5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2022 5.2 Central government is working to support departments to act as ‘intelligent clients’ by increasing capability, and also by providing common frameworks and memoranda of understanding (MOUs) which offer government organisations access to external expertise more easily. CDDO uses the Technology Code of Practice as a standard in the spend controls process, and it recently updated the commercial guidance (point 11) to include more information on departmental purchasing strategies. This includes more specific guidance on choosing when to build and when to buy technology. CDDO is also working on more detailed guidance on this topic. The DDaT and Commercial functions have created the DDaT Playbook to provide government policy and clear guidance on how to approach commercial delivery and procurement of digital products and services whilst maximising value for money. 5.3 CDDO will support departments to improve both their overall digital maturity and approach to IT operations and technology change through the publication of an updated DDaT Functional Standard and an accompanying DDaT Assessment Framework. The Standard will set out clear best practice for how all digital, data and technology work and activities should be conducted across government. The associated Assessment Framework will enable departments to evaluate their maturity against the Standard, and the results of these assessments will be reviewed and discussed as part of CDDO’s wider performance and maturity framework and processes.