Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 18
18
Accepted in Part
Require Permanent Secretaries to appoint Single Service Owners with appropriate authority for every service.
Recommendation
The SSO role is not well understood across departments compared to other senior roles in departments. Both Cabinet Office and DSIT told us that more can and should be done to raise its profile and ensure that an SSO is appointed for “every single service”.45 It is important to ensure that SSOs have the appropriate authority as well as the right skills for the role. The Cabinet Office told us that it has already identified where an SSO is necessary, but ultimately Permanent Secretaries should be responsible for their appointment. The Cabinet Office does not yet have a timeframe for this but has committed to set one out in response to this report.46 Pace and leadership to enable benefits from new technologies
Government Response Summary
The Government Digital Service and the Cabinet Office will issue a letter encouraging Permanent Secretaries to complete an assessment of all SSO gaps within 6 months, and to appoint SSOs within 12 months, but the implementation target is March 2027, which is longer than the committee recommendation of six months.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
4. PAC conclusion: The lack of Single Service Owners with accountability for all aspects of an end-to-end service inhibits departments’ ability to identify the visibility of a service’s end-to-end cost and the incentive to reduce it. 4. PAC recommendation: • The Cabinet Office should, within the next six months, require Permanent Secretaries to appoint Senior Single Service Owners for all remaining services identified by the Cabinet Office and the Government Digital Service which do not yet have one in place. • The Cabinet Office should set out a deadline by which Permanent Secretaries must complete the identification and appointment of SSOs for their remaining services. 4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: March 2027 4.2 Assigning a Senior Service Owner (SSO) for all digital services is a valuable tool. 4.3 The Government Digital Service and the Cabinet Office will work together, issuing a letter encouraging Permanent Secretaries to complete an assessment of all SSO gaps within 6 months, maximum, and to appoint SSOs within 12 months, taking into account the technical feasibility of the data collection scale. The timescale will be accelerated if possible.