Disasters in IT projects cannot be ruled out, says watchdog

Monday January 21 2005

By Nick Timmins

Big information technology procurements by the government are being handled better but there is no guarantee that there will not be a repeat of past disasters, the National Audit Office said yesterday.

There were serious shortages of staff with the project and programme management skills needed to deliver huge IT-enabled projects that affected benefit payments, the supply of driving licences, the National Health Service and much else of government.

While a system of regular reviews introduced in 2001 had brought critical projects that started to go wrong back on track, "projects are still going awry" said the public spending watchdog in a report on improving IT procurement.

In the past, big projects for a benefit swipe card and an immigration system had to be abandoned, courts projects had run late and the Passport Agency, Criminal Records Bureau, national insurance computer and Child Support Agency all had problems.

In the 250 reviews conducted in the two years to last March, more than a quarter of projects were rated red - at serious risk of going wrong. About half were classified as amber - with important issues still to be addressed. Only 22 per cent were rated green - with minor obstacles to implementation.

Projects did improve as a result of the reviews, the NAO said, because action was taken before they spiralled out of control. But eight critical ones, which the NAO did not name, had received successive red ratings.

Furthermore, "intractable" issues were being thrown up time and again - skill shortages, the need for better communication with those involved in, or affected by, the project, and better risk management.

"Unless there is growing evidence that these weaknesses are being addressed, their recurrence will reduce confidence in the ability of the Office of Government Commerce (which conducts the reviews) and departments to bring about a step change in the performance of projects."

The report backs the demand from the government's chief information officer for a civil service career to be created for those who manage big projects.

Departments are recruiting skills from the private sector and even paying the private sector to manage the projects.