Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 14
14
Accepted
Defra told us that an in-house digital delivery team is working on a prototype digital...
Recommendation
Defra told us that an in-house digital delivery team is working on a prototype digital waste tracking system and it has engaged a panel of 1,600 users to help with testing.43 This follows £1.4 million of funding awarded to tech companies in two rounds of the GovTech Catalyst competition, resulting in development of two earlier prototypes.44 In a follow- up letter after the evidence session, Defra said it is currently assessing responses to an exercise to procure an IT partner to work with the in-house team to build the service.45 32 Sir James Bevan speech, Crackdown on waste crime: Time to stop trashing our future, 12 April 2022; Environment Agency blog, Flying high! Using drones to collect evidence of illegal waste sites – Creating a better place (blog.gov.uk) , October 2021 33 Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, Smarter regulation of waste: progress to date, February 2020; Natural Resources Wales, Socially distant but always on duty – using technology to catch waste criminals, May 2020 34 Q 8; Defra, Scottish Government, Welsh Government, Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Consultation on the introduction of mandatory digital waste tracking, January 2022 35 C&AG’s Report, Figure 21 36 Defra, Scottish Government, Welsh Government, Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Consultation on the introduction of mandatory digital waste tracking, January 2022 37 Q 6; C&AG’s Report, paras 3.3 and 3.4 38 Qq 43, 83 39 Q 8 40 GWC0004 (NFU England and Wales); GWC0003 (ESA); GWC0006 (ADEPT); GWC0007 (Suez) 41 GWC0007 (Suez) 42 Q 8 43 Qq 7, 12–13; Letter from Defra’s Permanent Secretary to PAC Chair, sent 29 June 2022 44 Smart tracking of waste across the UK: GovTech Catalyst competition winners announced, February 2019; £1 million boost for UK smart waste tracking, October 2019 45 Letter from Defra’s Permanent Secretary to PAC Chair, sent 29 June 2022 Government actions to combat waste crime 13 Budg
Government Response Summary
Defra will write to the committee when the IT contract for the digital waste tracking system is let, anticipated by the end of 2022, and will provide a timeframe for full implementation once the supplier is onboarded.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
7. PAC conclusion: The digital waste tracking system is still in development after four years despite its implementation being core to combatting waste crime. 7. PAC recommendation: Defra should write to the committee when the IT contract is let to confirm that it has happened and what the plan is for full implementation. 7.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation Target implementation date: Winter 2022-23 7.2 The procurement of the build partner for the IT service is in its final stages so it is anticipated that the contract will be let by the end of 2022. The department will write to inform the Committee when this has happened. 7.3 It will take some time to onboard the supplier and agree the plan for full implementation with them. The department will provide a timeframe for this when it has written to confirm that the contract has been let.