Report: Government has saved £159.6m on ICT contracts in the past year

The government says its ICT strategy has saved it £159.6m on contracts in the past year, but it still faces a challenge to meet all of its targets.

A report on the first year of the ICT strategy stated the government has saved £159.6m by "demanding a rigorous business case for any significant spend".

It added that £140m of £490m overall savings came through centralising procurement of common goods and services and £64.2m was saved from telecommunication network budgets by applying "better, common standards for the public services network (PSN)".

It also projected further savings of £150m in 2012/13 by creating an environment for a common infrastructure.

Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude singled out the establishment of a CIO Delivery Board to implement the strategy, the creation of the CloudStore, and the launch of the Government Digital Service as highlights of the government's strategy so far.

The report said that the government has looked to deliver value from suppliers in new ways such as software licensing optimisation, which it said has brought over £7m in savings, and the use of e-auctions, which was used by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to procure 16,000 desktop machines at a saving of £2m.

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