Hung parliament could paralyse public sector IT

Nick Clegg's Lib Dems do not see eye to eye with Labour on key IT issues

With ICM and YouGov polls this week predicting a hung parliament, experts warn that Whitehall IT procurement plans could be thrown into disarray if the election fails to produce an outright winner.

The most likely hung parliament scenario will be one in which the Labour Party forms a government for a fourth term with support from the Liberal Democrats.

Labour is more focused on central government delivery mechanisms while the Liberal Democrats favour local solutions.

Janet Grossman, head of the government group at IT industry association Intellect, explained the possible result of such a scenario: “This [difference in focus] could lead to bitter disagreements on whether or not major department ICT projects should be scrapped in favour of smaller regional solutions.

“On the other hand, we could see more effort being put into areas on which all the parties agree, such as shared services and cloud computing initiatives,” she added.

The biggest issue for a hung parliament is how the government’s next-generation broadband rollout
will proceed.

Labour has said it will revive its 50p-per-month broadband tax if it is re-elected and – despite being ditched as a result of considerable Tory hostility at the last reading in the Commons – this measure is largely supported by Liberal Democrats.

Don Foster, Lib Dem shadow secretary for culture, media and sport, supports the tax but said: “Government must provide exemptions from the tax for pensioners and the least well-off.”
Quocirca communications analyst Rob Bamforth said the government’s Digital Britain strategy is likely to survive in the event of a hung parliament.

“This will be especially true if the Liberal Democrats continue to show support. However, it needs to be recognised that [broadband rollout] may not even make the agenda if other priorities [such as electoral reform] are considered more important,” he said.