Government IT is terrible and only getting worse, warns report

The digital revolution might be cancelled – or at least postponed

Report warns the civil service is falling behind in its targets for digitising public services rather than catching up to meet government targets.

The government’s plans for a “digital revolution” of public services is unlikely to happen – at least, not competently – because of a lack of IT talent.

That’s according to a report by the Global Government Forum, based on interviews with permanent secretaries – the most senior civil servants in government, responsible for running all the major departments.

Indeed, despite the rhetoric of politicians, they warn that the machinery of state is falling behind in areas such as digital transformation and artificial intelligence, with one suggesting that the public sector isn’t even capable of getting “the late 20^th century stuff right”.

Another added that “none of us have good-quality, basic IT” and have to work with “legacy systems and legacy models that don’t really speak to each other”. Infrastructure is “held together on a shoestring”.

The pace of change in IT is so great that the public sector is falling behind rather than catching up.

Part of that, the report highlights, is down to the glacial speed of decision-making at the heart of government, with major IT projects taking an average of three years to acquire approval, while the shared culture of senior civil servants and ministers does not focus on outcomes that matter. Moreover, the Civil Service is understaffed in terms of the tech skills required to start catching up.

Retaining tech skills

Around five per cent of the Civil Service workforce are engaged in what the report describes as “digital and data roles”, compared to between eight and 12 per cent in the “regulated private sector”.

“Multiple leaders described a consistent pattern: attracting talented early-career digital professionals is not the problem. Keeping them is. Many arrive motivated by mission and purpose but leave within a few years in pursuit of better pay and career progression elsewhere,” states the report.

While the civil service has adopted a Digital & Data Pay Framework it is still uncompetitive compared to what is on offer in the private sector. Savvy staff might start in the Civil Service, but the most competent and driven will quickly find new, better paid roles outside.

Departments have successfully brought in high-calibre senior digital leaders who are already making a positive impact. In some instances, this has been enabled through mechanisms such as secondments, temporary contracts, or other arrangements outside standard civil service structures which allow for more competitive salary offerings.

One recommendation was to reform the Civil Service’s generous pension scheme so that staff are paid more now, with a more modest pension later. This is reportedly being considered.

In addition, moving on under-performers – or the outright incompetent – is also a long-running sore point in the public sector, and downright dangerous when it comes to roles such as IT security. “Some leaders would also like more powers to make it easier to move people out who

are poor performers’,” the report notes, but adds that is “still seen as far too difficult”.

As a result, departments continue to face difficulties attracting senior digital talent with packages that simply don’t compete with the deals on offer in the private sector, especially in terms of pay.

The report recommends that “digital” needs to become a core element of public sector leadership from the top of the Civil Service down. That means permanent secretaries “must demonstrate visible leadership on digital transformation by actively sponsoring key programmes, regularly communicating digital goals to staff, and championing collaboration across departments”.

“Digital leaders” ought to sit on executive committees with digital non-executive directors to ensure that this priority is driven through the heart of government. Approvals for “high impact” digital projects needs to be streamlined. “Current processes are too slow and risk stalling essential innovation,” warns the report.

Finally, digital innovation needs to be a core part of senior civil servant performance metrics, agreed with ministers so it can be driven from the top down.

“This shared accountability shifts the focus from inputs to delivery and results and, crucially, is key to driving the culture change needed to overcome many of the obstacles identified in this study,” the report asserts.

Last month, MPs on the Public Accounts Committee warned that a lack of cyber security experts in Whitehall should “send a chill down the government’s spine” because poor pay and an inability to move-on the incompetent meant IT security across the public sector is not good enough.

Indeed, the IT security breach behind the government’s secret Afghan relocation scheme provides a perfect case in point. The government has committed more than £1 billion to cyber and digital defence in a strategic security overhaul.