Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 8
8
Accepted
Defra recognises user burden from legacy systems but struggles to quantify customer costs.
Recommendation
Defra recognised that one of the main issues of legacy systems was that they created a burden on the service user. But the NAO found that Defra does not measure the cost to its customers of its unmodernised digital services.12 We asked the Department what work it had done to understand the potential cost savings to the user of modernising its digital systems, for example the cost of time spent filling out paper forms. Defra explained that it would look to build this in as part of developing business cases for changing its systems. It noted that it had so far found them hard to quantify, but that CDDO had provided a framework which should help it asses these costs.13 Progress in addressing legacy systems
Government Response Summary
The government accepts the recommendation, stating it is implemented with Defra committing to use best practice techniques to measure costs and problems faced by users of its services, focusing initially on nine top transactional services to achieve a 'great' standard by 2025.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 3.2 Defra is modernising its services and putting users at the heart of developing service improvements. Defra will use best practice techniques such as user research, business process mapping, service baselines and service assessments to identify problems and costs faced by users of its services (aligning with the methodology used by CDDO to assess the standard of digital services). 3.3 These will inform agreed roadmaps for Defra’s services, which will set out planned service improvements from user, accessibility, and efficiency perspectives. 3.4 Defra will focus initially on the nine Defra services in the CDDO’s Top 75 transactional digital services list, with the aim of getting these a ‘great’ standard by 2025 (in line with the corresponding commitment in the CDDO Roadmap). 3.5 Defra will ensure that its next Spending Review bid continues to prioritise improvement of its digital services – both in continued development of existing priority services and in addressing other services not yet prioritised for improvement. 3.6 Defra will continue to make sure that all services have clear service ownership, with service owners having appropriate training.