Struggling IT projects to go on red alert

National Audit Office to be involved at an early stage if there are problems

Major government technology projects given consecutive ‘red lights’ by the Gateway monitoring process are to be automatically referred to spending watchdog the National Audit Office.

The Gateway review process, run by Whitehall buying agency the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), monitors government projects at key stages and rates them red, amber or green according to their progress.

The agreement to refer ‘double reds’ to the Comptroller and Auditor General was revealed in a House of Commons debate on government accountability, and represents a compromise.

The Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) met last week to assess the impact of OGC initiatives on the delivery of projects, and to assess calls for the publication of Gateway reviews as well as for the Comptroller and the Auditor General to be notified of double red scores.

‘I am encouraged by the OGC’s agreement to our latter recommendation, but disappointed it has rejected the former,’ said PAC chairman Edward Leigh.

The PAC emphasised that civil service project management capabilities must be strengthened; that large, complex projects must be broken into smaller, more manageable components and that reliable contingency plans must be put in place.