PAC publishes report on failing government digital programmes

Article summary

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has published its report, ‘Challenges in implementing digital change’ in which it highlighted concerns that a number of large-scale governmental digital programmes have failed leading to a serious impact on government services and taxpayers’ money. While the government has pointed to the success of the coronavirus (COVID-19) furlough schemes as a success story, the PAC has stated that ‘most of these are not large-scale transformational programmes and we remain sceptical of the ability to succeed in this area’. According to the PAC, the government currently faces significant long-term barriers to successful digital change including lack of digital skills and capability among senior leadership and a wider scarcity of specialist digital, data and technology skills across both the public and private sectors.