Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee

Seventieth Report - Digital transformation in government: addressing the barriers to efficiency

Public Accounts Committee HC 1229 Published 13 September 2023

Report Status

Government responded

Conclusions & Recommendations

25 items (14 recs)

Source

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Government Response

AI assessment · 24 of 25 classified

Accepted 19

Acknowledged 2

Deferred 2

Not Addressed 1

Government response

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Seventieth report from Session 2022-23 · published 18 Nov 2023

Read the government response ↗ Response on the Index

Recommendations & Conclusions

2 items

3 Recommendation Acknowledged

Incorporate digital responsibilities in senior appointment letters and appoint digital-expert non-executive directors.

Recommendation

The requirement for senior generalist leaders to have a better understanding of digital business has not been formalised, and training is not focused on how digital developments interact with the complex government operational environment. The continued engagement with digital transformation … Read more The requirement for senior generalist leaders to have a better understanding of digital business has not been formalised, and training is not focused on how digital developments interact with the complex government operational environment. The continued engagement with digital transformation of departments at permanent secretary level is essential to maintain traction. Setting up the Digital and Data Board is a good start, although we have heard that some permanent secretaries have been sending deputies. Committees on their own do not deliver anything if the right people do not attend and take required actions. We were also surprised to see that while the standard appointment letter for permanent secretaries includes reference to their financial responsibilities, it does not include anything relating to digital responsibilities. Ongoing capability building and training for senior leaders is essential. Various training programmes are being delivered, but the Digital Excellence programme has only recently been piloted and is not yet widely rolled out. Government acknowledges this area needs continual attention. Suitably experienced non-executives in board roles in departments are an excellent way to guide and educate senior leaders in digital matters. Around half of non-executive directors in government consider they have digital expertise but those with a background in similar legacy environments to departments will be most valuable. Recommendation 3: a) Digital responsibilities, such as improving digital services and addressing the highest risk legacy systems, should be included in letters of appointment at the most senior levels in all departments. The Cabinet Office should set out the steps it will take to work with civil service HR and other relevant stakeholders in writing to the Committee by December 2023. b) All Departments should appoint at least one non-executive director with relevant digital, data and technology transformation expertise to their Board. Show less

Government Response Summary

The government agrees, but for digital responsibilities in appointment letters (a), it states CDDO will use learnings to understand adoption. For non-executive directors (b), it claims departments already benefit from existing NEDs with digital expertise, avoiding new appointments.

HM Treasury

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23 Conclusion Acknowledged

Departments struggle securing sufficient resource funding for ongoing digital system maintenance and updates.

Conclusion

Departments find it easier to secure capital funding for new developments than ongoing resource funding to maintain systems and keep them up to date.59 Moving services to cloud-based providers introduces new pricing models with an increasing emphasis on ‘pay-as-you-go’, which … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with the committee's observation on resource funding challenges. CDDO is engaging with HM Treasury and other functions to discuss these issues and plans to gather information on their strategies for digital reform.

HM Treasury

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