Addressee: Cabinet Office · Source location: Page 11, Paragraph 24, point a, first bullet point
As a matter of urgency Cabinet Office should clarify governance responsibilities for government shared services within
Cabinet Office, at director general level and above, to enable the delivery of the strategy, including clarifying responsibilities for: getting buy-in from government departments and a commitment to onboard onto shared services by 2030
Response position:
Accepted
Delivery:
In progress
Addressee: Cabinet Office · Source location: Page 11, Paragraph 24, point a, second bullet point
As a matter of urgency Cabinet Office should clarify governance responsibilities for government shared services within Cabinet Office, at director general level and above, to enable the delivery of the strategy, including clarifying responsibilities for: identifying all interdependencies with shared services and ensuring that the original assumptions are still relevant and that compatibility with shared services is being actively managed.
Response position:
Accepted
Delivery:
In progress
Addressee: Cabinet Office · Source location: Page 11, Paragraph 24, point b
As a matter of urgency Cabinet Office should create a civil service- and function-wide transformation board with the necessary technical skills and strategic oversight to ensure interdependencies between government programmes and shared services are adequately managed
Response position:
Accepted
Delivery:
In progress
Addressee: Cabinet Office · Source location: Page 11, Paragraph 24, point c
As a matter of urgency Cabinet Office should by the end of 2026, agree a plan with each of the five clusters for onboarding ALBs onto shared services, including expected timelines for doing so
Response position:
Accepted
Delivery:
In progress
Addressee: Cabinet Office · Source location: Page 11, Paragraph 24, point d
As a matter of urgency Cabinet Office should enhance the recently introduced Service and Technical Design Authority to ensure all central programmes are compatible with the clusters? ERPs and that future transformation initiatives sponsored by government functions are fully aligned with the Shared Services Strategy
Response position:
Accepted
Delivery:
In progress
Addressee: Cabinet Office · Source location: Page 11, Paragraph 24, point e
As a matter of urgency Cabinet Office should task the Service and Technical Design Authority with considering how clusters can make best use of their purchased ERPs, including making full use of certain modules and incorporating additional processes, as well as identifying and discontinuing other systems that clusters are currently spending money on and which can be replaced using the ERP functionality.
Response position:
Accepted
Delivery:
In progress
Addressee: Cabinet Office · Source location: Page 12, Paragraph 25, point a
Government People Group should as a priority, commission a lessons-learned exercise in relation to the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) programme, including any wider lessons for the development of shared services and/or central platforms, for discussion at the Shared Services Board, the Service and Technical Design Authority and HR Steering Board
Response position:
Accepted
Delivery:
Implemented
· Confirmed by NAO
Addressee: Cabinet Office · Source location: Page 12, Paragraph 25, point b
Government People Group should by summer 2026, produce an updated assessment of the costs of the revised approach, covering the costs already incurred on the ATS and what future costs will be.
Response position:
Rejected
Delivery:
In progress
Addressee: Cabinet Office · Source location: Page 12, Paragraph 26
The Government Commercial Function and Government People Function should develop a detailed plan on implementing their functional standard across all their processes and data by June 2027.
Response position:
Accepted
Delivery:
In progress
Addressee: HM Treasury · Source location: Page 12, Paragraph 28, point a
HM Treasury should explore how it can usefully expand NOVA further
Response position:
No response position recorded
Delivery:
No implementation status recorded
· Confirmed by NAO
Addressee: HM Treasury · Source location: Page 12, Paragraph 28, point b
HM Treasury should clarify its intention around the funding of the Defence and Overseas clusters, ringfencing funds to reduce funding uncertainty
Response position:
No response position recorded
Delivery:
No implementation status recorded
· Confirmed by NAO
Addressee: HM Treasury · Source location: Page 12, Paragraph 28, point c
HM Treasury should clarify funding expectations for ALB onboarding and provide funds in line with HM Treasury?s stated approach.
Response position:
No response position recorded
Delivery:
No implementation status recorded
· Confirmed by NAO
Addressee: Department for Science, Innovation and Technology; Department for Work and Pensions; Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office; HM Revenue and Customs; Ministry of Defence · Source location: Page 12, Paragraph 27, point a
Clusters should ensure that they provide complete, reliable and timely data to Cabinet Office to report on progress against key performance indicators
Response position:
Accepted
Delivery:
In progress
Addressee: Department for Science, Innovation and Technology; Department for Work and Pensions; Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office; HM Revenue and Customs; Ministry of Defence · Source location: Page 12, Paragraph 27, point b
Clusters should work with all the ALBs in their departmental groups to create robust and achievable timelines and plans to onboard ALBs on shared services.
Response position:
Accepted
Delivery:
In progress