digital investments are consistent with its overall transformation and designed with modern, reusable architecture to prevent rebuilding. A full refresh of Defra Group Architectural Policies and Standards …
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HM Treasury
5
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defra’s a…
Accepted
Defra is over-reliant on contractors because it struggles to recruit and retain the people with the digital skills it needs. Defra says it has reduced its reliance on contractors and temporary staff over the last year from 30% to 22%, but this is still too high. CDDO tells us that …
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Defra is over-reliant on contractors because it struggles to recruit and retain the people with the digital skills it needs. Defra says it has reduced its reliance on contractors and temporary staff over the last year from 30% to 22%, but this is still too high. CDDO tells us that using some contingent labour is good for flexibility but that it can be up to twice as expensive for some roles. In June 2022, CDDO committed to reducing vacancies in the digital community across government departments to less than 10% by 2025. Between October 2021 and October 2022, Defra ran recruitment campaigns for 244 digital, data and technology roles but could not fill 31% of these roles. In October 2022, 14% of roles in the digital and data community were vacant across government. The digital, data and technology pay framework has helped to attract digital staff, and Defra expects forthcoming changes to the framework to help further. Defra has found that being able to offer home- and hybrid-working can make it easier to recruit staff. In addition, people often join Defra because they are committed to improving the environment and we encourage Defra to continue to capitalise on this. Tackling Defra’s ageing digital services 7 Recommendation 5: As part of the Treasury Minute response, Defra should: a) explain what new approaches it will adopt to recruit staff and reduce its reliance on contractors and temporary staff to provide digital skills; b) specify what target it is working towards for the appropriate level of contractors and temporary staff and when it expects to achieve it.
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Government response AI summary
Defra will adopt new approaches to recruit staff and reduce reliance on contractors, including establishing Digital Academies, maximizing the DDaT Pay framework, and targeted recruitment strategies via LinkedIn and external websites. It aims to reduce contingent labour to 25% of headcount by end of 2023-24 …
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HM Treasury
6
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defra’s a…
Accepted
Defra does not yet know how it will meet Government’s ambitions for digital change within its existing resources. CDDO has agreed a set of challenging commitments with departments, and Defra is confident it can meet these. However, Defra received only 58% of the funding it bid for in the 2021 …
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Defra does not yet know how it will meet Government’s ambitions for digital change within its existing resources. CDDO has agreed a set of challenging commitments with departments, and Defra is confident it can meet these. However, Defra received only 58% of the funding it bid for in the 2021 Spending Review and cannot deliver all its aspirations with the funding it has available. For example, it aims to digitise all of its 20 most used services but none of this work is yet funded. Defra has taken an ordered approach to prioritising its work, focussing on its riskiest digital systems first, such as those most likely to fail or at most risk of cyber- attack. It says it has saved money by decommissioning services as part of its review of legacy applications, and believes there is scope for it to save £20-£25 million if it modernised all its IT. However, Defra is unlikely to know the full extent of the cost savings and efficiency gains that are possible because it does not know all the additional costs of operating its legacy services, for example because of the need for manual processes. Recommendation 6: Defra should: a) strengthen its case for investment by developing its analysis of the efficiency savings that could be achieved through modernising its systems and processes; b) write to the Committee within a year with the results of this analysis and what action it plans to take as a result.
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Government response AI summary
Defra agrees to strengthen its investment case by conducting an analysis of efficiency savings achievable through modernising its systems, including supporting technologies, ahead of SR24 bidding. Defra will write to the Committee within a year of the analysis finishing to report the conclusions and planned …
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HM Treasury
7
Recommendation
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defra’s a…
Accepted
We welcome CDDO’s efforts to establish strong cross-government co-operation and collaboration to identifying and addressing legacy IT issues. Since our December 2021 report on the Challenges in implementing digital change, CDDO has worked with all departments to establish a common methodology across departments for prioritising legacy risk. It has developed …
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We welcome CDDO’s efforts to establish strong cross-government co-operation and collaboration to identifying and addressing legacy IT issues. Since our December 2021 report on the Challenges in implementing digital change, CDDO has worked with all departments to establish a common methodology across departments for prioritising legacy risk. It has developed a framework to identify vulnerable legacy systems and tested it with six departments including Defra. Covering 105 digital systems across the six departments, this has highlighted those which need immediate work. CDDO intends to use the framework with the remaining departments by the end of 2023. CDDO has worked closely with departments in the development of its Roadmap to identify problem areas that need to be tackled and has introduced a set of commitments that all departments have signed up to and agreed to fund from within their own budget. CDDO is also working with departments to determine how significant the financial benefits from addressing legacy can be, and it expects this will support departments’ bids for funding to HM Treasury. 8 Tackling Defra’s ageing digital services Recommendation 7: As part of the Treasury Minute response, CDDO should set out whether it is getting the traction needed from departments to achieve its missions, and report annually thereafter on its progress and any difficulties in working with departments. Tackling Defra’s ageing digital services 9 1 Defra’s progress in addressing legacy IT issues
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Government response AI summary
CDDO agrees and states it has implemented the recommendation by rolling out a legacy risk framework to 16 organisations, identifying 153 legacy IT assets. It is working successfully with over 21 departments to ensure all 'red-rated' legacy systems have agreed remediation plans in place.
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HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defra’s a…
Accepted
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Food, Environment & Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Central Digital & Data Office (CDDO) at the Cabinet Office about modernising ageing digital services.1
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On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Food, Environment & Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Central Digital & Data Office (CDDO) at the Cabinet Office about modernising ageing digital services.1
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Government response AI summary
Defra is preparing a report on lessons and success factors in addressing legacy IT and will share it with CDDO and other departments, followed by a knowledge-sharing session. Defra aims to provide evidence of this by November 2023.
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HM Treasury
8
Recommendation
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defra’s a…
Accepted
Defra recognised that one of the main issues of legacy systems was that they created a burden on the service user. But the NAO found that Defra does not measure the cost to its customers of its unmodernised digital services.12 We asked the Department what work it had done to …
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Defra recognised that one of the main issues of legacy systems was that they created a burden on the service user. But the NAO found that Defra does not measure the cost to its customers of its unmodernised digital services.12 We asked the Department what work it had done to understand the potential cost savings to the user of modernising its digital systems, for example the cost of time spent filling out paper forms. Defra explained that it would look to build this in as part of developing business cases for changing its systems. It noted that it had so far found them hard to quantify, but that CDDO had provided a framework which should help it asses these costs.13 Progress in addressing legacy systems
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Government response AI summary
The government accepts the recommendation, stating it is implemented with Defra committing to use best practice techniques to measure costs and problems faced by users of its services, focusing initially on nine top transactional services to achieve a 'great' standard by 2025.
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HM Treasury
9
Recommendation
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defra’s a…
Accepted
Defra had made progress in tackling its most urgent legacy systems. The NAO found that it had addressed the most pressing issues, prioritising work on applications that need to be stabilised in the short-term. Defra had taken a formal approach to prioritising its work and focussed on riskiest systems first. …
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Defra had made progress in tackling its most urgent legacy systems. The NAO found that it had addressed the most pressing issues, prioritising work on applications that need to be stabilised in the short-term. Defra had taken a formal approach to prioritising its work and focussed on riskiest systems first. It established a digital prioritisation board, 7 C&AG’s Report, paras 17, 2.15 8 Qq 28, 72 9 Qq 28–29 10 Q 35 11 Qq 77, 83 12 Q 31; C&AG’s Report, para 1.8 13 Qq 74–75 Tackling Defra’s ageing digital services 11 made of up Defra’s senior leaders and representatives from its main arm’s-length bodies. This board identified 109 projects that it will fund with the £366 million it received in the 2021 Spending Review to address all areas of digital legacy.14
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Government response AI summary
The government accepts the recommendation, committing Defra to share a report on its legacy IT success factors with CDDO and other departments by November 2023, including a knowledge sharing session.
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HM Treasury
10
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defra’s a…
Accepted
The NAO also found that Defra did not expect to resolve all its legacy issues until 2030.15 For example, Defra told us that it had worked with the Central Digital & Data Office (CDDO) to establish which services were most critical or had the largest number of users. It explained …
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The NAO also found that Defra did not expect to resolve all its legacy issues until 2030.15 For example, Defra told us that it had worked with the Central Digital & Data Office (CDDO) to establish which services were most critical or had the largest number of users. It explained that, of the top 75 public-facing applications identified using this classification, 12 were within Defra.16 In January 2023, Defra told us that, of Defra’s 12 systems with the highest volume of public or business users, two were a mixture of modern and legacy systems and one was an entirely legacy system.17 However, across Defra’s applications as a whole, only 20% were fully supported by the original supplier. 50% of the applications had at least one part that was in extended support and the remaining 30% were unsupported by the original supplier, reduced from 50% in September 2019.18 Defra recognised that the legacy applications which were unsupported by the original supplier were more at risk of security breaches or operational failure.19 Defra told us that it had put in place “hyper-care” to support these applications, including additional routine monitoring of these services so that it was “more acutely aware if there is an issue”.20 It explained that it supported these applications either through its internal digital team or by paying suppliers to help if something went wrong. Defra told us that, while it was less confident that these services were providing the best service for the customer, it was confident that it had identified the applications that were most at risk and had put the right care in place to prevent the risk of cyber-attack or the systems failing.21
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the committee's observations and states the recommendation is implemented. Defra is modernising services by using best practice techniques, developing roadmaps for improvements, and focusing on achieving a 'great' standard for its top nine transactional services by 2025.
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HM Treasury
11
Recommendation
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defra’s a…
Accepted
We asked Defra whether the applications in extended support or hyper-care sat within particular parts of the Defra Group. Defra told us that legacy systems were typically located in areas where the legislation was older, which tended to be in the more long- running delivery areas for Defra Group. Defra …
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We asked Defra whether the applications in extended support or hyper-care sat within particular parts of the Defra Group. Defra told us that legacy systems were typically located in areas where the legislation was older, which tended to be in the more long- running delivery areas for Defra Group. Defra explained that it had invested in replacing IT systems to align with newer legislation created for exiting the EU and had created new IT systems, such as for borders and trade, and the future farming and countryside programme.22 It told us it used some of the applications it had created more recently as building blocks to form standard platforms for new digital developments, increasing the speed at which it could react to changes.23 The availability of digital skills
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Government response AI summary
The government accepts the recommendation, stating Defra's Executive Committee approved a long-term digital and data strategy in June 2023, allocating £43 million for improvements and committing to provide further details by March 2024.
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HM Treasury
12
Recommendation
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defra’s a…
Accepted
When we examined the challenges in implementing digital change in December 2021, we concluded that there was a large gap between the demand for, and supply of, the digital specialists that government needed, and that it was hard to get the right balance of in-house and outsourced skills.24 In response, …
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When we examined the challenges in implementing digital change in December 2021, we concluded that there was a large gap between the demand for, and supply of, the digital specialists that government needed, and that it was hard to get the right balance of in-house and outsourced skills.24 In response, in February 2022, CDDO committed to creating 14 C&AG’s Report, paras 9, 18, 22 15 C&AG’s Report, paras 9, 22 16 Q 24 17 Q 25 18 Qq 13–14 and C&AG Report, figure 3 19 Qq 19–20 20 Qq 13–14 21 Qq 14, 20 22 Q 15 23 Qq 29, 78 24 Committee of Public Accounts, Thirtieth Report of Session 2021–22, Challenges in implementing digital change, HC 637, 10 December 2021 12 Tackling Defra’s ageing digital services a consistent, streamlined process for Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) recruitment which would enable a consistent, streamlined process through which government would identify, assess, onboard and deploy DDaT talent. It explained that this would align departments with the DDaT capability framework and associated remuneration offer to further support recruitment and retention.25
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Government response AI summary
The government accepts the recommendation, stating it is implemented through ongoing initiatives led by CDDO to reduce the digital skills gap and improve DDaT recruitment, including the DDaT Pay Framework, bulk recruitment, and Defra's specific talent growth programs.
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HM Treasury
13
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defra’s a…
Accepted
There is still a digital skills shortage across UK industry and the public sector and, in December 2022, the NAO found that Defra had found it difficult to recruit and retain people with the right digital skills. Between October 2021 and October 2022, Defra ran recruitment campaigns for 244 digital, …
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There is still a digital skills shortage across UK industry and the public sector and, in December 2022, the NAO found that Defra had found it difficult to recruit and retain people with the right digital skills. Between October 2021 and October 2022, Defra ran recruitment campaigns for 244 digital, data and technology roles but could not fill 31% of these roles.26 CDDO told us that this problem was not unique to Defra: in October 2022, 14% of roles in the digital and data community were vacant across government. In June 2022, CDDO committed to reducing vacancies in the digital community across government departments to less than 10% by 2025.27 We asked the Department what it was doing to fill the digital roles that it had so far been unable to fill. Defra told us it used contractors to fill the gap in its workforce.28 CDDO clarified that using some contingent labour was good for flexibility, but that it can be up to twice as expensive for some roles. Defra explained that it had reduced its reliance on contractors and temporary staff over the last year from 30% to 22%.29
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented, detailing CDDO's initiatives to address the digital skills gap and reduce reliance on contractors (e.g., pay reform, recruitment campaigns, early talent programs). Defra aims to reduce contingent labour to 25% by end of 2023-24 and 12% …
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HM Treasury
14
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defra’s a…
Accepted
Defra told us that the digital, data and technology pay framework, which allowed supplements to be paid based on capability for specific digital roles, helped it to attract digital staff. It expected forthcoming changes to the framework, such as changes to career progression and the breadth of roles covered, to …
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Defra told us that the digital, data and technology pay framework, which allowed supplements to be paid based on capability for specific digital roles, helped it to attract digital staff. It expected forthcoming changes to the framework, such as changes to career progression and the breadth of roles covered, to help further recruit the staff it needs. We asked what Defra had done to make the roles as attractive as possible, for example through hybrid working. Defra told us that it had used this for both recruiting those with digital skills, but also in its recruitment more generally. It also explained that it had brought in more junior staff through setting up its own academy and used apprenticeships to provide a pipeline of experienced staff. Defra told us that people often joined the department because they were committed to improving the environment and explained how it actively promoted not just a job vacancy but also the outcome they will deliver, such as protecting and enhancing the environment.30 25 HM Treasury, Treasury Minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Twenty- Seventh to the Thirty-First reports from Session 2021–22, CP 631, February 2022 26 C&AG’s Report, paras 5, 15, 1.23 27 Q 65; Central Digital and Data Office, Transforming for a digital future: 2022 to 2025 roadmap for digital and data, 9 June 2022 28 Qq 58–59 29 Qq 59, 65 30 Qq 59–61 Tackling Defra’s ageing digital services 13 2 Defra’s long-term strategy Defra’s long-term strategy and vision for digital transformation
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the committee's observation, stating the recommendation has been implemented through ongoing initiatives detailed in the 2025 Roadmap for Digital and Data. CDDO is leading efforts to build digital skills, reform pay frameworks, and enhance early talent offers, while Defra is implementing …
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HM Treasury
15
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defra’s a…
Accepted
Defra told us that it had so far focused on stabilising its legacy applications to reduce the risks of cyber-attack or operational failure and on developing and implementing the IT systems needed for EU Exit, rather than work to reduce reliance on paper forms or to make applications widely available …
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Defra told us that it had so far focused on stabilising its legacy applications to reduce the risks of cyber-attack or operational failure and on developing and implementing the IT systems needed for EU Exit, rather than work to reduce reliance on paper forms or to make applications widely available on mobile phones.31 It explained that stabilising applications often involved moving them from older data centres onto modern cloud- based platforms. Once the risks have been diminished, Defra told us it intends to move on to enhancing and transforming its legacy applications. This will involve rebuilding and replacing applications and decommissioning existing legacy IT. Defra expected the full transformation of its business applications to take around 10 years.32 However, Defra told us that it does not a yet have a strategy for transforming its digital services or a plan for enhancing and transforming its legacy applications. It explained that it intended to complete work on developing a vision for digital transformation within a year but was unable to give an indication of what it would achieve in terms of digitising its systems.33
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the implied recommendation, stating Defra's Executive Committee approved a long-term digital and data approach in June 2023, and has agreed an initial plan of action. Defra has also approved £43 million for application improvement/replacement in 2023-24 and will write to the …
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HM Treasury
16
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defra’s a…
Accepted
Many different technologies are used across Defra as a consequence of how the Defra Group has grown and changed over time, and how systems were originally developed by different organisations within the Group, which each had their own approach to technology. Defra does not yet have agreed standards for IT …
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Many different technologies are used across Defra as a consequence of how the Defra Group has grown and changed over time, and how systems were originally developed by different organisations within the Group, which each had their own approach to technology. Defra does not yet have agreed standards for IT systems across the Department and its organisation that would ensure they are developed in a more consistent way across the Group. It told the NAO that, where work to address legacy IT systems had so far resulted in greater user of common technologies, this had been coincidental rather than in accordance with an overarching design. The NAO found that different areas of Defra were still making different choices about their IT systems based on what they already had and were not always taking into account wider corporate considerations, which would inhibit Defra’s ability to gain the full benefits of standardisation.34 We asked the Department when it expected to have established an overall Group-wide standard for technology and architecture. Defra recognised that, while it had established many standards, there were some gaps, and told us that it had work in place to fill these which it anticipated would be complete within the year.35 Aligning digital and business transformation
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees and aims for implementation by March 2024, detailing ongoing work including migrating legacy data centres, investing £43 million in application improvements, and refreshing Defra Group architectural policies and standards which will complete in 2023-24. Defra will provide a further update by March …
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HM Treasury
17
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defra’s a…
Accepted
In parallel with its work on address legacy IT systems, Defra told us it was embarking on a fundamental business transformation process, including potentially major structural changes to the Defra Group. Defra explained that this will include considering how it could reduce duplication across the Group.36 For example, it explained …
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In parallel with its work on address legacy IT systems, Defra told us it was embarking on a fundamental business transformation process, including potentially major structural changes to the Defra Group. Defra explained that this will include considering how it could reduce duplication across the Group.36 For example, it explained that across Defra Group, many bodies issued licenses and permits and there were 37 different IT applications that supported this. It explained that it thought that there was scope to consolidate its technology, processes and teams to create efficiency savings.37 31 Qq 20, 28–30, 51 32 Qq 17, 29; C&AG’s Report, para 2.5 33 Qq 28–29, 82 34 C&AG’s Report, paras 2.20–2.21 35 Q 78 36 Q 47 37 Q 80 14 Tackling Defra’s ageing digital services
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees the recommendation is implemented, stating that Defra's digital investments are overseen by various committees and boards ensuring common standards and an integrated approach to transformation. It highlights that digital transformation is a core component of Defra's wider programme, actively identifying cross-cutting business …
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HM Treasury
18
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defra’s a…
Accepted
However, Defra has not yet developed a clear vision for how its business will operate after transformation. Business transformation and digital transformation are closely linked but without clarity on what the transformed Defra will look like, it is difficult for its digital specialists to prepare. Decisions taken now may need …
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However, Defra has not yet developed a clear vision for how its business will operate after transformation. Business transformation and digital transformation are closely linked but without clarity on what the transformed Defra will look like, it is difficult for its digital specialists to prepare. Decisions taken now may need to be reversed when the new Group structure is implemented and this could mean systems have to be rebuilt.38 Given this, we asked Defra how it could design a digital programme. Defra told us that it was working through what it might do in terms of further joining up the Defra Group and any structural changes that this might involve. It told us that it thought that the way that it currently operated its IT, on a Group basis, should mean that any changes would not affect, or be an issue, for its digital programme.39
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Government response AI summary
The government considers the recommendation implemented, stating that Defra's digital investments are overseen by robust governance structures and its new systems are designed with a modern, composable architecture for future flexibility, ensuring digital transformation is integrated into Defra's wider transformation programme.
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HM Treasury
19
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defra’s a…
Accepted
We also asked Defra how it would ensure that its approach did not result in the waste of taxpayers’ money. Defra explained that the majority of its transformation programme was focused on business process, how people used business processes, and the way that is governed. It assured us that it …
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We also asked Defra how it would ensure that its approach did not result in the waste of taxpayers’ money. Defra explained that the majority of its transformation programme was focused on business process, how people used business processes, and the way that is governed. It assured us that it will not invest in building new digital systems that will have to be rebuilt to fit its new business model. Defra explained that its approach was to invest in common components that can provide the agility needed to support future development and whatever direction Defra decided to go in.40 It recognised, however, the NAO’s findings that there was further work to do to align the different perspective of policy, future business needs, and digital, data and technology to ensure a clear and consistent vision and blueprint for Defra’s transformation. It noted that it needed to undertake its digital work in a way that allowed it to be as flexible as possible in terms of how it worked across the Defra Group in future. It told us that this agility and flexibility would underpin its vision, but was not complete yet, and expected to have completed this within the year.41 38 Q 80; C&AG’s Report, paras 6, 2.25 39 Q 47 40 Qq 80–81 41 Q 82 Tackling Defra’s ageing digital services 15 3 Collaboration and standardisation across government
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees the recommendation is implemented, stating that Defra's digital investments are overseen by various committees and boards to ensure common standards, composable architecture, and an integrated approach to transformation. It highlights that digital transformation is a core component of Defra's wider programme, actively …
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HM Treasury
20
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defra’s a…
Accepted
In June 2022, CDDO published a Roadmap which set out a common cross-government vision for digital and data by 2025. It contained a set of challenging commitments across six strategic areas known as missions, which CDDO told us all departments signed up to and had agreed to meet out of …
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In June 2022, CDDO published a Roadmap which set out a common cross-government vision for digital and data by 2025. It contained a set of challenging commitments across six strategic areas known as missions, which CDDO told us all departments signed up to and had agreed to meet out of their own budgets. For example, in the Roadmap, CDDO stated that it was working with departments to ensure that at least 50 of the top 75 highest priority customer services across government reach a “great” standard by 2025.42 CDDO told us that, of the services it had looked at so far, only 10% qualified as great. CDDO explained that, while this was not “a super starting point”, it did mean that there were substantive opportunities to improve existing services, which in its experience would lead to “very significant upsides in terms of efficiency and payback”.43 It anticipated that this work would allow departments to set out a strong case for digitalisation, which would contribute to their discussions about funding with HM Treasury.44
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees the recommendation is implemented, stating Defra is modernising services by using best practice techniques to identify problems and inform service roadmaps. Defra commits to focusing on its nine services in the CDDO’s Top 75 to achieve a 'great' standard by 2025, prioritising …
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HM Treasury
22
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defra’s a…
Accepted
We asked how departments would deliver the ambitions and standards set for digitisation using their existing budgets. Defra was confident it could fulfil the commitments made in the CDDO’s Roadmap and that it would get the 12 services in the government’s top 75 to a “great” standard by 2025 by …
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We asked how departments would deliver the ambitions and standards set for digitisation using their existing budgets. Defra was confident it could fulfil the commitments made in the CDDO’s Roadmap and that it would get the 12 services in the government’s top 75 to a “great” standard by 2025 by improving both their usability and their efficiency.47 It explained that it was finding ways to achieve as much as possible with the funding that it had, for example opportunities to introduce something new but to improve an existing service at the same time. It also told us that it had identified areas where it will prioritise digitising or transforming a service if it is able to release funding from its existing budget, for example by delivering another programme “better and quicker”.48
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the committee's implied recommendation, stating Defra supports the 2025 roadmap and will conduct an analysis of its service landscape to determine investment priorities, reporting back to the Committee within a year. CDDO will also publish a 1-year update on cross-government progress …
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HM Treasury
23
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defra’s a…
Accepted
As part of its review of legacy applications, Defra told us it had decommissioned over 30 IT systems because more modern alternatives were available. It explained that this had improved its internal efficiency and created cost savings. Defra estimated that it needs to spend £726 million on modernising legacy services …
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As part of its review of legacy applications, Defra told us it had decommissioned over 30 IT systems because more modern alternatives were available. It explained that this had improved its internal efficiency and created cost savings. Defra estimated that it needs to spend £726 million on modernising legacy services between 2021 and 2025. Defra told us that it considered that there was scope for saving £20–25 million per year if 42 Qq 50–51; Central Digital and Data Office, Transforming for a digital future: 2022 to 2025 roadmap for digital and data, 9 June 2022 43 Q 49 44 Qq 49, 76 45 Q 48, C&AG’s Report, para 1.19 46 Q 48; C&AG’s Report, paras 2.8, 2.15 47 Qq 48, 51, 56–57 48 Q 51 16 Tackling Defra’s ageing digital services it modernised all its IT.49 However, Defra did not record the additional costs of continuing to use legacy services such as manual processes, where outdated technology added to the cost of operating services. For example, it could not tell us how many additional people it employed because of the legacy systems it used.50 Collaboration across government – the role of the Central Data & Digital Office (CDDO)
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees and Defra commits to conducting an analysis of its service landscape, aiming to include efficiency savings achievable through modernising systems and processes, and will inform the Committee of its findings and planned actions by September 2024.
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HM Treasury
24
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defra’s a…
Accepted
We asked CDDO its assessment of government’s approach to digitisation. CDDO told us it had been delighted with the collaboration it had received from government departments as part of putting together the digital change road map. It explained that, while there was still more to do, it was “considerably more …
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We asked CDDO its assessment of government’s approach to digitisation. CDDO told us it had been delighted with the collaboration it had received from government departments as part of putting together the digital change road map. It explained that, while there was still more to do, it was “considerably more optimistic now as we go forward”.51 CDDO pointed to what it saw as a huge opportunity for not just better use of public money, but a far better experience for citizens. We therefore asked CDDO whether departments’ approaches to working together were sufficient to allow them to take advantage of synergies between their work, including economies of scale and efficiencies. CDDO told us that cross-departmental working came in many forms, such as the chief technology officer forum where 30 senior staff discussed opportunities for sharing and consolidating systems. For example, it explained that a pilot project was considering grants, because many departments provided grants but used multiple systems for this and it thought there might be an opportunity to share and consolidate these.52 We asked how this work had helped departments bidding for funding for digitisation. CDDO explained that it had provided technical input into each of the major funding bids for legacy and other digital investment projects in the 2021 Spending Review.53
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees the recommendation is implemented, detailing CDDO's ongoing progress in rolling out the legacy risk framework across multiple departments, assessing IT systems, and working with departments to establish remediation plans for 'red-rated' legacy systems under the 2025 Roadmap.
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HM Treasury
25
Recommendation
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defra’s a…
Accepted
In December 2021, we examined challenges in implementing digital change. We concluded that there was no clear plan to replace or modernise legacy systems and data that were critical to service provision but were often old, unsupportable, vulnerable and a constraint on transformation. We recommended that CDDO should work with …
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In December 2021, we examined challenges in implementing digital change. We concluded that there was no clear plan to replace or modernise legacy systems and data that were critical to service provision but were often old, unsupportable, vulnerable and a constraint on transformation. We recommended that CDDO should work with departments to map legacy systems across government to document what is there, why it exists and how critical it is. We recommended that, by the end of 2022, the CDDO should use this to produce a pipeline of prioritised legacy systems with milestones for action.54 The government agreed with our recommendation, and in response told us that CDDO was working with departments to establish a common methodology for identifying and prioritising legacy risk, which it aimed to implement across departments by the end of 2022.55 CDDO told us that, it was making progress with departments to identify and understand the risks and to help departments mitigate them.56 It explained that it had developed a framework and tested it with six departments including Defra, which covered 105 systems, and highlighted those which needed immediate work. It intended to use the framework with the remaining departments by the end of 2023, and to refresh it annually. 49 Qq 46, 63 50 Q 30; C&AG’s Report, para 12 51 Q 72 52 Qq 68, 72 53 Q 43 54 Committee of Public Accounts, Thirtieth Report of Session 2021–22, Challenges in implementing digital change, HC 637, 10 December 2021 55 HM Treasury, Treasury Minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Twenty- Seventh to the Thirty-First reports from Session 2021–22, CP 631, February 2022 56 Q 41; HM Treasury, Treasury Minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Twenty- Seventh to the Thirty-First reports from Session 2021–22, CP 631, February 2022 Tackling Defra’s ageing digital services 17 It told us that it expected that this work would give it a good sense of where the risks we
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees the recommendation is implemented, reporting that CDDO established a legacy risk framework, rolled it out to 16 organisations, and listed 153 legacy IT assets. CDDO is working with over 21 departments to ensure all 'red-rated' legacy systems have agreed remediation plans.
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HM Treasury