Recommendation 20

We asked the Cabinet Office how it is going to deal with the constraints of inconsistent and poor-quality data and legacy systems in tracking the progress of efficiency plans, as described in the National Audit Office’s report.51 The Cabinet Office told us that these are huge issues for government, which will probably require multiple Spending Review cycles to properly address, and that it is making big investments in these areas as part of the upcoming Spending Review. For example, the Cabinet Office told us it is committing £600 million to upgrading legacy IT systems to bring data into modern digital exchangeable formats. The Cabinet Office also said that it will be investing in making it easier to share 41 Q 106 42 C&AG’s report, para 28 43 Qq. 60, 77, 87, 89 44 Q 77, 87, 89 45 Letter from HM Treasury to Chair 28 September 2021 46 Qq. 43, 77 47 Qq. 77, 87 48 Q 77 49 Q 90 50 Qq. 89, 91 51 Q 89; C&AG’s report, para 29 14 Efficiency in government data between departments and are using the Declaration on Government Reform to encourage departments to have the confidence to be innovative with new technologies and data, which it says will be critical to achieving improvements in public services at a lower cost.52 Embedding efficiency