Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 3
3
Accepted
Review digital team capacity and priorities to assess impact on investment transformation programme
Recommendation
Insufficient digital capacity is putting the Department’s plans to increase its impact at risk. The predecessor Department for International Trade had begun implementing an investment transformation programme that aims to deliver additional economic benefits of £135 million over five years and to help the UK compete with other countries for investment. The NAO report highlighted that the department’s lack of digital capacity was a risk to the delivery of the programme. The new Department says that the risk has increased because following its creation, because there are additional pressures on digital teams. It is considering whether to contract in additional support, which it expects to be challenging due to the time it takes to get security clearances for staff, and whether to postpone programme milestones. We have recently seen and reported on similar issues with digital capacity in other government departments. Recommendation 3: The Department should review the portfolio, priorities, and capacity of its digital teams following the creation of the new department. Based on this review, DBT should assess the impact on the delivery of its investment transformation programme.
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the recommendation, detailing steps taken to address digital capacity challenges such as a blended staffing mix, a specialist DDaT pay framework, and recruitment of over 100 civil servants. It assesses the impact on the Investment Transformation Programme as minimal, with a new digital service on track for piloting and CRM improvements delivered.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Capacity is constrained by the department’s ability to recruit the right calibre of people in a competitive market. To mitigate this, the department operates a blended staffing mix of civil servants, contractors and outcome-based suppliers. The department has implemented a specialist Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) pay framework and there are ongoing pay discussions with the Central Digital Data Office which have contributed to recruiting 100+ civil servants in 2022-2023. The creation of the department has put further pressure on digital teams, yet the impact on the Investment Transformation Programme (ITP) is minimal. Capacity challenges have not constrained the department’s DDaT capacity on the ITP and all of DDaT’s contributions to workstreams are set to deliver as per the critical path. The ITP aims to provide a differentiated service offer to investors, proportionate to investment projects value and impact on UK government strategic objectives. This supports the department’s shift-to-value strategy and ensures the department’s teams are focusing their efforts on projects delivering the most impact. As part of this, DDaT has developed a new digital service to provide business support for foundational investor enquiries which is on track to be piloted in the coming months. DDaT have also delivered improvements to the Customer Relationship Management system and are supporting data transfer and tech roll out for Investment Services Teams contract closure. There is a robust monitoring and evaluation plan in place to understand the success of digital interventions, which will be used to inform future development.