Tackling Defra’s ageing digital services

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 28 Nov 2022 Closed: 21 Jul 2023 Parliament page
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has one of the largest spending allocations across government for updating its ‘legacy’ services that use old technology or no longer meet business needs. Defra’s problems with legacy services have built up over the years, with most now either no longer … Read more
8 Recommendations
17 Conclusions
1 Report
1 Oral session
1 Letter
1 Event
Activity timeline 5 events
21 Jul
2023
Report published
10 May
2023
Report published
7 Feb
2023
Correspondence
19 Jan
2023
Oral evidence
19 Jan
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
19 Jan 2023
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Tackling Defra’s ageing digital services
Chris Howes · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Malcolm McKee · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Paul Willmott · Cabinet Office Tamara Finkelstein CB · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defra’s ageing digital services HC 737 10 May 2023 25 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
25 results
2 Conclusion Accepted
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defr…
Develop a comprehensive long-term digital and data strategy, establishing group-wide technology standards for Defra.
Defra does not have a strategy or vision needed for its long-term digital transformation. Defra has so far focused on stabilising its legacy applications by seeking to mitigate the biggest risks of cyber-attack or operational failure and is moving towards … Read more
Government Response
Defra agrees to develop its longer-term digital and data strategy, committing to write to the Committee by March 2024 outlining details, performance measures, and implementation of group-wide standards. They have also approved £43 million investment for 2023-24 and started refreshing architectural policies.
HM Treasury
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3 Recommendation Accepted
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defr…
Identify and address the problems and costs faced by users of Defra's unmodernised services.
Defra has not given enough attention to the impact of its poor digital services on its users. To users, legacy IT systems feel outdated or lack functionality and they are 6 Tackling Defra’s ageing digital services at higher risk of … Read more
Government Response
Defra agrees to identify user problems and costs by using best practice techniques like user research and service assessments, which will inform service roadmaps. It will initially focus on nine priority services from the CDDO’s Top 75 list, aiming for a 'great' standard by 2025.
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4 Recommendation Accepted
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defr…
Ensure digital investment and systems align with Defra Group's future structure to avoid rebuilding.
Defra is at risk of wasting money on digital services because it has not yet taken decisions on business transformation. In parallel with its work on legacy, Defra is embarking on a fundamental review of the structure of its organisation, … Read more
Government Response
Defra explains that its existing governance structures, including a single Portfolio Approval Board and Technical Design Authority, ensure digital investments are consistent with its overall transformation and designed with modern, reusable architecture to prevent rebuilding. A full refresh of Defra Group Architectural Policies and Standards is also set to complete in 2023.
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5 Conclusion Accepted
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defr…
Adopt new approaches to recruit digital staff, reducing over-reliance on contractors and setting targets.
Defra is over-reliant on contractors because it struggles to recruit and retain the people with the digital skills it needs. Defra says it has reduced its reliance on contractors and temporary staff over the last year from 30% to 22%, … Read more
Government Response
Defra will adopt new approaches to recruit staff and reduce reliance on contractors, including establishing Digital Academies, maximizing the DDaT Pay framework, and targeted recruitment strategies via LinkedIn and external websites. It aims to reduce contingent labour to 25% of headcount by end of 2023-24 and 12% by end of 2024-25.
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6 Conclusion Accepted
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defr…
Strengthen Defra's investment case by analysing efficiency savings from modernising its digital systems.
Defra does not yet know how it will meet Government’s ambitions for digital change within its existing resources. CDDO has agreed a set of challenging commitments with departments, and Defra is confident it can meet these. However, Defra received only … Read more
Government Response
Defra agrees to strengthen its investment case by conducting an analysis of efficiency savings achievable through modernising its systems, including supporting technologies, ahead of SR24 bidding. Defra will write to the Committee within a year of the analysis finishing to report the conclusions and planned actions.
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7 Recommendation Accepted
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defr…
Report on departmental traction for CDDO's missions and provide annual progress updates thereafter.
We welcome CDDO’s efforts to establish strong cross-government co-operation and collaboration to identifying and addressing legacy IT issues. Since our December 2021 report on the Challenges in implementing digital change, CDDO has worked with all departments to establish a common … Read more
Government Response
CDDO agrees and states it has implemented the recommendation by rolling out a legacy risk framework to 16 organisations, identifying 153 legacy IT assets. It is working successfully with over 21 departments to ensure all 'red-rated' legacy systems have agreed remediation plans in place.
HM Treasury
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1 Conclusion Accepted
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defr…
Committee heard evidence on modernising Defra's ageing digital services from Defra and CDDO.
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Food, Environment & Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Central Digital & Data Office (CDDO) at the Cabinet Office about modernising ageing … Read more
Government Response
Defra is preparing a report on lessons and success factors in addressing legacy IT and will share it with CDDO and other departments, followed by a knowledge-sharing session. Defra aims to provide evidence of this by November 2023.
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8 Recommendation Accepted
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defr…
Defra recognises user burden from legacy systems but struggles to quantify customer costs.
Defra recognised that one of the main issues of legacy systems was that they created a burden on the service user. But the NAO found that Defra does not measure the cost to its customers of its unmodernised digital services.12 … Read more
Government Response
The government accepts the recommendation, stating it is implemented with Defra committing to use best practice techniques to measure costs and problems faced by users of its services, focusing initially on nine top transactional services to achieve a 'great' standard by 2025.
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9 Recommendation Accepted
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defr…
Defra shows progress tackling urgent legacy systems, prioritising high-risk applications for stabilisation.
Defra had made progress in tackling its most urgent legacy systems. The NAO found that it had addressed the most pressing issues, prioritising work on applications that need to be stabilised in the short-term. Defra had taken a formal approach … Read more
Government Response
The government accepts the recommendation, committing Defra to share a report on its legacy IT success factors with CDDO and other departments by November 2023, including a knowledge sharing session.
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10 Conclusion Accepted
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defr…
Defra's legacy system resolution extends to 2030, with many applications requiring "hyper-care".
The NAO also found that Defra did not expect to resolve all its legacy issues until 2030.15 For example, Defra told us that it had worked with the Central Digital & Data Office (CDDO) to establish which services were most … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the committee's observations and states the recommendation is implemented. Defra is modernising services by using best practice techniques, developing roadmaps for improvements, and focusing on achieving a 'great' standard for its top nine transactional services by 2025.
HM Treasury
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11 Recommendation Accepted
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defr…
Legacy systems predominantly exist in Defra's older legislative and long-running delivery areas.
We asked Defra whether the applications in extended support or hyper-care sat within particular parts of the Defra Group. Defra told us that legacy systems were typically located in areas where the legislation was older, which tended to be in … Read more
Government Response
The government accepts the recommendation, stating Defra's Executive Committee approved a long-term digital and data strategy in June 2023, allocating £43 million for improvements and committing to provide further details by March 2024.
HM Treasury
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12 Recommendation Accepted
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defr…
A significant gap persists between demand and supply for government digital specialists.
When we examined the challenges in implementing digital change in December 2021, we concluded that there was a large gap between the demand for, and supply of, the digital specialists that government needed, and that it was hard to get … Read more
Government Response
The government accepts the recommendation, stating it is implemented through ongoing initiatives led by CDDO to reduce the digital skills gap and improve DDaT recruitment, including the DDaT Pay Framework, bulk recruitment, and Defra's specific talent growth programs.
HM Treasury
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13 Conclusion Accepted
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defr…
Defra faces persistent difficulty recruiting digital skills, with 31% of roles remaining unfilled.
There is still a digital skills shortage across UK industry and the public sector and, in December 2022, the NAO found that Defra had found it difficult to recruit and retain people with the right digital skills. Between October 2021 … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented, detailing CDDO's initiatives to address the digital skills gap and reduce reliance on contractors (e.g., pay reform, recruitment campaigns, early talent programs). Defra aims to reduce contingent labour to 25% by end of 2023-24 and 12% by end of 2024-25 through various recruitment and training strategies.
HM Treasury
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14 Conclusion Accepted
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defr…
Defra utilises pay frameworks, hybrid working, and apprenticeships to attract digital staff.
Defra told us that the digital, data and technology pay framework, which allowed supplements to be paid based on capability for specific digital roles, helped it to attract digital staff. It expected forthcoming changes to the framework, such as changes … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the committee's observation, stating the recommendation has been implemented through ongoing initiatives detailed in the 2025 Roadmap for Digital and Data. CDDO is leading efforts to build digital skills, reform pay frameworks, and enhance early talent offers, while Defra is implementing specific recruitment strategies and targets to reduce reliance on contingent labour.
HM Treasury
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15 Conclusion Accepted
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defr…
Defra lacks a clear strategy for transforming digital services despite a 10-year transformation goal.
Defra told us that it had so far focused on stabilising its legacy applications to reduce the risks of cyber-attack or operational failure and on developing and implementing the IT systems needed for EU Exit, rather than work to reduce … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the implied recommendation, stating Defra's Executive Committee approved a long-term digital and data approach in June 2023, and has agreed an initial plan of action. Defra has also approved £43 million for application improvement/replacement in 2023-24 and will write to the Committee by March 2024 with further details on its strategy.
HM Treasury
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16 Conclusion Accepted
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defr…
Defra lacks agreed group-wide IT system standards, hindering consistent technology development.
Many different technologies are used across Defra as a consequence of how the Defra Group has grown and changed over time, and how systems were originally developed by different organisations within the Group, which each had their own approach to … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and aims for implementation by March 2024, detailing ongoing work including migrating legacy data centres, investing £43 million in application improvements, and refreshing Defra Group architectural policies and standards which will complete in 2023-24. Defra will provide a further update by March 2024.
HM Treasury
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17 Conclusion Accepted
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defr…
Defra pursues business transformation, aiming to reduce duplication across Group IT systems.
In parallel with its work on address legacy IT systems, Defra told us it was embarking on a fundamental business transformation process, including potentially major structural changes to the Defra Group. Defra explained that this will include considering how it … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees the recommendation is implemented, stating that Defra's digital investments are overseen by various committees and boards ensuring common standards and an integrated approach to transformation. It highlights that digital transformation is a core component of Defra's wider programme, actively identifying cross-cutting business activities for consistent delivery, and a refresh of architectural policies is underway for 2023.
HM Treasury
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18 Conclusion Accepted
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defr…
Defra lacks a clear vision for its transformed business, impeding digital transformation planning.
However, Defra has not yet developed a clear vision for how its business will operate after transformation. Business transformation and digital transformation are closely linked but without clarity on what the transformed Defra will look like, it is difficult for … Read more
Government Response
The government considers the recommendation implemented, stating that Defra's digital investments are overseen by robust governance structures and its new systems are designed with a modern, composable architecture for future flexibility, ensuring digital transformation is integrated into Defra's wider transformation programme.
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19 Conclusion Accepted
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defr…
Defra's digital transformation vision and blueprint require further alignment and flexibility.
We also asked Defra how it would ensure that its approach did not result in the waste of taxpayers’ money. Defra explained that the majority of its transformation programme was focused on business process, how people used business processes, and … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees the recommendation is implemented, stating that Defra's digital investments are overseen by various committees and boards to ensure common standards, composable architecture, and an integrated approach to transformation. It highlights that digital transformation is a core component of Defra's wider programme, actively identifying cross-cutting business activities, and a refresh of architectural policies is underway for 2023 to ensure flexibility and prevent waste.
HM Treasury
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20 Conclusion Accepted
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defr…
Majority of government digital services fail to meet 'great' standard by 2025.
In June 2022, CDDO published a Roadmap which set out a common cross-government vision for digital and data by 2025. It contained a set of challenging commitments across six strategic areas known as missions, which CDDO told us all departments … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees the recommendation is implemented, stating Defra is modernising services by using best practice techniques to identify problems and inform service roadmaps. Defra commits to focusing on its nine services in the CDDO’s Top 75 to achieve a 'great' standard by 2025, prioritising digital service improvement in future Spending Review bids, and ensuring clear service ownership.
HM Treasury
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21 Conclusion Deferred
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defr…
Defra's digital investment funding is inadequate for comprehensive legacy service transformation.
In the 2021 Spending Review, Defra received £871 million for digital investment for 2021–2025, of which £366 million was to address legacy issues and bring its systems up to date. The remainder was for investment in the Future Farming and … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the conclusion, acknowledging budget pressures and stating that CDDO will support departments in prioritising efforts. Defra will conduct an analysis of its service landscape to determine investment priorities ahead of the SR24 bidding process and will inform the Committee of its findings and planned actions.
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22 Conclusion Accepted
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defr…
Defra aims to improve 12 key digital services to 'great' standard within existing budgets.
We asked how departments would deliver the ambitions and standards set for digitisation using their existing budgets. Defra was confident it could fulfil the commitments made in the CDDO’s Roadmap and that it would get the 12 services in the … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the committee's implied recommendation, stating Defra supports the 2025 roadmap and will conduct an analysis of its service landscape to determine investment priorities, reporting back to the Committee within a year. CDDO will also publish a 1-year update on cross-government progress by September 2024.
HM Treasury
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23 Conclusion Accepted
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defr…
Defra lacks comprehensive data on the full operational costs of using legacy IT systems.
As part of its review of legacy applications, Defra told us it had decommissioned over 30 IT systems because more modern alternatives were available. It explained that this had improved its internal efficiency and created cost savings. Defra estimated that … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and Defra commits to conducting an analysis of its service landscape, aiming to include efficiency savings achievable through modernising systems and processes, and will inform the Committee of its findings and planned actions by September 2024.
HM Treasury
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24 Conclusion Accepted
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defr…
Cross-departmental collaboration demonstrates significant potential for digital synergies and citizen benefits.
We asked CDDO its assessment of government’s approach to digitisation. CDDO told us it had been delighted with the collaboration it had received from government departments as part of putting together the digital change road map. It explained that, while … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees the recommendation is implemented, detailing CDDO's ongoing progress in rolling out the legacy risk framework across multiple departments, assessing IT systems, and working with departments to establish remediation plans for 'red-rated' legacy systems under the 2025 Roadmap.
HM Treasury
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25 Recommendation Accepted
Fifty-First Report - Tackling Defr…
Mandate CDDO to map government legacy systems and produce an annual prioritised action pipeline.
In December 2021, we examined challenges in implementing digital change. We concluded that there was no clear plan to replace or modernise legacy systems and data that were critical to service provision but were often old, unsupportable, vulnerable and a … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees the recommendation is implemented, reporting that CDDO established a legacy risk framework, rolled it out to 16 organisations, and listed 153 legacy IT assets. CDDO is working with over 21 departments to ensure all 'red-rated' legacy systems have agreed remediation plans.
HM Treasury
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Government Response AI assessment · 25 of 8 classified
Accepted 24
Deferred 1
Total 8 recs + 17 conclusions
Correspondence 1 letter
7 Feb 2023 Correspondence from Tamara Finkelstein CB, Permanent Secretary, The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, re Public Accounts Committee – Tackling Defra’s ageing digital services, dated 31 January 2023
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