Recommendations & Conclusions
22 items
2
Conclusion
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Services …
The Department has failed to identify, acknowledge and be transparent about problems within the Digital Services at the Border programme. Optimism bias about delivery and a failure to be open and transparent about delays left the Department unable to act on accurate information and exposed it to increased costs due …
Government response. 2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented: 2.2 The programme was independently reviewed and reset in 2019 including rescoping and re-planning. The business case was revised and was then approved by the Home Office Portfolio Investment Committee …
HM Treasury
3
Recommendation
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Services …
The Department’s failure to deliver the Digital Services at the Border programme by March 2019 was caused by a lack of effective leadership, management and oversight. The Department accepts that the Digital Services at the Border programme did not achieve value for money up to 2019, with none of the …
Government response. 3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 3.2 The reset in 2019 provided valuable lessons learned which the department has implemented, including: • the SRO having responsibility for one major programme and being able to flex their …
HM Treasury
4
Recommendation
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Services …
The Department has struggled to deliver the core technical components of the Digital Services at the Border programme. The Department has faced repeated problems with the technical aspects of delivery which means it has continued to depend on existing suppliers and extending contracts, with further cost implications. It struggled for …
Government response. 4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 4.2 The department has implemented agile working methodologies and has access to a specialist technical resource framework to acquire the right people for the right piece of work. The department …
HM Treasury
5
Conclusion
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Services …
We see a clear risk that the Department will not be able to deliver the programme by the end of March 2022. The Department started its latest rollout of the Border Crossing system on time, but it has so far reached only 300 frontline users at 7 locations out of …
Government response. 5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 5.2 The detailed programme delivery plan has been further amplified with exact milestones baselined at the DSAB programme board, running through to the end of the programme in March 2022. …
HM Treasury
6
Recommendation
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Services …
The Department’s ambitions for the border and its delivery of practical improvements for users depend upon it coordinating the implementation of the Digital Services at the Border programme with the delivery of several related projects. The Department’s aim to provide UK Border Force staff with better information to make decisions …
Government response. 6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 6.2 Progress against planned milestones is set against a managed set of dependencies which have been captured and are tracked and reviewed within the programme and wider portfolio. As part …
HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Services …
Based on a report by the Comptroller & Auditor General we took evidence from the Home Office (the Department), including from Border Force, on progress with the Digital Services at the Border (DSAB) programme.1
Government response. Introduction from the Committee The Home Office (the Department) is responsible for protecting the border at over 270 crossing points and 56 major entry points. Border Force, a law enforcement command within the Department, has the lead operational responsibility for …
HM Treasury
7
Conclusion
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Services …
In a May 2016 Treasury Minute response to this Committee, the Department provided Parliament with assurance over several aspects of DSAB. It committed to delivering Advanced Freight Targeting Capability in 2017 and to rolling out Border Crossing nationally by 2017. It did not meet these commitments and had still not …
HM Treasury
8
Conclusion
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Services …
The Department noted that this was part of a wider pattern whereby those involved with the programme wanted to present a positive direction for the programme to senior management at a time when the programme was struggling in 2017 and 2018.14 This resulted in a failure to be open and …
HM Treasury
9
Conclusion
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Services …
The Department suggested that external factors had hindered the programme, noting that new requirements emerged following the EU Exit referendum results in 7 Q 45; C&AG’s report Progress delivering the Emergency Services Network, Session 2017–19, HC 2140, 10 May 2019, Para 5 8 Q 44 9 Q 66 10 Q …
HM Treasury
10
Conclusion
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Services …
The Department acknowledged that by the time of its reset, the programme had not delivered the value for money that had originally been intended. The Department had delivered none of the three systems that it had intended to deliver on time.19 The programme removed two of these systems from the …
Government response. 2: PAC conclusion: The Department has failed to identify, acknowledge and be transparent about problems within the Digital Services at the Border programme. 2: PAC recommendation: The Department should report back to the Committee on: • its mechanisms for oversight …
HM Treasury
11
Conclusion
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Services …
Problems with the programme were compounded by instability among its senior leadership. The programme had four different Senior Responsible Owners (SRO) between 2014 and 2020, with the current SRO being the longest serving after just over 2 years in post.21 The Department has also had three Permanent Secretaries during the …
Government response. 3: PAC conclusion: The Department’s failure to deliver the Digital Services at the Border programme by March 2019 was caused by a lack of effective leadership, management and oversight. 3: PAC recommendation: The Department should set out specifically what it …
HM Treasury
12
Conclusion
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Services …
The Department failed to act on risks that were being flagged. The Committee noted that ongoing issues existed but that the Department did not address them, in part because information was not being communicated effectively by the programme team to the wider Department.23 Since the programme reset the Department claims …
Government response. 2: PAC conclusion: The Department has failed to identify, acknowledge and be transparent about problems within the Digital Services at the Border programme. 2: PAC recommendation: The Department should report back to the Committee on: • its mechanisms for oversight …
HM Treasury
13
Conclusion
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Services …
The Department has faced repeated technical difficulties in delivering the programme. These difficulties have caused delays which in turn have forced the Department to extend existing contracts for legacy systems, at a cost of £145 million between 2019 and 2022.25 This also meant that frontline Border Force staff needed to …
Government response. 2: PAC conclusion: The Department has failed to identify, acknowledge and be transparent about problems within the Digital Services at the Border programme. 2: PAC recommendation: The Department should report back to the Committee on: • its mechanisms for oversight …
HM Treasury
14
Conclusion
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Services …
Some of the technical difficulties involved responding to the external factors that hindered the programme. For example, the Department created the Future Border and Immigration System (FBIS) programme in response to EU Exit which developed six new interfaces with which the DSAB systems needed to connect. In addition, the Department …
HM Treasury
15
Conclusion
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Services …
The programme suspended an attempted roll-out of the Border Crossing system in March 2020.28 The system had difficulty operating reliably at scale, with stability problems causing it to be available for only 54% of the days that it was supposed to be available, and roll-out limitations meaning that it was …
Government response. 4: PAC conclusion: The Department has struggled to deliver the core technical components of the Digital Services at the Border programme. 4a: PAC recommendation: The Department should set out what it has done to resolve the problems it has had …
HM Treasury
16
Conclusion
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Services …
The Department acknowledged that it has faced strong competition for people with the scarce technical skills required to deliver the programme, including from other government departments. The Department has now designed framework contracts with outside suppliers so that it is the responsibility of the suppliers to provide the right people …
Government response. 4: PAC conclusion: The Department has struggled to deliver the core technical components of the Digital Services at the Border programme. 4a: PAC recommendation: The Department should set out what it has done to resolve the problems it has had …
HM Treasury
17
Conclusion
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Services …
The latest roll-out of Border Crossing started on time at the beginning of December
Government response. 5: PAC conclusion: We see a clear risk that the Department will not be able to deliver the programme by the end of March 2022. 5: PAC recommendation: The Department should set out and explain its exact milestones up to …
HM Treasury
18
Conclusion
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Services …
The Department has outlined plans to ensure Border Crossing systems are available at crossing points other than the 56 major entry points which will have permanent access to the system. The Department stated that this will involve a mobile capability which will allow Border Force officers to access the Border …
HM Treasury
19
Conclusion
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Services …
There has been some improvement in the risk ratings applied to the programme. The most recent IPA review rated it as amber, having previously been amber-red following the reset. This was in response to improved governance and leadership in line with recommendations from the IPA and from an internal Department …
Government response. 4: PAC conclusion: The Department has struggled to deliver the core technical components of the Digital Services at the Border programme. 4a: PAC recommendation: The Department should set out what it has done to resolve the problems it has had …
HM Treasury
20
Conclusion
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Services …
For the Department to deliver its planned improvements to border security, it is dependent on the quality of the data input into its information systems. This will include new system inputs from European Union countries after Schengen Information System II (SIS II) uploads and records were removed from UK systems …
Government response. 6: PAC conclusion: The Department’s ambitions for the border and its delivery of practical improvements for users depend upon it coordinating the implementation of the Digital Services at the Border programme with the delivery of several related projects. 6a: PAC …
HM Treasury
21
Conclusion
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Services …
The Department’s ambitions for the border as a whole and delivery of practical improvements for users require timely delivery of all elements of the new DSAB systems, 33 Qq 58, 59, 85 34 Qq 85,88, 106 35 Q 88 36 Qq 62, 64 37 Q 54 38 Q 56 39 …
Government response. 6: PAC conclusion: The Department’s ambitions for the border and its delivery of practical improvements for users depend upon it coordinating the implementation of the Digital Services at the Border programme with the delivery of several related projects. 6a: PAC …
HM Treasury
22
Conclusion
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Services …
The Department stated that, if the programme is not delivered on time, its contingency is to extend existing contracts with Warnings Index and Semaphore, including using extension clauses in the existing contracts. The Department is seeking to avoid this for two reasons. Firstly, running those existing systems instead of delivering …
Government response. 4b: PAC recommendation: ….. what the department will do if these components are not working as intended to the timescales it has planned. 4.3 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 4.4 The programme has instituted a risk …
HM Treasury