UK government has 'no clear plan' for replacing ageing legacy IT estate, MPs report
(2021/12/13)
- Reference: 1639411509
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/12/13/uk_government_has_no_clear/
- Source link:
UK government has "no clear plan" to set out how it will replace ageing legacy systems vital for the operation of the public sector, despite some systems dating back to the 1970s, according to a committee of MPs.
The Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee said the machines looking after data on the UK's borders and paying the State Pension were examples of an archaic legacy estate.
"Many of these systems are stable and performing acceptably at reasonable cost, but others are high risk, unreliable, contain security vulnerabilities, or frustrate business transformation," a [1]report published late last week said.
[2]
In September, public spending watchdog, the National Audit Office revealed that a [3]34-year-old ICL mainframe system was one of the causes of a scandal which led to more than £1bn of state pensions not being paid.
[4]
[5]
In November last year, Her Majesty's Customs & Revenue said it had not set a date to end use of a vital 26-year-old customs system, even though plans to migrate began seven years earlier.
The [6]PAC was told that plans to migrate from the Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (Chief) had been kept in place to ensure smooth Brexit transition.
[7]
Meanwhile, the Home Office's programme to replace the [8]Police National Computer was delayed by at least five years with an associated cost overrun of more than £400m, said the PAC report entitled 'Challenges in implementing digital change' .
To make matters worse central government departments "have a limited understanding of their legacy estate and the centre of government does not have an ongoing process for assessing and understanding what cross-government legacy risk looks like," the report said.
The admission came from a September hearing, when Joanna Davinson, exec director at the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), told MPs the government lacks a central, dynamic list of its legacy computing estate and the risks associated with ageing IT infrastructure and applications.
[9]Thatcher-era ICL mainframe fingered for failure to pay out over £1bn in UK pensions
[10]UK's Department for Work and Pensions continues to move off Oracle Enterprise Data Warehouse in pursuit of a single version of the truth
[11]Big fat doubt hovers over UK.gov's Making Tax Digital, customs declaration IT projects
[12]Home Office slams PNC tech team: 'Inadequate testing' of new code contributed to loss of 413,000 records
She said the Cabinet Office, which encompasses CDDO, was working on such a system, aimed at helping prioritise spending, which it planned to launch in January 2022. "I acknowledge that it's not as systematic as it should be at the moment, but we've got an initiative in place," [13]the former IBM executive told MPs .
[14]A report by the Modernisation and Reform group published in July indicates £2.3bn of the £4.7bn UK government spent on technology in 2019 was dedicated to "keeping the lights on" activity on "outdated legacy systems."
[15]
Further, the report projected that £13bn to £22bn could be wasted in the same way over the next half a decade.
The PAC said that from the beginning of next year the CDDO should work with departments to map legacy systems across government to document what is there, why it exists and how critical it is.
"By the end of 2022, the CDDO should use this to produce a pipeline of legacy systems they have prioritised with milestones for action. This pipeline should be shared with the Committee," it said. ®
Get our [16]Tech Resources
[1] https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5802/cmselect/cmpubacc/637/report.html
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Ybd8PIS8ZEWmO24hb-U6cQAAAAM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/22/icl_mainframe_uk_pension_errors/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Ybd8PIS8ZEWmO24hb-U6cQAAAAM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Ybd8PIS8ZEWmO24hb-U6cQAAAAM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2020/11/24/no_end_in_sight_for_chief_customs_system/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Ybd8PIS8ZEWmO24hb-U6cQAAAAM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/13/nao_home_office_nleds_report/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/22/icl_mainframe_uk_pension_errors/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/05/dwp_data_warehouse/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2019/07/18/making_tax_digital_and_customs_it_among_raft_of_gov_projects_rated_at_major_risk/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/26/home_office_slams_pnc_tech/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/28/uk_government_legacy_systems/
[14] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/organising-for-digital-delivery/organising-for-digital-delivery
[15] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Ybd8PIS8ZEWmO24hb-U6cQAAAAM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee said the machines looking after data on the UK's borders and paying the State Pension were examples of an archaic legacy estate.
"Many of these systems are stable and performing acceptably at reasonable cost, but others are high risk, unreliable, contain security vulnerabilities, or frustrate business transformation," a [1]report published late last week said.
[2]
In September, public spending watchdog, the National Audit Office revealed that a [3]34-year-old ICL mainframe system was one of the causes of a scandal which led to more than £1bn of state pensions not being paid.
[4]
[5]
In November last year, Her Majesty's Customs & Revenue said it had not set a date to end use of a vital 26-year-old customs system, even though plans to migrate began seven years earlier.
The [6]PAC was told that plans to migrate from the Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (Chief) had been kept in place to ensure smooth Brexit transition.
[7]
Meanwhile, the Home Office's programme to replace the [8]Police National Computer was delayed by at least five years with an associated cost overrun of more than £400m, said the PAC report entitled 'Challenges in implementing digital change' .
To make matters worse central government departments "have a limited understanding of their legacy estate and the centre of government does not have an ongoing process for assessing and understanding what cross-government legacy risk looks like," the report said.
The admission came from a September hearing, when Joanna Davinson, exec director at the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), told MPs the government lacks a central, dynamic list of its legacy computing estate and the risks associated with ageing IT infrastructure and applications.
[9]Thatcher-era ICL mainframe fingered for failure to pay out over £1bn in UK pensions
[10]UK's Department for Work and Pensions continues to move off Oracle Enterprise Data Warehouse in pursuit of a single version of the truth
[11]Big fat doubt hovers over UK.gov's Making Tax Digital, customs declaration IT projects
[12]Home Office slams PNC tech team: 'Inadequate testing' of new code contributed to loss of 413,000 records
She said the Cabinet Office, which encompasses CDDO, was working on such a system, aimed at helping prioritise spending, which it planned to launch in January 2022. "I acknowledge that it's not as systematic as it should be at the moment, but we've got an initiative in place," [13]the former IBM executive told MPs .
[14]A report by the Modernisation and Reform group published in July indicates £2.3bn of the £4.7bn UK government spent on technology in 2019 was dedicated to "keeping the lights on" activity on "outdated legacy systems."
[15]
Further, the report projected that £13bn to £22bn could be wasted in the same way over the next half a decade.
The PAC said that from the beginning of next year the CDDO should work with departments to map legacy systems across government to document what is there, why it exists and how critical it is.
"By the end of 2022, the CDDO should use this to produce a pipeline of legacy systems they have prioritised with milestones for action. This pipeline should be shared with the Committee," it said. ®
Get our [16]Tech Resources
[1] https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5802/cmselect/cmpubacc/637/report.html
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Ybd8PIS8ZEWmO24hb-U6cQAAAAM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/22/icl_mainframe_uk_pension_errors/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Ybd8PIS8ZEWmO24hb-U6cQAAAAM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Ybd8PIS8ZEWmO24hb-U6cQAAAAM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2020/11/24/no_end_in_sight_for_chief_customs_system/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Ybd8PIS8ZEWmO24hb-U6cQAAAAM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/13/nao_home_office_nleds_report/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/22/icl_mainframe_uk_pension_errors/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/05/dwp_data_warehouse/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2019/07/18/making_tax_digital_and_customs_it_among_raft_of_gov_projects_rated_at_major_risk/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/26/home_office_slams_pnc_tech/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/28/uk_government_legacy_systems/
[14] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/organising-for-digital-delivery/organising-for-digital-delivery
[15] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Ybd8PIS8ZEWmO24hb-U6cQAAAAM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
None at all
Bogle
'UK government has "no clear plan".'
There, FIFY.
Re: None at all
John Robson
"No Plan" would suffice
Re: None at all
TRT
Did you say they have a new clear plan then? Only for a second there, I thought it sounded like "nuclear plan".
Anonymous Coward
I've worked on several projects in Scotland that involve either merging existing services or separating services from UK national services to Scotland national services (due to devolution) and it's clear every time that no one has any idea of the scope of what they are doing or how they will do it.
Airwave is a prime example, lets replace it with a system based on 4G despite large parts of Scotland, England and Wales being sparsely populated and full of hills, and so having patchy 2G coverage at best.
Anonymous Coward
But of we don't bother with all that coverage, or the resilience of the network, or various features of the network that are pretty useful.
Then we can embezzle^H save a few quid.
Who needs a resilient system anyway. I haven't used my fire extinguisher in years so I got rid of it.
Doctor Syntax
There's a distinct advantage for govt departments having an ancient system. It provides a scapegoat.
Gubermints
a_yank_lurker
The Ferals will tell London to hold my beer and show the world how to be the most incompetent. Remember the Ferals managed bugger up Obamacare.
Are they sure
I am puzzled, there clearly is some sort of plan judging by the number of multi-million (and billion) pound contracts that have been put up for grabs by various departments over the last 6 months.
If they mean that they keep spending money for no tangible gain, then yes everyone probably agrees with that.