By Richard Johnstone | 11 September 2013
Old computer systems, vital to the delivery of public services, could fail, hitting the delivering of a host of functions including pensions and welfare benefits, government auditors have warned
A National Audit Office examination of Whitehall’s ‘legacy’ information and communication technology systems also found flaws that could limit the success of the government’s digital strategy, which is intended to save money by moving services online.
According to today’s report, in 2011/12 at least £480bn of the government's receipts and at least £210bn of expenditure such as pensions and benefits were reliant to some extent on legacy ICT.
This creates a number of risks that departments must be aware of, the Managing the risk of legacy ICT report stated. As well as increased vulnerability to failure, older systems also face security problems, and increase the possibility that departments are ‘locked in’ to uncompetitive support arrangements with a single supplier.
Existing processes might be unable to cope with the reforms needed to implement the government’s Digital Strategy, auditors stated. This has set a target for all Whitehall transactional services, such as self-assessment tax returns and passport applications, to move online. If around 82% were undertaken online, as much as £1.2bn by the end of 2014/15, according to the Cabinet Office.
Old IT systems pose a threat to such a target, the NAO said. ‘The strategies that government bodies have been applying to legacy ICT are unlikely to be sufficient to deliver the level of transformation envisaged by the government’s Digital strategy.
‘The lack of a full end-to-end view of the service, gaps in cost and performance information and the siloed working of ICT and business functions also restrict decision-making.’
Auditor general Amyas Morse said legacy systems ‘are a fact of life for most significant ICT users’. The challenge is how intelligently they are managed, and whether they are being retained, updated, replaced or phased out, he added.
‘The aim is to balance the costs of these options against the limitations and risks to ICT capability they can present, in a way that makes sense for the user and secures best public value. Performance in the public sector is patchy.’
