12
Accepted
The Cabinet Office pointed to the role that central platforms such as GOV.UK Pay and...
Recommendation
The Cabinet Office pointed to the role that central platforms such as GOV.UK Pay and Notify have played, for example sending alerts and test results to citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic.31 But the functions they perform are relatively straightforward commodity services that are already easily available and used extensively in the private sector. We are not convinced these examples demonstrate government’s ability to secure the deeper levels of transformation and business change needed to achieve a more fundamental redesign of services for the digital age.32 Cultivating better systems analysis, data analysis and design skills would help government gain a greater understanding of where to focus its efforts.33 24 C&AG’s Report, para 2.18 25 Q 39 26 C&AG’s Report, paras 2.15–2.21 27 C&AG’s Report, Figure 3 28 Q 18; Cabinet Office, Organising for Digital Delivery, published 22 July 2021, p. 2. Available at https://www.gov. uk/government/publications/organising-for-digital-delivery 29 Qq 22, 67 30 Qq 7, 36–37 31 Q 68 32 Q 4 33 Dr Jerry Fishenden, Professor Mark Thompson and Assistant Professor Will Venters submission page 4 Challenges in implementing digital change 11 2 Co-ordination, skills and outsourcing Strong and accountable co-ordination across government
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the need for deeper transformation and better skills, setting an implementation target of end-December 2022. It outlines plans for wholesale digital transformation led by CDDO, which will include identifying critical services for redesign and providing targeted interventions to achieve more fundamental change.
Government Response
Accepted
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: end of December 2022 3.2 Wholesale digital transformation in departments will require significant, systemic change in government to remove institutional barriers and create the conditions for successful investment and delivery. CDDO is working with HM Treasury, the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA), and colleagues across government to drive this change, by ensuring the funding, business and governance models are in place to support and incentivise modern, efficient digital product-centric, services and transformation. These systemic reforms will create a foundation and environment which facilitates investment in technologies, such as automation, which can be developed and utilised to enable both incremental and wholesale digital transformation to be realised. The Automation Blueprints, developed by the Government Automation Taskforce (GAT) in 2020, identified up to £1.4 billion of potential automation-related departmental opportunities across government over three years. GAT has now been incorporated into CDDO, and CDDO is working to support departments to prioritise these automation and transformation opportunities. 3.3 CDDO proposes to work with partners across government to transform critical services in order to drive excellence in user experience and efficient processes that reduce costs. It will work up an initial list of prioritised public services and civil servant journeys requiring transformation. CDDO and GDS will then offer targeted interventions depending on the type and scale of improvements needed. This might include identifying opportunities for automation, recommending and unblocking improvements and supporting funding of high value opportunities.
Source
Committee
Public Accounts Committee
Report
Thirtieth Report - Challenges in implementing digital change
10 Dec 2021
HC 637
Addressee Bodies
HM Treasury
Timeline
Recommendation age
4.6 yrs
Report published
10 Dec 2021