Audit Scotland's new report on managing ICT contracts provides a useful insight into the future of Scottish Government ICT contracts both for those in the public sector and for those in the private sector who tender for such contracts.
Back in August 2012, Audit Scotland published a report titled "Managing ICT contracts" on the management of information and communication technology (ICT) programmes within Scottish Government and central government bodies. A number of recommendations were made in that report and Audit Scotland recently published a new report charting the progress that has been made since 2012.
What is Audit Scotland?
Audit Scotland is a statutory body which was set up in 2000 – it provides services to the Auditor General for Scotland and the Accounts Commission for Scotland. The report prepared by Audit Scotland is for the Auditor General for Scotland who examines how public bodies spend public money.
Why is the report important?
The report provides a useful insight into Audit Scotland's thoughts on the ICT contract processes within Scottish Government and central government bodies, and its recommendations are likely to form part of the future management of ICT contracts (where they have not already). The report returned to three ICT programmes that formed part of the August 2012 report and contains reviews in the form of case studies of a number of central ICT programmes.
What are the key findings of the report?
The Auditor General for Scotland, Caroline Gardner, states that: "When managed effectively, ICT programmes have the power to transform public service, and make a real positive difference to people's lives... While steps have been taken to improve, and overcome obstacles such as the shortage of ICT skills in the pubic sector, today's report shows that significant progress is still needed."
The report makes a number of key findings and recommendations:
- Central government spend on ICT-related goods and services has increased by more than 15% between 2011/12 and 2013/14, reflecting the move to digital public services.
- Strategic Oversight:
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- In August 2012, Audit Scotland made a number of recommendations for the Scottish Government to improve its strategic oversight and support of central government ICT programmes.
- Although the Scottish Government's Digital Directorate introduced new assurance and oversight arrangements through an ICT assurance framework, the framework was not clear enough to allow the Scottish Government to fulfil its oversight role.
- A revised framework was introduced in April 2015 which provides clearer instructions and guidance.
- A new role of Office of the Chief Information Officer was also created in February 2015 to assist with the framework.
- Addressing Skills Gaps and Shortages:
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- Public bodies still encounter difficulties in identifying, recruiting and retaining staff with the range of skills required to manage ICT programmes.
- The Scottish Government recognises this as a significant recurring problem and is developing a new approach that pools and shares resources in a central government Digital Transformation Service.
- Governance and operational arrangements are yet to be finalised and Audit Scotland notes that this is an ambitious project.
- Managing Programmes
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- Some central government bodies can demonstrate good processes for managing aspects of their ICT programmes.
- Other bodies did not have processes in place to clearly define benefits, collect baseline information from the start of the programme, or invest in contract and supplier management throughout the project lifecycle.
- Some bodies are using programme management techniques without the necessary skills and experience (although such bodies have since trained their staff in this technique.)
Thoughts...
The Scottish Government's digital strategy, outlined in September 2012, made it clear that the public sector is expected to deliver all services online where feasible, and the increased spend on ICT-related goods and services set out in the report reflects this strategy. Some of the actions coming out of the 2012 report are still in a development stage, and it will be interesting to see how these grow (for example, the pooling of resources into the Digital Transformation Service). What is clear is that, in an era of austerity, ICT programmes are under the spotlight and public bodies are likely to be focusing on the terms of ICT managed contracts more than ever; something that suppliers would do well to note.
The Auditor General's report Managing ICT contracts in central government: An update can be found here.
Disclaimer
The material contained in this article is of the nature of general comment only and does not give advice on any particular matter. Recipients should not act on the basis of the information in this e-update without taking appropriate professional advice upon their own particular circumstances.
