9 Accepted

The NAO reported that the Department’s strategy is consistent with good practice across government.

Recommendation
The NAO reported that the Department’s strategy is consistent with good practice across government. For example, its strategy recognises data as a strategic asset and that people and processes are as important as technology to successful digital change.20 However, the NAO also found that the Department lacks a complete picture of its progress against its strategy and recommended that the Department immediately create a clear delivery plan for the strategy. We asked the Department how it intends to measure its progress.21 The Department explained that it has plans and reporting in place for its individual projects, but agreed with the NAO’s recommendation, saying that it needs a single plan against which it can measure progress. The Department told us it wants to design a plan that will give clear outcome metrics the Department can measure against, to demonstrate internally and to us that it has improved.22 We wanted to know how the Department intends to provide transparency for Parliament and the public, so that we can assess the Department’s performance towards the ambitious targets it has set itself for
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the recommendation to create a clear delivery plan for its digital strategy, setting a Summer 2023 target, and commits to providing a six-month update on performance against the plan, which will use specific metrics and underpin the Digital Strategy for Defence.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government Accepted
2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2023 2.2 The department will provide an update in six months on its performance against the integrated delivery plan. This will use specific, tools-based metrics and measures that build on existing, robust portfolio management and transformation reporting in place for each existing digital transformation component. 2.3 The plan will underpin the Digital Strategy for Defence, with line of sight to departmental strategy and aligned with the DX4D programme. It will provide options and support choices across the breadth of the department's estimated £4.4 billion per annum digital portfolio. It articulates delivery against the department's strategic digital outcomes and themes: exploiting game-changers and data at pace and scale; delivering and adopting technology to support the concept of ‘the Digital Backbone’; resetting cyber defence to materially reduce risk; enabling a step-change in digital delivery; routinely developing and accessing leading edge digital talent; embedding a unified digital function to improve pan-Defence cohesion.
Addressee Bodies
HM Treasury
Timeline
Recommendation age 3.5 yrs
Report published 03 Feb 2023