Public sector digital capacity
Lack of sufficient digital capacity within government departments, posing significant risks to transformation programmes.
1,123 items
11 sources
7 inquiries
Strongest theme matches
Mixed across source types and ranked by classifier confidence plus text match strength.
Committee recommendation
100match
#6 - Ensure Government Digital and AI Roadmap has clear implementation plan with milestones and metrics.
Realising the benefits of AI across the public sector will require strong leadership from DSIT. Addressing the skills shortage, tackling the persistent issues with poor data quality and out–of–date technology, and providing the support and guardrails the public sector needs to build public trust and adopt AI safely and responsibly all require a clear strategy and strong leadership....
Matched on
terms: digital, public, sector
Committee recommendation
100match
#3 - Explain how Digital and AI Roadmap reforms will resolve public sector skills gaps.
There are persistent digital skills shortages in the public sector and DSIT’s plans to address the skills gap may not be enough. 70% of government bodies responding to the NAO’s survey identified difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff with AI skills as a barrier to AI adoption. In 2024, around 50% of roles advertised in civil service digital...
Matched on
terms: digital, public, sector
Committee recommendation
99match
#27 - Public sector digital leadership found inadequate, DSIT to mandate roles and publish roadmap.
We challenged DSIT and the Cabinet Office on the scale of the challenge and whether the public sector would be able to grasp the opportunities offered by AI. DSIT told us that it had to be self–critical about digital leadership across government, observing that digital leaders are not well represented at executive level across the public sector and...
Matched on
terms: digital, public, sector
Committee recommendation
99match
#15 - Addressing the AI skills gap is crucial for responsible and ethical public sector AI adoption.
Written evidence we received emphasised the importance of addressing this skills gap, raising concerns about the public sector’s ability to take advantage of the opportunities of AI responsibly and ethically without 28 Qq 10–11 29 Q 57 30 Q 20 31 C&AG’s Report, figure 9 32 DSIT, State of digital government review, January 2025, pp. 29–31 33 Q...
Matched on
terms: digital, public, sector
Committee recommendation
98match
#6 - Thirtieth Report - Challenges in implementing digital change
There is a large gap between the demand for and supply of the digital specialists that government needs, and it is hard to get the right balance of in-house and outsourced skills. Government has been excessively reliant on outsourcing and has failed to retain sufficient in-house capability. The Central Digital and Data Office now has responsibility for government’s...
Matched on
terms: digital, public, sector
Committee recommendation
95match
#3 - Understand digital service replacement capacity and ensure minimum telephone service for all customers.
HMRC has been too willing to let its telephone services fail in the hope this forces people to use its digital services instead. HMRC estimates 66% of calls it receives could be handled online instead. It hopes that by encouraging customers to use digital services it can free up its helplines for vulnerable customers and customers with complex...
Matched on
terms: capacity, digital, public
Committee recommendation
94match
#16 - Government's long-standing digital and data skills gap requires renewed efforts and diverse initiatives.
The digital and data skills gap in government is long–standing and this committee has raised concerns about this issue in the past.35 We challenged the Cabinet Office and DSIT on how they were tackling the problem and they told us they need to do more to communicate the benefits of working in the public sector, including the opportunity...
Matched on
terms: digital, public, sector
Committee recommendation
94match
#14 - Significant recruitment and retention challenges hinder government's adoption of AI and digital skills.
70% of government bodies responding to the NAO’s survey identified difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff with AI skills as a barrier to AI adoption.31 In January 2025, the government’s State of digital government review set out the digital and data skills challenge faced by government, reporting difficulties in recruitment (around 50% of roles advertised in civil service...
Matched on
terms: digital, public, sector
Committee recommendation
93match
#6 - Twenty-Ninth Report - The National Law Enforcement Data Programme
There is a risk that the Department still lacks the capacity to prioritise and deliver major digital programmes on time. In common with many other government departments and agencies, the Department is reliant on a range of legacy technology systems that need updating or replacing. We have seen several major programmes to deliver such replacements encounter major problems...
Matched on
terms: capacity, digital, public
Committee recommendation
89match
#35 - Experts recommend HMRC accelerate AI adoption for customer support, staff upskilling, and fraud prevention.
Written evidence, received from Southampton University academics and accountants, Dr Md Hosam Al Kaddour and Dr Nouha Saber, recommended that HMRC accelerates digital transformation, including investment in AI–driven customer support to handle routine inquiries and thus reduce call centre costs.70 Written evidence, received from Dr Edidiong Offiong Bassey (a lecturer and researcher on taxation at Cardiff University), recommended...
Matched on
terms: digital, public, sector
Committee recommendation
85match
#6 - Mandate HMRC to assess its readiness for new technology, including AI, and present plans.
We are concerned that HMRC is not well–placed to take advantage of the opportunities offered by technology, for example the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and e–invoicing. AI has the potential to improve the productivity and speed of HMRC services. But, as we have reported recently, achieving large–scale benefits from AI will require government departments to not only...
Matched on
terms: capacity, digital, public
Committee recommendation
82match
#2 - Develop a comprehensive long-term digital and data strategy, establishing group-wide technology standards for Defra.
Defra does not have a strategy or vision needed for its long-term digital transformation. Defra has so far focused on stabilising its legacy applications by seeking to mitigate the biggest risks of cyber-attack or operational failure and is moving towards enhancing and transforming these applications. But it does not yet have a strategy for the transformation of its...
Matched on
terms: digital, public
Committee recommendation
82match
#15 - HMRC lags in secure digital file sharing; plans secure messaging via app and tax accounts.
HMRC said it uses email sparingly due to security concerns.42 Several organisations representing taxpayers and their agents wrote to us to highlight the need for a secure digital way to share files and correspondence with HMRC so that communication by post and phone became the exception.43 HMRC acknowledged that it is clearly behind many other 31 Customer service,...
Matched on
terms: digital, public
Committee recommendation
82match
#5 - Require HMRC to research customer needs and design appropriate digital tax systems.
It is of the utmost importance that HMRC learns lessons from its experience of implementing Making Tax Digital (MTD) and puts customer needs at the heart of plans to improve digital services. The previous Public Accounts Committee reported in 2023 that HMRC had lost sight of the need to put taxpayers at the heart of changes to the...
Matched on
terms: digital, public
Committee recommendation
78match
#12 - Many calls could be digital, yet some services remain offline and customers need assistance.
While the use of digital services has increased, HMRC still estimates that 66% of telephone calls could have been handled online. HMRC said this partly reflects customer awareness of the extent of its digital services. It started a campaign in November 2024 to increase awareness, particularly of its mobile app.26 HMRC said it also reflects a lack of...
Matched on
terms: digital, public
Committee recommendation
78match
#37 - UK tax system lags behind other countries in digital efficiency and comprehensive taxpayer services.
We were also concerned that HMRC has not been making good use of other technologies. In particular, it appears that the UK’s tax system is not as efficient for customers as the systems in some other countries such as Estonia, Denmark, Finland, Canada and Australia.75 In 2023, the NAO reported that many tax authorities in other countries with...
Matched on
terms: digital, public
NAO recommendation
76match
Using data analytics to tackle fraud and error
Recommendation 8: The Public Sector Fraud Authority should work with the Government Digital Service to publish a playbook on how public bodies can develop the multidisciplinary team and capability to develop and deploy counter-fraud data analytics.
Matched on
terms: digital, public, sector
Committee recommendation
74match
#8 - HMRC continues receiving millions of calls despite digital-first ambition and roadmap plans.
HMRC has been working to become a ‘digital-first’ organisation since 2010 and hopes to replace traditional forms of contact with digital services.13 It said its research shows that 86% of customers say they are willing to deal with HMRC digitally or would prefer to do so.14 Despite this, HMRC still received 36.7 million telephone calls in 2023–24.15 It...
Matched on
terms: digital, public
Committee recommendation
74match
#4 - Prioritise introducing systems for customers to submit files and send secure digital messages.
HMRC does not provide an efficient means for taxpayers to communicate digitally with HMRC. In 2022–23, HMRC received 22 million items of correspondence, including physical post and forms and interactive forms. Approximately 70% of this comes in through the post. Postal correspondence, as well as some electronic correspondence, requires scanning, manual entry into HMRC’s systems, or both. In...
Matched on
terms: digital, public
Committee recommendation
74match
#26 - Prioritise introducing secure digital channels for customers to submit files and messages.
Last year HMRC acknowledged that is behind many other organisations in enabling customers to communicate securely through digital channels. In 2022–23, approximately 70% of the 22 million items of correspondence HMRC received came in through the post. In January 2025 we therefore recommended that as part of its digital roadmap HMRC should prioritise introducing systems for customers to...
Matched on
terms: digital, public
Committee recommendation
73match
#14 - NHS productivity remains below pre-pandemic levels; future targets are significantly ambitious and challenging.
According to official ONS measures, long-term productivity gains in the NHS averaged 0.6% a year over the period 1996–97 to 2018–19. But productivity subsequently fell, both before and during the pandemic, and has yet to recover fully. In March 2024, the government announced that the NHS would receive £3.4 billion of capital investment for digital improvements between 2025–26...
Matched on
terms: digital, public
Committee recommendation
73match
#7 - Publish plans to reduce NHS paper reliance and set deadline to end fax machines.
Despite ambitions to improve productivity through the introduction of new technologies, the switch to digital in parts of the NHS has been glacially slow. Digital and technological improvements could have a transformative effect on the NHS. However, NHSE’s investment in technology over the period 2022–23 to 2024–25 stalled because funding was redirected to mitigate ICBs’ spending deficits. For...
Matched on
terms: digital, public
Committee recommendation
73match
#7 - Legacy IT systems pose significant risks to government AI adoption and cybersecurity.
DSIT told us that it was a matter of urgency that the issue of legacy systems in government is addressed, not only to take advantage of the opportunities offered by AI, but also to address other risks including cyber security vulnerabilities. It emphasised prioritising the “systems that have the most valuable data” and “the highest levels of security...
Matched on
terms: digital, public
NAO recommendation
72match
Government's approach to technology suppliers: addressing the challenges
Individual departments and public bodies should: f) ensure that CDIOs are responsible for overseeing commercial contracting involving technology suppliers, supported by their own departmental digital commercial teams. Large digital change programmes should not have business cases approved and contracts agreed without digital experts agreeing that requirements have been properly understood and articulated and are deliverable;
Matched on
terms: digital, public
NAO recommendation
70match
Digital transformation in government: addressing the barriers to efficiency
CDDO should c) continue to push for central reforms in the way digital change is justified, funded and procured and work with policymakers, who often do not have the digital skills to understand how digital services work, to improve policy-making in this area
Matched on
terms: digital
Committee recommendation
69match
#27 - Thirty-Sixth Report - EU Exit: UK Border post transition
Departments’ track record delivering IT projects is particularly relevant given that HMRC is still working on replacing its CHIEF customs system with a new Customs Declaration Service (CDS). CDS was originally supposed to be in use by all UK traders in January 2019, but the project has been delayed and in 2020 HMRC extended its contract with Fujitsu...
Matched on
terms: capacity, public
Committee recommendation
69match
#2 - Allocate sufficient resources to HMRC customer service and establish service level guard rails.
HMRC’s digital services have not sufficiently reduced demand on the phone and HMRC has failed to prioritise the resources needed to sustain an appropriate standard of telephone service. HMRC has been working to become a ‘digital-first’ organisation since 2010 and hopes to replace traditional forms of contact with digital services. However, telephone 3 demand has remained high, with...
Matched on
terms: digital, public
Committee recommendation
69match
#30 - Crown Court caseload data previously unreliable due to Common Platform errors
MoJ confirmed that it had identified three factors that caused it to pause publication of its Crown Court caseload data from June to December 2024. It had found that case records in Common Platform (the new digital case management system for the criminal justice system) had been adversely affected through human error, technical systems issues and data coding...
Matched on
terms: digital, public
Committee recommendation
69match
#7 - Assure accuracy of criminal justice datasets and set out scope for courts' digitisation.
Despite MoJ assuring us that it has rectified the processing errors that led to it publishing inaccurate Crown Court statistics, we remain concerned that other datasets within the criminal justice system may be affected by the same quality and accuracy issues. MoJ paused publication of Crown Court caseload data between June and December 2024 because it had found...
Matched on
terms: digital, public
Committee recommendation
65match
#25 - NHSE's needed capital investment in technology is diverted to mitigate ICB spending deficits.
NHSE assesses that sustained increases in capital investment are needed to replace ageing equipment, expand capacity to meet demand, and enable staff to benefit from new technologies.48 However, NHSE told us its investment in technology between 2022–23 and 2024–25 could have been greater had it been able to use underspend against its central budgets for that purpose, but...
Matched on
terms: capacity, public
Committee recommendation
65match
#16 - HMRC and Companies House system integration for joint registration faces significant long-term challenges.
HMRC and Companies House have explored opportunities from Companies House’s new powers, including a single streamlined system for registering and filing company, Corporation Tax and VAT documentation which would provide more assurance over the addresses of registered businesses. HMRC and Companies House estimated in early 2024 that closer integration of systems would take between five and 10 years...
Matched on
terms: public
Committee recommendation
65match
#38 - HMRC demonstrates limited use of technology in promoting e-invoicing
The written evidence received from Dr Edidiong Offiong Bassey also suggests that HMRC is not making the best use of technology. In particular, he indicated there has been limited promotion in the UK of electronic invoicing and electronic fiscal devices which have seen 71 CTS0001 72 Q 48 73 Q 49 74 Qq 45–46 75 Q 12 76...
Matched on
terms: digital, public
Committee recommendation
65match
#36 - HMRC acknowledges legacy IT systems and poor data management hinder AI adoption and increase cyber risks.
We asked HMRC whether the age of some of its IT systems were going to make it more difficult to adopt AI. HMRC agreed and considers the “critical thing with AI is making sure you really have a handle on where your data is and that you are managing your data well.” 72 We also asked HMRC about...
Matched on
terms: public, sector
Committee recommendation
65match
#24 - HMRC’s legacy IT systems pose security, reliability, and cost risks.
HMRC explained that there are three key risks that arise from operating legacy systems: lower levels of security; lower reliability and resilience; and higher costs of system changes. HMRC said that its executive team and its digital team track how up to date its systems are and how that is changing over time. HMRC told us that it...
Matched on
terms: digital, public
Committee recommendation
62match
#9 - Increase NHS digital and social media presence for reproductive health conditions consistently
With women and girls relying on online spaces and a proliferation of femtech apps to fill gaps in their knowledge of reproductive health conditions, the NHS should increase its own digital and social media presence in relation to reproductive health conditions. This should be consistent rather than a one-off campaign and monitored to ensure it reaches those in...
Matched on
terms: digital
Committee recommendation
62match
#13 - HMRC reversed controversial helpline closures following public criticism, with no further plans.
HMRC closed or reduced the queries it handles on four helplines in 2023–24. For the largest change, the trial closure of the Self Assessment helpline in summer 2023, it gave customers only two working days’ notice.31 HMRC said it was not entirely clear what customers would have gained from having more notice.32 In March 2024, HMRC announced further...
Matched on
terms: public
NAO recommendation
61match
The challenges in implementing digital change
h) produce departmental strategies and plans for how to manage the legacy IT estate so that maintenance, support and decommissioning are systematically addressed and required funding is ringfenced; and
Matched on
terms: digital
Committee recommendation
61match
#26 - NHS still lacks consistent data infrastructure and technological maturity, delaying productivity gains.
We asked what was being done to improve productivity through the use of new technologies. NHSE told us the NHS currently lacks a consistent data infrastructure and that NHS providers varied in terms of their levels of technological maturity.50 NHSE said that it was putting modern technology into some of its providers that “have lived on paper”. While...
Matched on
terms: public
Committee recommendation
61match
#19 - DWP's extensive Service Modernisation Programme faces significant delivery and cultural change risks
DWP recognises that significant parts of its services remain largely unmodernised. Its Service Modernisation Programme is an 11-year organisation-wide programme, estimated to cost £312.1 million and running from 2022–23 to 2032–33, which is seeking to deliver benefits for customers, staff and taxpayers.38 However, the scale and complexity of the programme means delivery involves significant risk. DWP’s 2023 accounting...
Matched on
terms: public
Committee recommendation
61match
#34 - Achieving AI benefits requires significant business practice changes and foundational investment in skills and data.
In our recent report on the use of AI in government we said: Artificial intelligence has the potential to transform public services by automating routine tasks, making public services quicker and more efficient, and making better use of government data to target support at those that need it. ….. Achieving large–scale benefits will require not only adoption of...
Matched on
terms: public
Committee recommendation
61match
#23 - HMRC’s legacy IT systems remediation efforts are behind schedule and over budget.
HMRC has one of the largest and most complex IT estates in the UK, and it faces a significant challenge to modernise its IT infrastructure to keep pace with changing technology. In 2020 the NAO reported that HMRC recognised 36 Senior grades include all grades from higher executive officers up to and including senior civil servants. Less than...
Matched on
terms: public
Committee recommendation
57match
#25 - HMRC cannot commit to legacy IT remediation completion date due to funding uncertainty.
We asked HMRC why it had taken longer and was costing more to remediate its legacy systems. HMRC said that some of the systems had proved more complex than expected and it had underestimated costs.45 Progress had also been slowed by HMRC transferring some funding for one of its remediation programmes in 2023–24 to higher priorities.46 We asked...
Matched on
terms: public
Committee recommendation
57match
#16 - Many taxpayers, especially agents, experience difficulty dealing with HMRC, contrary to its Charter.
The HMRC Charter promises to “provide services that are designed around what [the customer] need[s] to do, and are accessible, easy and quick to use, minimising the cost to [them]”.27 HMRC’s surveys have found a significant proportion of taxpayers do not find it easy to deal with HMRC. In 2023, 71% of large businesses said they found it...
Matched on
terms: public
Committee recommendation
57match
#15 - Declining trust in HMRC attributes to substandard services and broader global governmental trends.
We asked about taxpayers’ declining trust in HMRC. HMRC said there had been a decline in trust globally with governments and with public bodies, and it was also subject to that decline. It told us that it had not been providing services up to the standards it wanted to, and this had affected taxpayers’ trust. HMRC reinforced the...
Matched on
terms: public
NAO recommendation
57match
Digital Services at the Border
c) continue to monitor its technical capability and skills to deliver the programme during rollout and urgently rectify any key shortfalls it identifies;
Matched on
terms: digital
NAO recommendation
56match
Managing central government property
c) The OGP should: ? take prompt and decisive action to establish its new property asset register, InSite, minimising additional cost to the taxpayer; and ? analyse how and why the inSite project has failed to meet its goals and deadlines, producing lessons learned that can be used to inform future digital projects. Alongside this, the OGP should...
Matched on
terms: digital
NAO recommendation
56match
Improving the performance of major equipment contracts
d) The Department should work with the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury to address shortfalls in vital contract and programme management skills. Differing levels of remuneration and terms of employment between different parts of the Department, between the Department and other parts of government, and between government and other sectors create long-term skills gaps. Reliance on buying in...
Matched on
terms: sector
Committee recommendation
53match
#14 - HMRC consistently fails to meet targets for processing high volumes of postal correspondence.
HMRC received 22 million items of correspondence in 2022–23, including physical post and forms and interactive forms.37 Around 70% of correspondence comes in through the post. To process postal correspondence, as well as some electronic correspondence, HMRC must scan or manually enter the information into its systems, or both.38 HMRC has not met an annual performance target for...
Matched on
terms: public
Committee recommendation
53match
#9 - HMRC faces resource shortages as taxpayer numbers and complexity continue to increase.
HMRC says it has not had enough resources to deal with all the contact it has been receiving.17 It estimates that in the last two years, the number of taxpayers in the income tax system has increased by 3 million as a result of the freezing of income tax thresholds. HMRC also explained that more taxpayers are in...
Matched on
terms: public
Committee recommendation
53match
#7 - HMRC provides limited and delayed information on customer telephone waiting times.
We asked whether HMRC provides customers with information on expected call waiting times. It said it provides this information on many of its helplines, but the information is limited to the average call waiting time from the previous day rather than a current waiting time. HMRC explained this was another limitation of its telephone platform.12 4 Customer service,...
Matched on
terms: public