Managing and replacing the Aspire contract
Closed
What the inquiry looked at
“HMRC’s Aspire contract with Capgemini delivers technology services and projects which are fundamental to HMRC’s business. The contract accounted for 84% of HMRC’s ICT spend and cost over £8 billion between 2004 and 2014, about twice the cost anticipated when HMRC procured the contract, which has been extended for a further three years. This makes it the government’s largest technology contract. The Aspire contract is a ‘prime supplier’ approach which is no longer Government policy for buying technology. It will be replaced in 2017 to reflect the new model involving many smaller contracts of shorter duration to increase competition and value for money. This inquiry will consider the value achieved through HMRC’s contract with CapGemini and the impact of moving to shorter duration and lower value ICT contracts which involves greater use of SME suppliers. Further information National Audit Office report: Managing and replacing the Aspire contract Chair's statement: Managing and replacing the Aspire contract”
The committee's words, from the inquiry page on parliament.uk ↗.
What it found
Most of HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC’s) major tax collection systems are provided under one contract, the Aspire contract. While this has provided stability over the last ten years HMRC has not managed the costs of the contract well. It has cost some £7.9 billion over this period and generated profits for the suppliers of some £1.2 billion. When the current contract ends in 2017 HMRC intends, in accordance with government IT procurement policy, to move from the current single contract to a new model with many short-duration contracts with multiple suppliers. However, HMRC has made little progress in defining its needs and has still not presented a business case to government. Once funding is agreed, it will have only two years to recruit the skills and procure the services it will need. Moreover, HMRC’s record in managing the Aspire contract and other IT contractors gives us little confidence that HMRC can successfully achieve this transition or that it can manage the proposed model effectively to maximise value for money. HMRC also demonstrates little appreciation of the scale of the challenge it faces or the substantial risks to tax collection if the transition fails. Failure to collect taxes efficiently would create havoc with the public finances.
What the government said
No government response is linked to this report.
How the inquiry ran
Each dot is a dated item listed on this page, from the inquiry's opening on 8 October 2014 to its close on 26 March 2015.
- Oral evidence 29 Oct 2014
- Report 27 Jan 2015
What it recommended
The committee's recommendations are not listed here yet. Read them in 30th Report - Managing and replacing the Aspire contract ↗ on parliament.uk.
Evidence
Oral evidence sessions 1
- 29 Oct 2014No witnesses recordedparliament.uk ↗