Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 7
7
The Department told us about its new engagement model, with more iterative delivery intended to...
Conclusion
The Department told us about its new engagement model, with more iterative delivery intended to enable quicker release cycles, so that capability gets into the hands of police forces more quickly.9 Where previously the Department had been looking at release cycles of around 12 months, it said it was aiming to reduce them to around three months or less for products, so that the certainty of delivery would be higher.10 When asked about its confidence in delivering the programme by 2025–26, the Department said that its recent work on the reset and the new engagement model had given it “increased confidence of deliverability of this programme going forwards”. It added that it had a 12-month rolling plan and had identified the initial six products that would be delivered.11 When asked about longer-term milestones, the Department said it had a rolling one-year timescale of milestones, on which it could give the Committee further detail and update us in future.12 It said it was looking ahead not over the next five years, but a year ahead from every quarter, which was why it was confident about the progress for six products over the next 12 months, but would then “update that as we go.”13 After our evidence session the Department provided us with its ‘roadmap’ covering progress of its first six product areas up to the end of quarter 3 (September) 2022.14 We have re-produced some key parts of that ‘roadmap’ in Figure 1. We expect to return to this subject to see whether the Department has progressed with these products as planned, and look forward to regular updates being provided to us.15 6 C&AG’s Report, paras 16, 3.18 7 C&AG’s Report, para 2.17 8 Q 52; C&AG’s Report, paras 2.17, 3.18 9 Qq 39. 47 10 Q 38 11 Q 47 12 Qq 48, 51, 52 13 Q 90 14 Letter from Home Office Permanent Secretary to PAC Chair 7 October 2021 15 Q 52 10 The National Law Enforcement Data Programme Figure 1: Extracts of the Home Office’s October 2021 ‘roadmap’ looking ahead 12 months for the first six produ
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: June 2022 3.2 The department has worked closely with policing and made good progress in embedding the new partnership approach within the NLEDP. 3.3 The revised and simplified Engagement Model allows police to have a strong voice in programme decision making and product prioritisation. Significant progress has already been made and it is already leading to a more informed and collaborative relationship, which is aiding the delivery of LEDS. 3.4 Accountability for the successful delivery of the programme remains with the senior responsible owner (SRO) and ultimately the accounting officer for the Home Office. 3.5 The department will continue to closely monitor and evaluate the progress of embedding this Engagement Model. • The Product Centricity (PC) transformation Programme in PPPT is in the process of setting up and rolling out a Product Centricity Steering Committee. This will be made up of senior/influential members of both Home Office & Policing and the purpose will be to set strategic direction, review progress and make key decisions. One of the key areas will be reviewing progress and reflecting upon successes and learnings. • The PC Programme is also devising, and soon to roll out, a Product Maturity Assessment, – this will allow us to compare and contrast the implementation of the Engagement Model, identifying gaps, inconsistencies, and the routes to correcting these. • The department is also working closely with Policing to create a Product Owner Playbook, this will set standards and define ways of working for all Product Owners in their roles and ensure consistency of approach across all of NLEDP. 3.6 These represent the current thinking and work to monitor and evaluate the embedding of the Engagement Model. More detail will be provided in the April update.