Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 6
6
Accepted
Strengthen Defra's investment case by analysing efficiency savings from modernising its digital systems.
Conclusion
Defra does not yet know how it will meet Government’s ambitions for digital change within its existing resources. CDDO has agreed a set of challenging commitments with departments, and Defra is confident it can meet these. However, Defra received only 58% of the funding it bid for in the 2021 Spending Review and cannot deliver all its aspirations with the funding it has available. For example, it aims to digitise all of its 20 most used services but none of this work is yet funded. Defra has taken an ordered approach to prioritising its work, focussing on its riskiest digital systems first, such as those most likely to fail or at most risk of cyber- attack. It says it has saved money by decommissioning services as part of its review of legacy applications, and believes there is scope for it to save £20-£25 million if it modernised all its IT. However, Defra is unlikely to know the full extent of the cost savings and efficiency gains that are possible because it does not know all the additional costs of operating its legacy services, for example because of the need for manual processes. Recommendation 6: Defra should: a) strengthen its case for investment by developing its analysis of the efficiency savings that could be achieved through modernising its systems and processes; b) write to the Committee within a year with the results of this analysis and what action it plans to take as a result.
Government Response Summary
Defra agrees to strengthen its investment case by conducting an analysis of efficiency savings achievable through modernising its systems, including supporting technologies, ahead of SR24 bidding. Defra will write to the Committee within a year of the analysis finishing to report the conclusions and planned actions.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Future, which was deliberately designed to be deliverable within Spending Review settlements. CDDO undertook analysis of funded projects and potential costs and used these to set informed targets, in order to work within departmental budgets. CDDO recognises that the economic environment remains uncertain and highly challenging, putting additional pressures on departmental budgets that weren’t there when the roadmap was published. CDDO intends to publish a 1-year update outlining progress across government and providing greater clarity on delivery plans for year 2 and year 3. Following this, CDDO will support departments to prioritise effort in the areas most needed and where necessary, will flag any long-term delivery concerns as a result of tightened budgets. As part of this process, Defra will conduct an analysis of its own service landscape, including supporting technologies, to determine priority areas for investment ahead of SR24 bidding. As far as possible, this will include efficiency savings that could be achieved through modernising its systems and processes. Defra will write to the Committee within a year of the analysis finishing to advise on the conclusions drawn and actions being planned as a result.