public sector, outsourcing,UK

Public Sector 2005: government positions IT at heart of future plans

12 Nov 2005 | (Survey)

It has been a big year for public sector technology, with numerous high-profile
multibillion-pound programmes under way.

The contract to create a seamless platform for the armed forces through the £3bn Defence Information Infrastructure was signed in March.

The £6bn National Programme for NHS IT has started to deliver, albeit patchily.

And the £2bn Criminal Justice IT programme has moved up a gear with a string of major procurements.

Every new government policy also has an attendant IT investment. Plans for a national biometric identity card scheme, stalled by the General Election in May, are back on the agenda, with a price tag anywhere from £3bn to £19bn, depending on who you talk to.

Similarly, a key component of the government’s anti-terrorism policy is the development of more secure immigration controls through the £400m eBorders system. But these are just the headline programmes. There is also a far more significant undertow.

Public sector shake-up
The Efficiency Review, published by the Treasury in July last year, instituted plans to strip more than £21bn a year out of public sector administration costs.

The Review could not have bigger teeth or bigger implications. All savings are to be ploughed back in to front-line services. And performance will be linked to the comprehensive spending review that sets future budgets.

The stakes are high because the Efficiency Review savings are crucial if Labour’s increased investment in public services is to be sustained without raising taxes.

There are a number of mechanisms to achieve this, including cutting staff, relocating to less expensive areas and consolidating office space.

The biggest area being explored is shared services: multiple departments and agencies using a single administration system, such as human resources or finance, to avoid duplication.

In local government this might mean sharing between local authorities, or between one council and multiple local public sector organisations, such as police and social services.

The Efficiency agenda, with the force of the Treasury behind it, is the driving force behind changes to the fundamentals of how the public sector organises and delivers its services.

And finally, the ideal of joined-up government may be forced into reality.

IT takes centre stage
Viewed in its entirety, technology has never been more central to government policy, and never higher up the agenda.

Last week’s publication of the first government-wide IT strategy is a case in point.

It is the most wide-ranging survey of the realities, potentials and interrelations of government IT to date.

It covers the role of technology to transform the way government does business, meets efficiency targets and delivers the services citizens expect.

‘The Prime Minister commissioned this strategy to seize the opportunity provided by technology to transform the business of government,’ it begins.

‘Technology has a major part to play in the solutions to each of three major challenges which globalisation is setting governments – economic productivity, social justice and public service reform.

‘Only a strategic view will enable the UK to use technology decisively and effectively across government to meet its national objectives.’

It does not get much more important than that.

Source: www.computing.co.uk

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