By Nick Mann | 21 December 2011
Ministers’ plans to improve technology in government could be set back by unanticipated skills gaps, the National Audit Office warned today.
The government’s Information and Communication Technology strategy, launched in March 2011, planned to address high-profile failures by reducing waste, introducing a common infrastructure and using ICT to provide public services more efficiently.
But the auditors found there was no clear formal plan for
the resources needed to achieve these aims. Reviewing the first six months of
the strategy, the auditors said that although initial signs were ‘good’, there was
‘no evidence’ that the Cabinet Office-led board responsible for the strategy had
fully thought through what it needed to deliver the plan.
The number of government staff and contractors required is expected to more than double from 70 to at least 148 over the next 18 months. Many of those would need to have specific technical or business skills to meet the requirements of the work, the auditors said. There were also immediate skills gaps that had yet to be filled.
This, the NAO said, could create ‘short-term capacity and capability gaps’, which might hinder the strategy’s progress.
Concerns were also raised over the lack of a system for measuring the success of the strategy in achieving sustained change. The NAO also noted the absence of a department-by-department schedule for adopting the 30 actions required by the strategy.
Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said: ‘The government’s ICT strategy is in its early days and initial signs are good. However, new ways of working are as dependent on developing the skills of people in the public sector as they are on changes to technology and processes; the big challenge is to ensure that the strategy delivers value in each of these areas.’
In particular, the Cabinet Office was urged do more to explain to non-ICT professionals in the civil service how the strategy would enhance how the government operated and make it easier for them to provide better services.
With changes in procurement ‘crucial’ to implementing the strategy, the department should also maintain ‘productive’ relationships with ICT suppliers to shape better contracts, the NAO added.
