The Cabinet Office told us that the strategy is on track.8 However, several risks remain to its delivery. For example, the Department of Work & Pensions set out three main risks for the ‘Synergy’ shared services cluster: funding uncertainties; a tight timetable; and realising the potential benefits of the strategy. On the timetable, the Department told us that the cluster is looking to extend its contract with its current business process services (BPS) provider, which runs out in October 2023, for a further two years. It then needs to make sure that its new BPS provider is in place for a transition period from one supplier to another of about a year. The cluster will also need to ensure it has a software provider in place that can provide everything needed for all four departments in the cluster.9