Recommendation 6

There is a risk that the Department still lacks the capacity to prioritise and deliver major digital programmes on time. In common with many other government departments and agencies, the Department is reliant on a range of legacy technology systems that need updating or replacing. We have seen several major programmes to deliver such replacements encounter major problems and require resetting, for example the Emergency Services Network and Digital Services at the Border programmes. The Department’s failure to deliver NLEDS is another example. The Department has tried to do too much at once and has failed to prioritise programmes or develop the skills it needed to adopt ‘agile’ methods. It did not understand challenges posed by complex legacy systems and police forces’ operational independence, even though it should have been clear that these were present. In its evidence the Department recognised that it needs to be better at saying ‘no’ to unrealistic technology programme proposals. The Department has now made some changes to improve how it involves police users in such programmes and plans to use the NLEDS as a pilot for its new approach, which can then be applied to other police programmes. There is a clear risk that the Department still lacks the programme, technical and commercial skills needed to identify realistic timetables for its major programmes. Recommendation: The Department must be realistic about how long it will take to deliver major programmes, given the skills and capabilities and funding available. It should require all SROs of major programmes to report annually on how they will manage any gaps between the skills and capabilities required to deliver and those available in their programmes. The Department should write to us in six months’ time with an update on how this is being implemented. 8 The National Law Enforcement Data Programme 1 Resetting the programme