20
Conclusion
Fifty-Third Report - The performance of…
Deferred
UKSV has been trying, largely unsuccessfully, to modernise the vetting system since it launched a Vetting Reform programme in 2019.50 UKSV’s Chief Executive said, “if we had a magic wand and we could build a new system tomorrow, we absolutely would”.51 Whenever it has taken full business cases for its …
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UKSV has been trying, largely unsuccessfully, to modernise the vetting system since it launched a Vetting Reform programme in 2019.50 UKSV’s Chief Executive said, “if we had a magic wand and we could build a new system tomorrow, we absolutely would”.51 Whenever it has taken full business cases for its £40 million transformation programme to COAB, however, these have been rejected. Three reviews of the programme in 2022 raised concerns across multiple areas of programme management, including the governance arrangements with one noting the need for greater support within the Cabinet Office.52 The Cabinet Office defended its cautious approach to the transformation programme, which it attributed to concerns around its deliverability and the need to prioritise performance recovery over transformation, saying it was better to be cautious than to spend unwisely.53
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Government response AI summary
The Cabinet Office has contracted external support for a 10-week enhanced discovery to review delivery models for Vetting Transformation, with outputs forming an Outline Business Case for consideration in October 2023.
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HM Treasury
22
Conclusion
Fifty-Third Report - The performance of…
Deferred
As part of the Vetting Reform programme, the Cabinet Office planned to replace UKSV’s legacy IT system, the National Security Vetting System, through the Future Vetting System programme, by February 2020 at a cost of £19 million. Failures in project management meant that the programme ran £9 million over budget …
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As part of the Vetting Reform programme, the Cabinet Office planned to replace UKSV’s legacy IT system, the National Security Vetting System, through the Future Vetting System programme, by February 2020 at a cost of £19 million. Failures in project management meant that the programme ran £9 million over budget and resulted in a 47 C&AG’s Report, para 3.5 48 C&AG’s Report, paras 1.2, 2.10 and Footnote 8 49 C&AG’s Report, para 3.15 50 C&AG’s Report, para 3.3 and paras 3.7 to 3.12 51 Q 62 52 C&AG’s Report, para 3.11 and Figure 15 53 Qq 74, 80; C&AG’s Report, paras 3.11 and 3.12 54 Q 78 55 Q 63 56 Q 82 The performance of UK Security Vetting 17 £2.5 million write off in the Cabinet Office’s 2021–22 accounts.57 The IT modernisation programme was subsequently rolled into the wider Vetting Transformation programme. After several failed attempts to get business case approval for the whole transformation programme, in December 2022 UKSV successfully submitted a less ambitious business case for the development of just the first of three new levels of vetting.58 UKSV is expecting to seek approval for the next level of transformation in summer 2023 and agreed that it is unlikely to be completed until 2025.59 When asked what had gone wrong previously and what she would do differently next time, UKSV’s chief executive said that they would replace the previous “big bang approach” with a “very agile, iterative and low-risk rollout approach” and that she had high expectations that the next version of the business case would be approved.60
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Government response AI summary
The Cabinet Office has commissioned a 10-week enhanced discovery phase with external support to review delivery models for Vetting Transformation, which will inform an Outline Business Case to be considered in October 2023.
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HM Treasury
23
Conclusion
Fifty-Third Report - The performance of…
Deferred
The Cabinet Office told us that following its bad experience with its first attempt to modernise IT, it was now adopting a more cautious approach to transformation, and that it rejected the business plan for the Vetting Transformation programme on a few occasions because it was “not totally happy with …
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The Cabinet Office told us that following its bad experience with its first attempt to modernise IT, it was now adopting a more cautious approach to transformation, and that it rejected the business plan for the Vetting Transformation programme on a few occasions because it was “not totally happy with the plan” and wanted to “be sure that this one was going to work”. It accepted that it had been a little optimistic about the achievable rate of transformation, but also pointed out that the need to focus on catching up with the level of demand for the day-to-day business, meant that it had had to push the transformation programme to the right, with customers’ agreement.61
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Government response AI summary
The Cabinet Office has contracted external support for a 10-week discovery phase to review and advise on Vetting Transformation delivery models, with outputs forming an Outline Business Case for consideration in October 2023.
Read full response →
HM Treasury