Local government IT spend has fallen by 20 per cent since 2006

Worrying at a time when IT should be enabling cost savings, says Socitm

ICT investments can enable home working and other efficiencies

ICT spend in local government has dropped by 15.6 per cent in real terms since 2008 and by 19.3 per cent since 2006, according to a report by local government body Socitm, released today.

The report, called Benchmarking services summary for 2009, argues that this is worrying at a time when ICT should be seen as an enabler of cost savings in areas such as flexible working, shared services, application of lean thinking and e-procurement.

The reduction in spending indicates that local council management teams are not moving towards these goals, according to Socitm.

Reasons for the fall may be that leaders doubt the ability of ICT to deliver, which could be explained by weaknesses in ICT governance, or the reluctance of project leaders to focus on benefit realisation.

The report suggests that this may be because blame is apportioned to ICT projects unfairly; or because an ICT project has failed in the past.

These problems can be mitigated by ensuring that top management has some say in the process of selection and investment in IT projects and in managing projects rigorously.