The government has made progress over the past year in providing modern strategies for sharing back-office services across the Whitehall sector, but by 2028 it will be difficult to meet the plan and achieve cost-effectiveness. “Remaining barriers must be addressed,” said National Audit. Office (NAO) said.
In 2018, the Cabinet Office announced a new 10-year strategy on shared services. In this he had three overarching goals. Standardization of processes and data. Meet end-user needs.
The strategy delegated responsibility for achieving these objectives to departments of government, with each department establishing its own programs.
The Cabinet Office will have to revise its approach in 2021 after “slow progress”, according to a report by the National Audit Office.
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Instead, we grouped government departments into five delivery “clusters” of varying sizes. This will “simplify the division’s existing operating methods,” enable all divisions to utilize cloud-based technology by 2028 (three years later than originally planned), and reduce operating costs to is intended to reduce by 10% to 15%.
NAO recommends several measures to ensure a successful transition to a clustered shared services model. These include:
- Cabinet Office and a cluster to examine the possibility of delivery
- Developing a contingency plan if expectations for funding levels are not met
- Streamlining the governance structure to help embed the cluster model
“Departments working together as a cluster should demonstrate how they have taken lessons from previous strategies and share this with the Cabinet Office.”
The NAO also recommends that the Cabinet Office stagger the timing of bringing clusters to market so that they do not all start procuring IT systems at the same time, stating: The risk that the system will expire before a new solution can be found. ”
Most departments see the cluster model as a “smart approach,” the report said. Shared service plans are underway, but some clusters have already started implementing the new system, while others have yet to go to market and begin the procurement process.
The report notes that the Cabinet Office is still unclear about the extent of benefits the program is expected to bring, and does not know how much it has cost to implement so far.
It described governance arrangements as “fragmented and cumbersome”, resulting in “duplicated efforts and disjointed decision-making”, and noted that the Cabinet Office had not yet begun monitoring progress.
NAO said several barriers to future delivery “have yet to be addressed.”
- Funding for the cluster’s shared services plan has been delayed after the Treasury Department rejected all three of the cluster’s spending review bids last year, which could cause it to miss key deadlines.
- The Cabinet Office does not have a back-up plan to provide a shared services strategy in the event that clusters cannot secure the required level of funding for their preferred option.
The cluster estimates that £382m to £403m will be needed to provide the desired options for the current spending review period of 2024-2025. However, the report notes that the Treasury has only approved a £300m funding package.
Gareth Davies, NAO Director, said: Several fundamental elements of the government’s modern shared services strategy must be put in place to ensure its success. ”
Lottie Winson
