Labour today sets out how it will reform digital government to get a better deal for taxpayers.
The 11th interim report from Labour’s Zero-Based Review (ZBR) of every pound spent by government reveals how the coalition has missed its target to rebuild essential IT services on time despite a ballooning budget for the Government Digital Service.
The report shows that the Cabinet Office has delivered only nine of 25 key IT services which were due to be redesigned and rebuilt by March 2015 as part of the Digital by Default scheme.
At the same time, spending on the GDS programme has increased from £9.7m in 2011/12 to £23.3m in 2013/14. Spending on IT specialists has also notably spiked in the last financial year, with a spend of £7.9m recorded.
Today Chris Leslie, shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Lucy Powell, shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office, outline how Labour will:
· Commission a review of data sharing in government to ensure Whitehall uses individuals’ data in a coherent and ethical manner. This follows Ed Miliband’s commitment last year that every adult will be able to own and have access to their public sector data.
· Use the expiry of major government contracts to save taxpayers’ money by breaking up IT services into smaller and more flexible components. This would also make it easier for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to bid for government contacts.
· Save at least £8.6m a year by bringing local authority websites within the Gov.uk platform.
The ZBR report on the Cabinet Office also highlights a series of examples of waste and false economy under this government, including:
· The £56.3m spent by the Ministry of Justice on developing an HR and payroll system with IT firm Steria before discovering the Cabinet Office had carried out the same work with the same contractor.
· The £27m spent on online social security payments system MyBenefits Online, which was superseded by the introduction of Universal Credit.
· The expected £663m write-off of IT costs under the failing plan for Universal Credit.
Labour will cut the deficit every year, and get the current budget into surplus – and national debt falling – as soon as possible in the next parliament.
Chris Leslie MP, Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said:
“David Cameron’s government is set to break its promise to balance the books and get the national debt falling.
“The next Labour government will get the deficit and debt down, but we will do so in a fairer way and by examining every pound of spending and maximizing value for money for taxpayers.
“Labour’s interim Zero-Based Review has identified failure by this government to meet digital targets despite huge increases in the budget of the Government Digital Service.
“A Labour government will use the expiry of major government contracts to save taxpayers’ money by breaking up IT services into smaller and more flexible components. We will commission a review of data sharing by government departments and agencies, to ensure that every adult will be able to own and have access to their public sector data.”
Lucy Powell, Labour’s Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office, said:
“Despite spending on the Government Digital Service ballooning Francis Maude has failed to deliver on his promise of 25 exemplar services being live by this March. His plans for digital inclusion miss out those most hard to reach and his focus on transactional services means that he has failed to harness the full potential of digital public services in the hands of the public.
“Labour has a better plan for Britain’s future. The next Labour government will champion transformed digital services for all, improving the experience of public service users.
“We will also generate savings for the tax payer by rooting out unnecessary duplication and waste by working in partnership across the public sector to deliver a joined–up digital agenda.”
Ends
The full text of Chris Leslie and Lucy Powell’s interim ZBR report on the Cabinet Office is available online at: http://www.yourbritain.org.uk/agenda-2015/policy-review/zero-based-review