HL Deb 17 January 2000 vol 608 cc875-6

3 p.m.

Lord Ezra

asked. Her Majesty's Government:

What steps they are taking to improve the success of major information technology projects in the public sector.

The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Lord Falconer of Thoroton)

My Lords, as I announced to the House in a Written Answer on 27th October of last year, my right honourable friend the other Minister of State for the Cabinet Office launched a major review of the handling of government information technology projects. It is considering best practice from within government, the private sector and overseas to produce recommendations to improve performance in that area in the future. It will identify the pillars which support successful information technology projects and make sure that those are in place at the start of projects so that future systems run effectively and deliver value for money.

Lord Ezra

My Lords, I thank the noble and learned Lord for repeating that statement. But is he aware from the recently published report of the Public Accounts Committee of another place that no fewer than 25 investigations have been carried out into IT problems in the public sector and that many of those have revealed very serious shortcomings indeed and cover a large number of government departments?

Will he also accept that, arising out of those inquiries, the overriding problems have been the poor specification of projects and inadequate project management which have led to several hundred million pounds of over-expenditure and massive delays? Will he accept, and will this be borne in mind in the inquiry which he has mentioned, that, unless those projects are delivered better in the future, the Government's plans in the White Paper of March 1999, Modernising Government, will be seriously jeopardised?

Lord Falconer of Thoroton

My Lords, the Government are well aware of the publication of the Public Accounts Committee report. The Central Information Technology Unit review, to which I referred in the original Answer, is already addressing all the areas which the report has identified. I share the noble Lord's concern about the importance of making sure that those IT projects work, and proper specification at the outset is plainly one of the most important matters that needs to be addressed.

The scope of the Central IT Unit's review is wider than that covered by the Public Accounts Committee and is focused on ways in which to rectify the problems identified and to raise standards in the future. A representative of the National Audit Office who was involved with the production of the Public Accounts Committee report is on the steering committee for the review. The team continues to liaise closely with the National Audit Office on its work.

Baroness Miller of Hendon

My Lords. further to the Minister's original Answer about the inquiry being undertaken at the Cabinet Office, will the results of that be available in June, as was first indicated, and will the report be given to the public but through the Houses of Parliament rather than simply through a press briefing?

Lord Falconer of Thoroton

My Lords, it is envisaged that the report will be ready in the early summer and it will be published.

Lord Dholakia

My Lords, public spending watchdogs have already commented on the 40 projects across Whitehall which are experiencing delay and overspending. Will the noble and learned Lord indicate, in particular in relation to the Immigration Service and the Passport Agency, whether the testing has been completed and when the systems will be fully operative?

Lord Falconer of Thoroton

My Lords, there is much scope for further improvement in relation to the IND project, to which the noble Lord referred. However, in the past year, the IND has rolled out improved systems to a large number of staff. That includes the provision of e-mail and a stock letter system for case workers based in the Croydon office.