Background to the report

Since 2004, central government has sought to cut the cost of services through the sharing of back-office functions between departments. This work has been led by Cabinet Office.

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The aim of using shared services is to standardise processes and services, reducing costs while improving data consistency. This involves moving to a common IT system known as an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. The private sector and local authorities often claim savings from implementing shared service centres.

In March 2021, Cabinet Office refreshed its delivery model, moving away from the idea of individual departments procuring their own single software platforms and, instead, having five cloud-based shared service centres operational by 2028.

It is intended to facilitate convergence, bringing government departments into alignment on procedures, processes, definitions and data standards.

Scope of the report

This report examines how Cabinet Office and the clusters are progressing with implementing the 2021 Shared Services Strategy. It examines whether:

  • Cabinet Office has a good understanding of progress since we last reported on shared services in 2022
  • clusters are on track to deliver the Shared Services Strategy to time and budget, including the intended longer-term improvements
  • the government can manage interdependencies and interoperability between shared services and other developments elsewhere in government

Conclusions

The Shared Services Strategy aims to standardise processes and systems across government, offering potential for significant efficiencies. Since our last report in 2022, clusters have made some progress with operational delivery, improving governance structures, developing implementation plans and moving forward with procurement. However, some fundamental issues continue to jeopardise delivery of five interoperable clusters.

There is no single owner in the centre of government with a clear mandate to secure departmental onboarding, which leaves buy-in uncertain and timelines at risk. The absence of a strong technical lead has resulted in inconsistent ERP configurations and data convergence, undermining interoperability and data standards.

When combined with fragmented governance of interdependencies, this creates a real risk that the strategy will not be delivered to time or budget. Unless these gaps are addressed urgently, the government will not achieve the full benefits it set out to achieve and may incur increased costs.

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Publication details

Press release

View press release (6 Mar 2026)

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