Recommendations & Conclusions
25 items
2
Conclusion
Seventieth Report - Digital transformat…
Accepted
Departments are mainly making piecemeal changes to legacy systems rather than investing in more efficient wider service redesign which would reap greater benefits. It is difficult to transform services where they are supported by poorly performing legacy systems and data. When government does not have the right resources and capabilities …
Government response. The government agrees and states that CDDO will work with departments and HM Treasury to ensure the business case process thoroughly considers resolution of legacy issues and future cost reductions from wider service redesign.
HM Treasury
3
Recommendation
Seventieth Report - Digital transformat…
Acknowledged
The requirement for senior generalist leaders to have a better understanding of digital business has not been formalised, and training is not focused on how digital developments interact with the complex government operational environment. The continued engagement with digital transformation of departments at permanent secretary level is essential to maintain …
Government response. The government agrees, but for digital responsibilities in appointment letters (a), it states CDDO will use learnings to understand adoption. For non-executive directors (b), it claims departments already benefit from existing NEDs with digital expertise, avoiding new appointments.
HM Treasury
4
Conclusion
Seventieth Report - Digital transformat…
Accepted
Digital skills shortages, including those self-inflicted through headcount cuts, risk costing government much more in the long run because opportunities to transform are foregone, and delays increase the risks of prolonging legacy systems. Government estimates it has under half the number of digital, data and technology professionals it needs, when …
Government response. The government agrees but primarily describes its existing process, stating CDDO runs Quarterly Business Reviews with departments to monitor the impact of skills shortages, which are quantified where possible, and communicates issues to the Digital and Data Board.
HM Treasury
5
Conclusion
Seventieth Report - Digital transformat…
Accepted
Central functions, such as procurement, have not made significant progress in treating digital programmes differently from physical infrastructure programmes. The Infrastructure and Projects Authority is responsible for assuring major programmes across government and has started to appoint people with digital expertise onto review teams. However, CDDO is working with the …
Government response. The government agrees and states that CDDO plans to ask central functions to share information on their strategy and plans for digital reforms this year (2023), aligning with the committee's December 2023 timeline.
HM Treasury
6
Recommendation
Seventieth Report - Digital transformat…
Accepted
We are unconvinced that departments will be able to maintain commitment to the agreed Roadmap activities in the face of competing pressures and priorities. Departments must buy in to the long-term advantages of following the digital change agenda. CDDO can monitor progress from the centre, but departments must continue to …
Government response. The government accepted the recommendation, agreeing that CDDO will report to Parliament every six months on departmental progress against Roadmap commitments, in addition to updating the Digital and Data Board and publishing a public update, with a target implementation date …
HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
Seventieth Report - Digital transformat…
Accepted
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Cabinet Office about how digital transformation is progressing across government and what is being done to address the barriers and challenges.1
Government response. The government describes its commitment to making 50 of the 'Top 75' services 'Great' by 2025, applying a 'Cost Per Transaction' metric to understand and reduce end-to-end costs.
HM Treasury
7
Recommendation
Seventieth Report - Digital transformat…
Accepted
Pressures on spending in the current climate require better delivery for improved efficiency at lower cost.9 However, competing pressures and changing priorities will present challenges to the delivery of the Roadmap, despite CDDO’s best endeavours. CDDO is using quarterly assessments, supported by its digital dashboard, to monitor progress against commitments …
Government response. The government agrees and CDDO commits to updating the Permanent Secretary level ‘Digital and Data Board’ and publishing a public update every six months, ensuring Parliament also receives this update by February 2024.
HM Treasury
8
Conclusion
Seventieth Report - Digital transformat…
Deferred
Only a small proportion of senior decision-makers in government have first-hand experience of digital business and senior digital leaders in departments struggle to communicate their messages effectively because their wider leadership teams lack sufficient knowledge of digital issues.13 The continued support of departments at permanent secretary level is essential for …
Government response. The government agrees with the Committee's observation and will provide an outline of how this will be implemented by December 2023. The CDDO is working with the Permanent Secretary level Digital and Data Board to understand how this commitment can …
HM Treasury
9
Recommendation
Seventieth Report - Digital transformat…
Deferred
We were also surprised to see that the standard appointment letter for permanent secretaries makes no mention of their responsibilities for improving digital services, despite including others such as managing public money. Including reference to digital responsibilities would make clear the importance of the area.16 For example, it would mean …
Government response. The government agrees with the recommendation to include digital responsibilities in permanent secretary appointment letters. It will provide an outline of how this will be implemented by December 2023, with a target implementation date of June 2025.
HM Treasury
10
Recommendation
Seventieth Report - Digital transformat…
Accepted
Ongoing capability building and training for senior leaders is essential. It is being progressed through various training programmes but requires continual attention.18 We heard that a Digital Excellence programme has been piloted recently, although not yet widely rolled out. So far 300 people have been trained but this represents less …
Government response. The government accepts the recommendation for ongoing capability building and training for senior leaders, committing to CDDO providing an outline for implementation by December 2023, with a target implementation date of June 2025.
HM Treasury
11
Recommendation
Seventieth Report - Digital transformat…
Accepted
The use of advisers and non-executive directors with digital experience in board roles in departments is an excellent way of educating senior leaders in digital matters. Around half of current postholders consider they have digital expertise. However, those with a background in similar legacy environments to government will be of …
Government response. The government agrees with the recommendation to utilise advisers and non-executive directors with digital experience, and CDDO is working with departmental leadership to understand how this commitment can be adopted across government by December 2025.
HM Treasury
12
Conclusion
Seventieth Report - Digital transformat…
Accepted
There is a major digital skills shortage in the UK and skilled digital professionals command a premium in the market, making it hard for departments to recruit.23 Government estimates that the number of digital, data and technology professionals in the civil service is around 4.5%, less than half the number …
Government response. The government agrees with the Committee's findings on skills shortages and has set a target for 6% of the Civil Service workforce to be DDaT professionals by June 2025. It reports a 19.6% increase in headcount for these roles in …
HM Treasury
13
Conclusion
Seventieth Report - Digital transformat…
CDDO told us that government can offer interesting and rewarding opportunities, and the possibility for digital career progression up to levels of seniority that were almost unheard of several years ago.28 It believes this can make a career in the civil service a more attractive proposition.29 Nevertheless, we are still …
HM Treasury
14
Recommendation
Seventieth Report - Digital transformat…
Accepted
Headcount reductions can be counter-productive at a time when government knows it needs to double its digital, data and technology capability and is struggling to recruit the staff it needs. We were therefore disappointed to hear that apprenticeships had been a victim of departmental decisions on headcount culls.31 Government should …
Government response. The government accepts the recommendation to continuously invest in staff development, setting a target for 6% of the Civil Service workforce to be in Digital, Data and Technology roles by June 2025, and notes a 19.6% increase in this headcount …
HM Treasury
15
Recommendation
Seventieth Report - Digital transformat…
Accepted
A single director-level owner for each service, with accountability for its end-to-end operation and decision-making authority for continually improving the service, would enable departments to form a complete and joined-up view of their services and associated costs.32 Understanding the full cost base of an existing service is key to delivering …
Government response. The government accepts the recommendation, stating that the CDDO has drafted a new standard for a Single Service Owner. This standard is currently being piloted across several organisations and will be rolled out for departmental adoption in the financial year …
HM Treasury
16
Conclusion
Seventieth Report - Digital transformat…
Accepted
We heard that the lack of a single service owner makes it very difficult to answer questions about the costs of providing a service more widely across government.35 There can be many handovers between different teams delivering a service – policy, operations, digital and transformation. Furthermore, not all services are …
Government response. The government agrees and states that CDDO has already established a framework with a 'Cost Per Transaction' metric for the 'Top 75' services, and has committed to making 50 of these 'Great' by 2025, which requires understanding and reducing end-to-end …
HM Treasury
17
Recommendation
Seventieth Report - Digital transformat…
Accepted
CDDO found that, for half the services it has evaluated, there is no single senior individual who has ownership of the full service, encompassing both the online citizen- facing portals and the back-office systems that perform the other processing. Instead, many different programme directors, operational leaders and digital leaders are …
Government response. The government accepted the recommendation, agreeing on the need for a single service owner. CDDO is piloting a new standard for this role and plans to roll it out for departmental adoption in FY 2024-25, with a target implementation date …
HM Treasury
18
Conclusion
Seventieth Report - Digital transformat…
Accepted
Across government, legacy systems are a key source of inefficiency and a major constraint to improving and modernising government services. Legacy systems are difficult and expensive to run and maintain and there are substantial hidden costs from additional business processes to overcome their limitations.40 CDDO has assessed the scale of …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's observation on legacy systems and commits to CDDO working with departments and HM Treasury to ensure the business case process thoroughly considers both legacy and future avoided costs from service redesign by June 2025.
HM Treasury
19
Recommendation
Seventieth Report - Digital transformat…
Accepted
Government has a low level of maturity in the transformation of digital services and the benefits to be gained from a more fundamental approach are estimated to be three or four times the current level.44 Past approaches have focussed on improving websites and front-end screens , making services “look good …
Government response. The government accepted the recommendation, agreeing to address low digital service transformation maturity. CDDO will work with departments and HMT to ensure business cases fully consider legacy system costs and avoided costs from service redesign, with a target implementation date …
HM Treasury
20
Conclusion
Seventieth Report - Digital transformat…
Not Addressed
Government recognises that the scale of the challenge on data is also enormous. It hopes that its data maturity framework will help address data maturity challenges across government. However, the committee has taken evidence many times on the challenges on data yet government has made little dent in addressing the …
Government response. The government responded by quoting an existing 'commitment 3' regarding departments working to make essential shared data assets available through APIs and platforms. This does not directly address the committee's specific concerns about historical lack of progress or departmental prioritisation.
HM Treasury
21
Recommendation
Seventieth Report - Digital transformat…
Accepted
Redesigning services requires a more fundamental look at processes, not just the digital and technology elements.50 CDDO recognises this needs people not just with skills in technology, but also those who understand end-to-end processes, have the ability and willingness to analyse organisational structures, and the right capability and credibility to …
Government response. The government accepts the recommendation for a more fundamental look at processes in service redesign. CDDO will work with departments and HM Treasury to ensure business cases thoroughly consider legacy and future avoided costs from service redesign by June 2025.
HM Treasury
22
Recommendation
Seventieth Report - Digital transformat…
Accepted
Digital change requires specific ways of investing, funding and procuring digital services and requires upskilling and capability-building to introduce and adapt new approaches. Processes which work for other programmes are not always well-suited for digital programmes. But government central functions have not made significant progress in understanding what makes digital …
Government response. The government accepts the recommendation and has set a target implementation date of February 2024. The CDDO is regularly engaging with commercial and operational functions and HM Treasury to address digital challenges, and plans to ask functions to share their …
HM Treasury
23
Conclusion
Seventieth Report - Digital transformat…
Acknowledged
Departments find it easier to secure capital funding for new developments than ongoing resource funding to maintain systems and keep them up to date.59 Moving services to cloud-based providers introduces new pricing models with an increasing emphasis on ‘pay-as-you-go’, which transfers traditional capital requirements to resource expenditure.60 Limiting resource expenditure …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's observation on resource funding challenges. CDDO is engaging with HM Treasury and other functions to discuss these issues and plans to gather information on their strategies for digital reform.
HM Treasury
24
Recommendation
Seventieth Report - Digital transformat…
Accepted
Procurement processes are considered inflexible and do not take account of the complexities and uncertainties of digital programmes, as set out in the C&AG’s report on The challenges in implementing digital change.62 Departments often cannot precisely define and scope their requirements yet continue with procurements and expect suppliers to make …
Government response. The government accepted the recommendation regarding procurement processes, agreeing to address the inflexibility and complexity for digital programmes. CDDO is engaging with Commercial, Operational Delivery, and HMT functions to discuss these challenges and plans to gather information on their strategies …
HM Treasury
25
Recommendation
Seventieth Report - Digital transformat…
Accepted
The civil service is still quite generalist and led by people with a primarily policy background rather than by those with direct experience of digital business operations.64 Policy professionals do not have sufficient understanding to develop policies which work well in a digital organisational environment.65 There is low integration between …
Government response. The government accepts the recommendation for digital capability building for policy people and appointing single service owners. CDDO will provide an outline for implementation by December 2023, with a target implementation date of June 2025.
HM Treasury