THE creation of a head of shared services is a momentous event for government IT.

It is significant not just because David Myers, the man appointed to do the job, says billions of pounds will be invested in such schemes over the next five years, and ideally billions more saved.

Nor is it noteworthy because having back-office systems shared between departments will fundamentally change the shape of Whitehall’s technology landscape.

Nor even because it is the first major initiative to come from the government-wide IT strategy being developed by the eGovernment Unit (eGU) under the leadership of Ian Watmore.

More than all of these, shared services offer the kind of quantifiable benefit that the much-ridiculed concept of joined-up government has been crying out for.

The problem was always one of measurability. Joined-up government seemed like a good idea, likely to produce benefits such as better customer service. But there was no way of fixing on an actual value to turn the Treasury’s head, and it is accepted in Whitehall that only the Treasury can push through changes that break down the divisions between departments.

Myers’ planned role will include establishing what and where shared services are viable, and then

working with the Treasury and its buying agency to supervise the next steps. Not only will progress be monitored, but it will be linked to the three-yearly spending reviews where the Treasury sets departmental expenditure.

Those departments that get on with it will get more money for other things. And the rest will lose out.

When the eGU was created there was no guarantee it would have any greater impact on the hodge-podge of Whitehall IT than any of the talking shops that went before, not least because Watmore had no direct budget through which to wield power.

But the eGU does not need money of its own if the Treasury, source of all budgets, stands behind it.