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 …
Government response. 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 …
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 To users, legacy IT systems feel outdated or lack functionality and they are 6 Tackling Defra’s ageing digital services at higher risk of temporary crashes.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 …
Government response. 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 …
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 …
Government response. 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 …
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 …
Government response. 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 …
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 …
Government response. 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 …
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 …
Government response. 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 …
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
Government response. 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.
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 …
Government response. 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 …
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. …
Government response. 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.
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 …
Government response. 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 …
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 …
Government response. 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.
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, …
Government response. 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.
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, …
Government response. 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 …
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 …
Government response. 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 …
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 …
Government response. 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 …
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 …
Government response. 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 …
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 …
Government response. 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 …
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 …
Government response. 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 …
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 …
Government response. 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 …
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 …
Government response. 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 …
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 …
Government response. 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 …
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 …
Government response. 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.
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 …
Government response. 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.
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 …
Government response. 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 …
HM Treasury