Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 20
20
Deferred
UKSV's £40 million transformation programme business cases have faced repeated rejection by COAB.
Conclusion
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
Government Response 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.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation Target implementation date: Winter 2023 6.2 In light of the Committee’s recommendations, the Cabinet Office has contracted external support for a 10-week enhanced discovery to review and advise on how best to deliver Vetting Transformation. This discovery phase will assess the technical approach and delivery models for transformation and make a series of recommendations for the Cabinet Office to consider. The outputs of this discovery phase will form the basis of an Outline Business Case which will be considered in October 2023. This Outline Business Case will include the high level implementation plan for the Cabinet Office’s preferred delivery option. The Cabinet Office would be happy to share the key elements of the resulting plan in due course.