26 May 2000
The government insisted this week that it would 'no longer tolerate failure' in public sector information technology projects and that the current 'blame culture' had to be replaced by a more rigorous procurement process.
Cabinet Office minister Ian McCartney announced 30 measures designed to ensure that IT failures such as those at the Passport Office and the Immigration Directorate are not repeated.
Projects should have a single individual in charge, a modular approach should be adopted and a system of peer review introduced, he said. He described the previous approach as a 'notmeguv.uk' attitude, with problems hidden from ministers until the last minute.
'When difficulties have arisen, the first thing was to make sure that the minister didn't find out about it, then to ensure that you had the wagon trains in circles so that if you're attacked and the project fails at least you will survive.'
Each new project will now have a Single Responsible Owner who must ensure that overall objectives are achieved. Project management skills will be improved through an extensive training programme.
Alex Allan, the government's e-envoy, will oversee implementation of the new approach. He denied that the problems were due to a lack of intellectual ability within the civil service. 'The problem wasn't "idiots in charge", it was that the structure didn't work,' he said.
David Davis, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, said that if all the measures were adopted it could lead to a 'sea change' in the management of public sector IT projects.
PFmay2000
