Digital services at the border

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 21 Dec 2020 Closed: 17 May 2021 Parliament page
The Home Office (HO) has been trying to upgrade or replace legacy IT systems and improve information at UK borders through digital transformation programmes the launch of its e-borders programme in 2003. But in 2010, HO cancelled its contract to deliver a single e-borders system, citing failure to achieve milestones. … Read more
4 Recommendations
18 Conclusions
1 Report
1 Oral session
4 Letters
1 Event
Activity timeline 7 events
21 Sep
2021
Correspondence
31 Aug
2021
Report published
10 Jun
2021
Correspondence
16 Apr
2021
Correspondence
12 Mar
2021
Report published
23 Feb
2021
Correspondence
1 Feb
2021
Oral evidence
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
1 Feb 2021
View on parliament.uk
Digital services at the border
John Gillan · Home Office Matthew Rycroft CBE · Home Office Paul Lincoln · Home Office
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Services at the Border HC 936 12 Mar 2021 22 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
22 results
2 Recommendation Accepted
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Serv…
The Department has failed to identify, acknowledge and be transparent about problems within the Digital...
The Department has failed to identify, acknowledge and be transparent about problems within the Digital Services at the Border programme. Optimism bias about delivery and a failure to be open and transparent about delays left the Department unable to act … Read more
Government Response
The government agreed and detailed its robust assurance oversight processes, including independent reviews by the IPA and GIAA, monthly programme boards, and a dedicated assurance lead. It also committed to report back on the July 2021 IPA review and confirmed no additional costs from delivery plan deviations since 2019.
HM Treasury
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3 Recommendation Accepted
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Serv…
The Department’s failure to deliver the Digital Services at the Border programme by March 2019...
The Department’s failure to deliver the Digital Services at the Border programme by March 2019 was caused by a lack of effective leadership, management and oversight. The Department accepts that the Digital Services at the Border programme did not achieve … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the recommendation and states it has been implemented. It details a reset in 2019 which led to changes including full-time SROs for major programs, new governance and risk processes, manageable scope, separate Programme and Technical Delivery directors, agile delivery methodologies, and a product-based approach to ensure timely delivery.
HM Treasury
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4 Recommendation Accepted
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Serv…
The Department has struggled to deliver the core technical components of the Digital Services at...
The Department has struggled to deliver the core technical components of the Digital Services at the Border programme. The Department has faced repeated problems with the technical aspects of delivery which means it has continued to depend on existing suppliers … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented, detailing specific actions taken to resolve technical problems. These include implementing agile methodologies, migrating the Border Crossing product to a robust platform, refactoring the "secret data" solution, deploying standard logging and monitoring, adopting Site Reliability Engineering, and ensuring performance testing in every release cycle.
HM Treasury
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5 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Serv…
We see a clear risk that the Department will not be able to deliver the...
We see a clear risk that the Department will not be able to deliver the programme by the end of March 2022. The Department started its latest rollout of the Border Crossing system on time, but it has so far … Read more
Government Response
The government agreed and stated the recommendation is implemented, confirming a detailed programme delivery plan with exact milestones has been baselined at the DSAB board, encompassing all main elements of delivery through to March 2022.
HM Treasury
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6 Recommendation Accepted
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Serv…
The Department’s ambitions for the border and its delivery of practical improvements for users depend...
The Department’s ambitions for the border and its delivery of practical improvements for users depend upon it coordinating the implementation of the Digital Services at the Border programme with the delivery of several related projects. The Department’s aim to provide … Read more
Government Response
The government agreed and stated the recommendation is implemented, detailing how progress against planned milestones for related programmes is tracked, impacts mitigated, and updates provided to a transformation board, noting all related programmes are progressing as planned.
HM Treasury
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1 Conclusion Not Addressed
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Serv…
Based on a report by the Comptroller & Auditor General we took evidence from the...
Based on a report by the Comptroller & Auditor General we took evidence from the Home Office (the Department), including from Border Force, on progress with the Digital Services at the Border (DSAB) programme.1
Government Response
The government provided its own introductory overview of the Digital Services at the Border programme, rather than engaging with the committee's initial descriptive statement about taking evidence.
HM Treasury
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7 Conclusion Not Addressed
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Serv…
In a May 2016 Treasury Minute response to this Committee, the Department provided Parliament with...
In a May 2016 Treasury Minute response to this Committee, the Department provided Parliament with assurance over several aspects of DSAB. It committed to delivering Advanced Freight Targeting Capability in 2017 and to rolling out Border Crossing nationally by 2017. … Read more
Government Response
The government stated it had nothing further to add to previous evidence, providing no new information or commitments regarding its past failures to deliver Advanced Freight Targeting Capability and Border Crossing systems by 2017.
HM Treasury
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8 Conclusion Not Addressed
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Serv…
The Department noted that this was part of a wider pattern whereby those involved with...
The Department noted that this was part of a wider pattern whereby those involved with the programme wanted to present a positive direction for the programme to senior management at a time when the programme was struggling in 2017 and … Read more
Government Response
The government declined to add anything further to its previous evidence, thus not addressing the committee's conclusion regarding failures in transparency and communication about program delays.
HM Treasury
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9 Conclusion Not Addressed
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Serv…
The Department suggested that external factors had hindered the programme, noting that new requirements emerged...
The Department suggested that external factors had hindered the programme, noting that new requirements emerged following the EU Exit referendum results in 7 Q 45; C&AG’s report Progress delivering the Emergency Services Network, Session 2017–19, HC 2140, 10 May 2019, … Read more
Government Response
The government stated it had nothing further to add to previous evidence, providing no new information or commitments regarding the external factors that hindered the Digital Services at the Border programme.
HM Treasury
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10 Conclusion Not Addressed
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Serv…
The Department acknowledged that by the time of its reset, the programme had not delivered...
The Department acknowledged that by the time of its reset, the programme had not delivered the value for money that had originally been intended. The Department had delivered none of the three systems that it had intended to deliver on … Read more
Government Response
The government's response addresses mechanisms for oversight and assurance of delivery and costs incurred from deviations, which is a different recommendation, and does not directly engage with the committee's conclusion about the past failure to deliver value for money.
HM Treasury
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11 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Serv…
Problems with the programme were compounded by instability among its senior leadership.
Problems with the programme were compounded by instability among its senior leadership. The programme had four different Senior Responsible Owners (SRO) between 2014 and 2020, with the current SRO being the longest serving after just over 2 years in post.21 … Read more
Government Response
The government explicitly states it agrees with PAC recommendation 3 (regarding leadership and oversight) and has implemented changes. These include assigning SROs full-time responsibility for a major program, implementing new governance with robust risk and change processes, strengthening stakeholder engagement, and adopting incremental, product-based technical approaches.
HM Treasury
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12 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Serv…
The Department failed to act on risks that were being flagged.
The Department failed to act on risks that were being flagged. The Committee noted that ongoing issues existed but that the Department did not address them, in part because information was not being communicated effectively by the programme team to … Read more
Government Response
The government detailed its robust assurance oversight processes, including independent reviews by the IPA and GIAA, monthly programme boards, and a dedicated assurance lead. This demonstrates the streamlined oversight the committee noted the department claimed to have implemented.
HM Treasury
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13 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Serv…
The Department has faced repeated technical difficulties in delivering the programme.
The Department has faced repeated technical difficulties in delivering the programme. These difficulties have caused delays which in turn have forced the Department to extend existing contracts for legacy systems, at a cost of £145 million between 2019 and 2022.25 … Read more
Government Response
The government states it has agreed with PAC recommendation 2 (regarding oversight and transparency), independently reviewed and reset the program in 2019, and has since delivered all key milestones on time and within budget. It details robust assurance processes, including independent reviews, a dedicated lead, monthly boards, and embedded internal assurance.
HM Treasury
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14 Conclusion Not Addressed
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Serv…
Some of the technical difficulties involved responding to the external factors that hindered the programme.
Some of the technical difficulties involved responding to the external factors that hindered the programme. For example, the Department created the Future Border and Immigration System (FBIS) programme in response to EU Exit which developed six new interfaces with which … Read more
Government Response
The government stated it had nothing further to add to previous evidence, providing no new information or commitments regarding the technical difficulties and external factors that led to the programme's eventual reset.
HM Treasury
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15 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Serv…
The programme suspended an attempted roll-out of the Border Crossing system in March 2020.28 The...
The programme suspended an attempted roll-out of the Border Crossing system in March 2020.28 The system had difficulty operating reliably at scale, with stability problems causing it to be available for only 54% of the days that it was supposed … Read more
Government Response
The government detailed specific technical actions taken to resolve problems with the Border Crossing system's components, including migration to a robust platform, refactoring for scalability, improved logging, and performance testing, which aim to enhance reliability and availability towards the stated target.
HM Treasury
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16 Conclusion Not Addressed
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Serv…
The Department acknowledged that it has faced strong competition for people with the scarce technical...
The Department acknowledged that it has faced strong competition for people with the scarce technical skills required to deliver the programme, including from other government departments. The Department has now designed framework contracts with outside suppliers so that it is … Read more
Government Response
The government's response details technical improvements to the Border Crossing system, which does not address the committee's conclusion regarding the Department's challenges with scarce technical skills and its strategies for addressing resourcing issues.
HM Treasury
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17 Conclusion Not Addressed
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Serv…
The latest roll-out of Border Crossing started on time at the beginning of December
The latest roll-out of Border Crossing started on time at the beginning of December
Government Response
The government's response did not address the committee's observation that the Border Crossing roll-out started on time, instead providing information about setting out programme milestones.
HM Treasury
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18 Conclusion Not Addressed
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Serv…
The Department has outlined plans to ensure Border Crossing systems are available at crossing points...
The Department has outlined plans to ensure Border Crossing systems are available at crossing points other than the 56 major entry points which will have permanent access to the system. The Department stated that this will involve a mobile capability … Read more
Government Response
The government stated it had nothing further to add to previous evidence, providing no new information or commitments regarding the mobile capability for Border Crossing systems at non-major entry points.
HM Treasury
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19 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Serv…
There has been some improvement in the risk ratings applied to the programme.
There has been some improvement in the risk ratings applied to the programme. The most recent IPA review rated it as amber, having previously been amber-red following the reset. This was in response to improved governance and leadership in line … Read more
Government Response
The government described specific actions taken to resolve technical problems, such as implementing agile methodologies, migrating Border Crossing to a robust platform, and enhancing monitoring. These actions contribute to improved governance and address underlying issues mentioned in the conclusion about risk ratings.
HM Treasury
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20 Conclusion Not Addressed
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Serv…
For the Department to deliver its planned improvements to border security, it is dependent on...
For the Department to deliver its planned improvements to border security, it is dependent on the quality of the data input into its information systems. This will include new system inputs from European Union countries after Schengen Information System II … Read more
Government Response
The government's response explicitly addresses a different recommendation (regarding progress against milestones for related programmes and their impacts) and does not engage with the committee's conclusion on the UK's dependency on data quality and upload speed from other countries.
HM Treasury
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21 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Serv…
The Department’s ambitions for the border as a whole and delivery of practical improvements for...
The Department’s ambitions for the border as a whole and delivery of practical improvements for users require timely delivery of all elements of the new DSAB systems, 33 Qq 58, 59, 85 34 Qq 85,88, 106 35 Q 88 36 … Read more
Government Response
The government described its established system for managing and tracking dependencies between related programs, mitigating impacts, and providing updates to the BICS Transformation board, aligning with the committee's observation on the importance of coordination.
HM Treasury
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22 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Eighth Report - Digital Serv…
The Department stated that, if the programme is not delivered on time, its contingency is...
The Department stated that, if the programme is not delivered on time, its contingency is to extend existing contracts with Warnings Index and Semaphore, including using extension clauses in the existing contracts. The Department is seeking to avoid this for … Read more
Government Response
The government detailed its instituted risk management approach, including a Red Team analysis and updated contingencies with specific actions like adding time and revising strategy, addressing the committee's observation on contingency plans.
HM Treasury
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Government Response AI assessment · 22 of 4 classified
Accepted 12
Not Addressed 10
Total 4 recs + 18 conclusions
Correspondence 4 letters
21 Sep 2021 Correspondence from Matthew Rycroft, Permanent Secretary, Home Office, re Digital Services at the Border (DSAB) Programme Project: update on Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) Gateway 0 Review, dated 14 September 2021
Parliament page
10 Jun 2021 Correspondence from Matthew Rycroft CBE, Permanent Secretary, Home Office, re Recommendation 1 Forty-Eighth report of the 2019-2021 – Digital Services at the Border, dated 3 June 2021
Parliament page
16 Apr 2021 Correspondence from Matthew Rycroft CBE, Permanent Secretary, Home Office, re Digital Service at the border, dated 25 March 2021
Parliament page
23 Feb 2021 Correspondence from Matthew Rycroft CBE, Permanent Secretary, Home Office, re Digital Services at the boarders, dated 12 February 2021
Parliament page