The Cabinet Office has published results of a new benchmarking scheme rating stakeholder satisfaction with IT within 174 public sector bodies.

The Northern Ireland Office, the Pensions Regulator and the British Museum scored highest with 4.5 out of 5, while the the Department for Children, Schools and Families, the National Gallery and regional development agency One North East scored 4.4.

The Home Office and the Ministry of Defence both scored 3.7 while HM Revenue and Customs scored 3.3.

At the bottom end of the scale the National Policing Improvement Agency, which is responsible for co-ordinating IT across police forces, scored just 2.2.

The benchmarking indicators used were cost, usability and capability of staff.

It is the first time a benchmarking exercise has been undertaken across the public sector. The report, called Benchmarking the Back Office, says that evaluating IT costs is difficult to do.

Though central government benchmarks have been validated by Gartner, those of other authorities have not and the report admits this is an issue.

Where IT is outsourced, it is the performance of the outsourcer which is benchmarked.

The study also evaluates the amount spent on IT compared with overall department running costs. HM Revenue and Customs spends more than 22 per cent of its costs on IT, double that of the Foreign Office which spends 11 per cent and the Department of Business Innovation and Skills, which spends 9.8 per cent.

This compares with the Home Office, Treasury, Cabinet Office, Ministry of Justice and Department of Communities and Local Government, all of which spend less than five per cent.