12 January 2007
The government's IT record came under fire again this week as ministers delayed the problematic local government strategy and a controversial consortium retained a £4bn defence contract.
John Suffolk, the man in charge of Whitehall's 'transformational government' strategy, told Public Finance that the local government IT strategy document, expected last year, would now be delayed until March.
This was so that it could 'incorporate the aims and tone of the local government white paper', published last autumn.
The document will outline how councils can continue to make efficiency savings through IT as the public demands improved access to services.
However, there have been long-term concerns over the strategy. The Office of Government Commerce, for example, has queried town halls' contribution to the shared services agenda – the idea that public bodies can reduce costs by sharing back-office work.
OGC chief executive John Oughton has called for a reduction in the number of public bodies proposing to supply shared services, claiming that too many projects would not produce the 'critical mass' of savings the Treasury wants.
Arguments over an acceptable number of suppliers in local government continue. Often, councils of one political hue are reluctant to sign up with another authority led by a different party.
Suffolk, however, said that Oughton's concerns were being addressed – and that Whitehall would not insist on a 'specific' number of local authority suppliers.
'Recently, I have witnessed a shift away from a mind-set where every public body wants to supply projects and services to one where local authorities, for example, have become much more realistic and are prepared to sign up with other suppliers of back-office functions,' Suffolk told PF.
He spoke after the publication of the Cabinet Office's annual review of Whitehall's transformational government strategy. Launching the report, Pat McFadden, minister for e-government, announced that he intends to axe 551 out of more than 900 government websites and merge them into online 'supersites', such as the Directgov portal.
McFadden said the 'Google generation' demanded improved web services.
But McFadden's and Suffolk's claims that Whitehall IT projects are improving came under fire immediately.
Just hours after Suffolk's assessment was published, Ministry of Defence officials announced that the EDS-led Atlas consortium would continue to oversee the £4bn contract to supply and manage the department's IT systems and battlefield technologies.
The Public and Commercial Services union claimed that Atlas had proceeded to the contract's second stage despite 'failing to deliver all of the agreed services under the first stage'. The union wants the Commons defence select committee to investigate.
Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said: 'It is astounding that the MoD is prepared to reward failure by handing over billions more to a consortium that has failed to deliver.'
PFjan2007
