Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 3
3
Accepted in Part
Require DSIT to provide a baselined list of legacy systems and prioritise those for cost investigation.
Recommendation
Legacy IT systems are a significant contributory factor in the cost of government services and an impediment to being able to gather better data to bring about improvements. Departments face major challenges in collecting and analysing cost data due to legacy IT systems and siloed data structures. These outdated systems are a significant cost driver, requiring additional people and processes to work around system limitations, and hinder consistent data gathering. The Cabinet Office recognises the need for Permanent Secretaries to understand their legacy estate, while DSIT has baselined government legacy systems and reviewed departmental bids for funding in the 2025 Spending Review. However, quick wins often mask deeper issues like poor data quality and entrenched cultural barriers. The lack of common data standards across government complicates benchmarking and granular cost analysis. The Shared Services strategy offers potential for improved consistency in the future, but technical solutions alone are insufficient–cultural and process reforms will be constantly needed. There is no standard policy on time recording in the civil service, and despite ERP systems offering 4 this capability, its use remains optional. The desired levels of productivity improvements will not be achieved without effective use of time for every civil servant as would be the norm in the private sector. A shift in mindset is needed to better understand how time is spent and to make use of data for meaningful insights. recommendation a. DSIT should provide the Committee with a baselined list of legacy systems identified and the services they support alongside the Treasury Minute response to this report. b. In addition, DSIT should,within six months from the publication of this report, indicate which legacy systems should be targeted as a priority for further investigation into how far their limitations result in additional people and process costs in the operational business areas they support
Government Response Summary
The government accepts part of the recommendation, agreeing to share available legacy system data with the Committee chair by March 2026 (privately). However, it rejects the second part, stating it will not prioritize identifying specific systems for further cost investigation within six months, as it needs to establish an improved baseline through its Legacy IT Action Plan, due later in 2026.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. DSIT agrees that a more detailed analysis of the limitations posed by legacy systems on the additional people and process costs in the operational business areas they support would be beneficial. Research that has already been conducted by DSIT’s internal analysis team indicates that, in general, a legacy system costs around 40% more annually than a more modern equivalent. Whilst much of the research analysed is not specific to the public sector and there are clearly variations in the potential savings depending on the type of system and the way they are modernised (from approximately 25% to 80%), DSIT assesses that this is a reasonable estimate of the potential cost savings until more detailed analysis can be conducted. DSIT is currently focussing on better understanding the wider landscape of legacy IT in the United Kingdom public sector alongside the costs associated with this (per the Committee’s recommendations in their reports on Use of AI in Government and Government cyber resilience), as well as prioritising the development of approaches to remediate legacy IT at scale and prevent new legacy IT. Having a more accurate and data-driven cross- government baseline is a pre-requisite to sequencing the required steps to address legacy systems. DSIT’s Legacy IT Action Plan, being published later this year, will set out improvements to the visibility process to baseline legacy cross government. This improved baseline will inform the sequencing and prioritisation of scalable interventions to remediate legacy systems. The department does not agree that this recommendation should be an immediate priority of the next 6 months given the above work already in progress and work already undertaking to understand the exposure and impacts of legacy technology, for example, as part of the State of digital government review alongside the above internal research.