The Committee of Public Accounts has agreed to the following Report:—

INTRODUCTION AND CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Citizens have many relationships with the Government, for example, as taxpayers, benefit recipients, patients in hospital, travellers in or out of the country, or contributors to the state pension scheme. Successfully implemented, information technology (IT) enables Government to respond to the needs and expectations of citizens in these areas, and allows citizens to fulfil their obligations to the state quickly and effectively. For this to happen, however, Government departments must have the IT systems in place and working. However, for more than two decades, implementing IT systems successfully has proved difficult for a number of them.

2. The importance of the timely delivery of IT projects, and the effects delays in implementation can have on the people of this country, have been clearly demonstrated recently by the long queues for passports, and in the many thousands of pensioners and benefit recipients not receiving their full entitlement. These are not isolated examples. This report draws out lessons from more than 25 cases from the 1990s where the implementation of IT systems has resulted in delay, confusion and inconvenience to the citizen and, in many cases, poor value for money to the taxpayer.

3. Our key conclusions and recommendations are that:

• Decisions about IT are crucial to the development and success of the business of public bodies, and cannot be treated in isolation from other aspects of their work. Failure to deliver an IT system can have a profound effect on an organisation's ability to provide services to its customers. Key decisions on IT systems are, therefore, business decisions, not technical ones, and should involve senior management. And the commitment of senior management can be a critical factor in securing a successful outcome.

• Projects are conceived and grow from identified business needs. However, what seems a clear objective at the beginning can easily become blurred and confused as events progress. The end users must be identified before the project commences so that their needs are taken into account fully during design and development.

• The scale and complexity of projects is a major influence on whether they succeed or fail. Departments should consider carefully whether projects are too ambitious to undertake in one go. This consideration is particularly important if a project connects with the business operations of other parties, or depends on the development of IT undertaken by other parties.

• The management and oversight of IT projects by skilled project managers is essential for ensuring that projects are delivered to time and budget. But the successful implementation of IT systems calls for imagination and well-conceived risk management, as well as sound project management methodologies.

• The increasing use of complex external contracts for the delivery of major public sector IT projects and the supply of strategic IT services has highlighted the need for a high degree of professionalism in the definition, negotiation and management of IT contracts. It is essential that public sector bodies get the right contracts in place. With large sums of public money at stake, any lack of clarity, or debatable interpretation in a contract can lead to expensive misunderstandings that might have to be resolved in the courts.

• The implementation of an IT system is not an end in itself. It is important that sufficient attention is paid to ensuring that staff know how to make full and proper use of it. Without this it is unlikely that the anticipated business benefits will be realised. Training of staff can take up considerable resources, often a significant proportion of the overall cost of the project. Training must address the needs of users, and of those operating and maintaining the system.

• As well as wasting enormous sums of public money, failures in IT can have disabling impacts on public services and on citizens. These have included the failure to pay social security benefits to vulnerable people and major delays in issuing people their passports. In addition to planning and managing projects positively, Departments should therefore have contingency plans in place to maintain adequate levels of service in the event of project failures.

• It is essential that organisations learn lesson from the projects undertaken. A post-implementation review is designed to establish the extent to which they have secured the business benefits anticipated. The review may encompass whether the project has met its business objectives, user expectations and technical requirements.

These conclusions are spelt out in more detail below.