- The strategy described as critical to a ‘one government’ approach is still experiencing governance shortcomings, funding uncertainty and delays.
- Progress is being hampered by inconsistent information making it difficult to monitor and plan for integration with other government IT systems.
- The Applicant Tracking System that government developed to replace civil service recruitment had to be abandoned because it was incompatible with shared services systems.
- The NAO report recommends that Cabinet Office clarifies governance responsibilities to ensure that all government departments are bought in and committed.
The Shared Services Strategy aims to standardise processes, reduce costs and improve data insights across government. It aims for government departments to share ‘back office’ functions such as finance, payroll and human resources.
Overseen by the Cabinet Office, the strategy is forecast to deliver £1 billion of net savings over its lifetime. Better data after its delivery is also intended to boost decision-making at the heart of government.
A new report from the NAO finds that, despite numerous improvements, the programme is unlikely to realise its full potential due to a range of issues including governance, funding and IT integration. Some departments have not yet fully committed to delivery plans which Cabinet Office views as compulsory, and efforts to standardise processes across government have been inconsistent.
A refreshed delivery model implemented in 2021 moved away from the idea of individual departments procuring their own single software platforms to five cross-government cloud-based shared services platforms, known as ‘clusters’.
The NAO report finds that the interoperability of clusters’ systems with other, new government IT systems continues to be a problem. While clusters have a clear governance structure and delivery plans, governance issues at programme level remain and Cabinet Office lacks a clear mandate to respond to issues affecting the whole Shared Services Strategy.
The planned replacement for the civil service recruitment platform, the Applicant Tracking System, had to be abandoned because of interoperability problems with the cluster systems. As clusters will have to interface with multiple government digital programmes (at least 25) it is important that Cabinet Office learns from the failure of the ATS and does not repeat the same mistakes.
Cabinet Office’s monitoring dashboards are of mixed use, the report adds, due to inconsistencies in the quality and completeness of data provided by clusters and other government IT systems.
The report finds that the Finance Function is the most advanced in standardising its processes across government. Standardisation in Human Resources has been delayed, and the Commercial Function opted out.
On funding, the report details efforts to address budgetary concerns across these cluster groups, with the Cabinet Office believing that these new arrangements addressed outstanding issues. However, according to the NAO, wider departmental pressures and funding constraints still mean that some clusters will have to compete for departmental funds.
The Shared Services Strategy aims to standardise processes and systems across government, offering potential for significant efficiencies. However, to deliver the strategy successfully and avoid a repetition of what happened with the ATS, Cabinet Office needs to clarify governance responsibilities for getting departments’ buy-in and for actively managing other government IT systems’ compatibility with shared services.
“The Shared Services programme has the potential to deliver efficiency gains across government, but governance issues, interoperability problems and inconsistent commitments are hampering efforts to keep the programme on track.
“Our recommendations are designed to address these findings and maximise the chances of success.”
Gareth Davies, head of the NAO