£45B savings remain theoretical as UK digital roadmap delayed again
(2026/01/20)
- Reference: 1768901413
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/01/20/ukgov_digital_roadmap_delay/
- Source link:
The UK government has delayed publication of its long-promised digital roadmap, a plan it says could eventually help save up to [1]£45 billion of taxpayers' money by modernizing creaking public sector IT.
Speaking to MPs last week, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) permanent secretary Emran Mian said the Government Digital and AI Roadmap – meant to improve data sharing across government – was due by the end of last year, but had hit stumbling blocks.
The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee was hearing evidence about using data and analytics to reduce error and fraud in the public sector, which, according to the National Audit Office (NAO), cost taxpayers between £55 billion and £81 billion in 2023-24.
[2]
One of the problems the roadmap aimed to tackle was data sharing across government departments and other public sector bodies, with the project supposed to set out ways to solve this.
[3]
[4]
"We had hoped to do that before Christmas – indeed, I think both officials and ministers said to Parliament that we hoped to do so before Christmas," Mian told the committee.
"We were not able to, but we are hoping to do so very imminently, this month. That roadmap will cover the full spectrum of improvements that we are looking to make in data and digital. That will put us in a much better position to be able to run data analytics on top of, to be able to tackle fraud and error. That is the next part of the plan."
[5]
In fact, the plan had been to publish the roadmap in the summer of last year, according to the government's [6]Blueprint for Modern Digital Government [PDF]. Published in January 2025, it said the government would "develop these ideas into a Government Digital and AI Roadmap alongside the second phase of the Spending Review, to be published in summer 2025. This will supersede the existing 2022 to 2025 roadmap for digital and data, Transforming for a Digital Future."
The blueprint also promised [7]a new package of AI tools it nicknames Humphrey, in homage to the classic British satirical TV comedy [8]Yes, Minister .
But in [9]a letter to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in November , Mian admitted it had been delayed and promised it would be available in December 2025.
[10]
"The roadmap is now due to be published in December 2025," he said. "This allows the inclusion of fully costed, feasible and funded deliverables, aligning the roadmap directly with the outcomes of the Spending Review and departments' business planning. Additionally, the roadmap will now launch alongside a series of other key digital and data announcements, presenting a more coherent and impactful narrative for the government's digital agenda."
Imagine the little faces of the boys and girls who did not get the promised document in their Christmas stockings. In terms of the UK's public finances, there may be a certain loss of humor, however.
The Labour government faces high public debt, struggling public services, and a political promise not to raise income tax. The administration is one in a long line to see the allure of IT as the solution to such a tight spot.
In a subsequent [11]report , the government suggested publicly funded services including the NHS, local councils, and central government are missing out on a potential £45 billion ($55 billion) in productivity savings through old or poor use of technology.
[12]How California built one of the world's biggest public-sector IT systems
[13]Airbus exec: Most CIOs in Europe will not finish SAP ECC6 migration by 2030
[14]Manchester hits snooze again on joining Palantir-run NHS data platform
[15]Networking students need an explanation of the internet that can fit in their heads
That figure has since come under scrutiny, with experts telling MPs it was possible to improve productivity, but any proposals [16]to cut spending by that amount would be difficult to achieve without reducing headcount or capital spending.
Nonetheless, [17]DSIT has announced more plans to use AI agents in the civil service to cut admin tasks, and the Department for Work and Pensions has already launched a procurement for [18]conversational AI across its vast phone answering service for pensioners and benefits claimants.
Plans for data sharing, data quality, and legacy systems all hang off the promised digital roadmap, now twice delayed. Officials will hope the payoffs from all its plans for better digital government are not similarly always just beyond the horizon. ®
Get our [19]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/archaic-tech-sees-public-sector-miss-45-billion-annual-savings
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aW9gVDTVGpasd3I8RgjRjgAAAsY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aW9gVDTVGpasd3I8RgjRjgAAAsY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aW9gVDTVGpasd3I8RgjRjgAAAsY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aW9gVDTVGpasd3I8RgjRjgAAAsY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/678f6665f4ff8740d978864c/a-blueprint-for-modern-digital-government-web-optimised.pdf
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/21/ai_humphrey_uk_government/
[8] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080306/
[9] https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/50501/documents/274362/default/#:~:text=The%20roadmap%20is%20now%20due,for%20the%20government's%20digital%20agenda
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aW9gVDTVGpasd3I8RgjRjgAAAsY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/archaic-tech-sees-public-sector-miss-45-billion-annual-savings
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/29/fiscal_peoplesoft_california/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/11/airbus_exec_sap/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/20/manchester_nhs_fdp_deferred/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/13/networking_students_need_an_explanation/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/15/uk_gov_ai_savings/
[17] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ai-helpers-could-coach-people-into-careers-and-help-them-move-home
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/07/dwp_ai_call_handling/
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Speaking to MPs last week, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) permanent secretary Emran Mian said the Government Digital and AI Roadmap – meant to improve data sharing across government – was due by the end of last year, but had hit stumbling blocks.
The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee was hearing evidence about using data and analytics to reduce error and fraud in the public sector, which, according to the National Audit Office (NAO), cost taxpayers between £55 billion and £81 billion in 2023-24.
[2]
One of the problems the roadmap aimed to tackle was data sharing across government departments and other public sector bodies, with the project supposed to set out ways to solve this.
[3]
[4]
"We had hoped to do that before Christmas – indeed, I think both officials and ministers said to Parliament that we hoped to do so before Christmas," Mian told the committee.
"We were not able to, but we are hoping to do so very imminently, this month. That roadmap will cover the full spectrum of improvements that we are looking to make in data and digital. That will put us in a much better position to be able to run data analytics on top of, to be able to tackle fraud and error. That is the next part of the plan."
[5]
In fact, the plan had been to publish the roadmap in the summer of last year, according to the government's [6]Blueprint for Modern Digital Government [PDF]. Published in January 2025, it said the government would "develop these ideas into a Government Digital and AI Roadmap alongside the second phase of the Spending Review, to be published in summer 2025. This will supersede the existing 2022 to 2025 roadmap for digital and data, Transforming for a Digital Future."
The blueprint also promised [7]a new package of AI tools it nicknames Humphrey, in homage to the classic British satirical TV comedy [8]Yes, Minister .
But in [9]a letter to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in November , Mian admitted it had been delayed and promised it would be available in December 2025.
[10]
"The roadmap is now due to be published in December 2025," he said. "This allows the inclusion of fully costed, feasible and funded deliverables, aligning the roadmap directly with the outcomes of the Spending Review and departments' business planning. Additionally, the roadmap will now launch alongside a series of other key digital and data announcements, presenting a more coherent and impactful narrative for the government's digital agenda."
Imagine the little faces of the boys and girls who did not get the promised document in their Christmas stockings. In terms of the UK's public finances, there may be a certain loss of humor, however.
The Labour government faces high public debt, struggling public services, and a political promise not to raise income tax. The administration is one in a long line to see the allure of IT as the solution to such a tight spot.
In a subsequent [11]report , the government suggested publicly funded services including the NHS, local councils, and central government are missing out on a potential £45 billion ($55 billion) in productivity savings through old or poor use of technology.
[12]How California built one of the world's biggest public-sector IT systems
[13]Airbus exec: Most CIOs in Europe will not finish SAP ECC6 migration by 2030
[14]Manchester hits snooze again on joining Palantir-run NHS data platform
[15]Networking students need an explanation of the internet that can fit in their heads
That figure has since come under scrutiny, with experts telling MPs it was possible to improve productivity, but any proposals [16]to cut spending by that amount would be difficult to achieve without reducing headcount or capital spending.
Nonetheless, [17]DSIT has announced more plans to use AI agents in the civil service to cut admin tasks, and the Department for Work and Pensions has already launched a procurement for [18]conversational AI across its vast phone answering service for pensioners and benefits claimants.
Plans for data sharing, data quality, and legacy systems all hang off the promised digital roadmap, now twice delayed. Officials will hope the payoffs from all its plans for better digital government are not similarly always just beyond the horizon. ®
Get our [19]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/archaic-tech-sees-public-sector-miss-45-billion-annual-savings
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aW9gVDTVGpasd3I8RgjRjgAAAsY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aW9gVDTVGpasd3I8RgjRjgAAAsY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aW9gVDTVGpasd3I8RgjRjgAAAsY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aW9gVDTVGpasd3I8RgjRjgAAAsY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/678f6665f4ff8740d978864c/a-blueprint-for-modern-digital-government-web-optimised.pdf
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/21/ai_humphrey_uk_government/
[8] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080306/
[9] https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/50501/documents/274362/default/#:~:text=The%20roadmap%20is%20now%20due,for%20the%20government's%20digital%20agenda
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aW9gVDTVGpasd3I8RgjRjgAAAsY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/archaic-tech-sees-public-sector-miss-45-billion-annual-savings
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/29/fiscal_peoplesoft_california/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/11/airbus_exec_sap/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/20/manchester_nhs_fdp_deferred/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/13/networking_students_need_an_explanation/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/15/uk_gov_ai_savings/
[17] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ai-helpers-could-coach-people-into-careers-and-help-them-move-home
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/07/dwp_ai_call_handling/
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Pickle Rick
We can only hope. I'm inclined to believe it's more "piss ups and breweries" though.
alain williams
Add to that proprietary software, much of which is from non-UK companies. Think:
• Use of Microsoft - time to change to Linux.
• Oracle screwing Birmingham for millions. One government sponsored system then given free to all UK councils would save huge sums.
Getting away from USA owned stuff would make us much more secure from a Trump mandated data grab.
Maybe they listened
James Anderson
Maybe they paid attention to the numerous studies that confirm AI fails to deliver in the real world.
Unluckily but we live in hope.
Here's a roadmap for you:
Pickle Rick
> ...cost taxpayers between £55 billion and £81 billion in 2023-24.
And where, oh where, does that money go? To outsourcing companies. So here's a roadmap for you: reclaim our assets you fucking self serving donkeys. Yes, *our* assets. Go in-house, and you can shift money between your own local & national ledgers all you like. Dicks. /rant
"We were not able to, but we are hoping to do so very imminently"
Pascal Monett
The ultimate governmental acknowledgement that failure is an option.
Re: "We were not able to, but we are hoping to do so very imminently"
Doctor Syntax
True, but don't underestimate their determination.
Humphrey??
Anonymous Coward
That's just taking the p***. Though, on reflection, that probably sums up its usefulness.
Naming it after the Humphrey in "Beyond Paradise" would have inspired slightly more confidence: clumsy, liable to break things, but gets to the right answer.
Could the delay be due to a rethink about dependency on non-UK owned infrastructure?