HMRC must grow 'intelligent client' function to sort out post-Brexit tech issues – watchdog
- Reference: 1716205608
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/05/20/hmrc_must_grow_intelligent_client/
- Source link:
HMRC has contracted [1]Deloitte and IBM to realize its plans for the "single trade window" (STW) to replace a patchwork of systems managing and recording cross-border trade.
In a report [2]published today , the National Audit Office said the program's objectives and timescales are "overly optimistic and continue to underestimate the complexity of what is required."
[3]
Thew program has already fallen several months behind the timetable set out in HMRC's previous February 2023 business case, the NOA pointed out.
IBM doesn't think Brexit is such a bad thing these days [4]READ MORE
Following the UK's practical departure from the EU at the end of the 2021 transition period, open border arrangements with the EU, by far the nation's largest trading partner, came to an end, although full border controls have been delayed five times since.
The STW will be relied upon across government, managing data between ports, private sector traders and intermediaries and more than five government departments including HMRC, the Home Office and the Department for Trade and Business.
[5]
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HMRC said it would build the STW in stages where Deloitte and IBM would complete a new release every six months. "The February 2023 business case stated that an initial strategic release providing the foundations for the system would be delivered in November 2023, to be followed by further strategic releases every six months that would add more functionality. HMRC has since revised its plan, with a public beta release now scheduled to take place in summer 2024," the NAO said.
Meanwhile, the business case released in March 2024 did not commit to milestones for the delivery of future strategic releases but did "specify the functionality that will be delivered incrementally by 2027," the NAO said.
[7]
Adding to the challenge of building the STW is the fact it will be software-as-a-service from the start, with the technical partners designing, building, testing and running the service on behalf of the government.
"The contract specifies that the government will receive any specific intellectual property created and that the [Technical Delivery Partner] should develop a solution that can be effectively competed when the contract ends. Meanwhile, HMRC will be responsible for setting service standards, approving deliveries and monitoring service performance. The HMRC team will need to develop an intelligent client function to oversee the work of the [Technical Delivery Partner] and, once work is complete, ensure continuity of service after its contract ends," the NAO said.
HRMC's track record as an "intelligent client" regarding cross-border trade is open to question.
[8]Brexit border system outage puts perishable goods transport in peril
[9]Fujitsu's 30-year-old UK customs system just keeps hanging on
[10]How governments become addicted to suppliers like Fujitsu
[11]Deloitte wins deal worth up to £100M for UK border platform
The UK had relied on a patchwork of systems to check goods at the border and record information required by customs and traders. Among them was CHIEF, a system introduced in 1994, which was set to be decommissioned in 2019, and then again in 2023. The delays resulted from setbacks in building its replacement, IBM's Customs Declaration Service, which took 10 years to complete. In the meantime, Fujitsu was [12]handed a £168.8 million ($214 million) contract to keep the old system up and running. CHIEF is now set to be [13]retired after the June 4 this year .
The UK government expects its complete cross-border arrangements to cost £4.7 billion ($6 billion) across the 13 most significant programs. The NAO said the cost to businesses of cross-border trade with the EU, estimated at £7.5 billion ($9.5 billion) in 2019, has not been updated since. ®
Get our [14]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/04/deloitte_uk_border_contract/
[2] https://www.nao.org.uk/reports/the-uk-border-implementing-an-effective-trade-border/
[3] 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=2Zktzp6jzz7xYKXEm3JnuiQAAABc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/24/ibm_uturn_brexit/
[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=44Zktzp6jzz7xYKXEm3JnuiQAAABc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] 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=33Zktzp6jzz7xYKXEm3JnuiQAAABc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] 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=44Zktzp6jzz7xYKXEm3JnuiQAAABc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/15/brexit_border_system_outage_put/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/25/hmrc_chief_system_retirement/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/11/fujitsu_public_procurement/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/04/deloitte_uk_border_contract/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/13/fujitsu_hmrc_contract/
[13] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/customs-declaration-service-is-open-for-all-export-migration
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: What could possibly go wrong...
@xyz
What could go right. See a lot of white space
Fujitsu
> Fujitsu was handed a £168.8 million ($214 million) contract to keep the old system up and running.
Good job they've not got a track record of completely fucking everything up.
Usual suspects or NAO can do.
What is the point of NAO. They don't look deep enough at problems and seems like just wave things through to go onto the next thing to wave through.
Their recommendations are meaningless, because they don't look at root cause.
It's like you built a house on a swamp and asked for an audit and auditors come back with a report that says that the house is tilted by 15 degrees to the right. That's basically what NAO is doing.
Hopefully the next government will either scrap this yet another pointless department taking tax payer money for legitimising waste or deeply reform it so it has teeth.
There will be no manual back-up.
So every time this unified pile of crap fails, absolutely everything will stop.
It's hard enough just getting mail in across borders now, and too much 'tracked' stuff is vanishing. Scale that up to imports and exports in general...
The only Plan B they appear to have is to use emissions rules to limit traffic at Britain's ports, taking the strain off the system and killing what is left of the economy.
The NI border fudge has cost UK taxpayers over half a billion over the last 4 years. [Also NAO].
Nobody is allowed to report on the economic damage caused by Brexit (is there a D Notice?). At least the NAO can publicise the costs.
Anyone seen a 'Brexit bonus' yet?
Re: There will be no manual back-up.
o Blue Passports.
o Pint Glasses.
o Happy Brexiteers no longer blaming the EU for the UK's homegrown fuckwittery.
Re: There will be no manual back-up.
"o Pint Glasses."
Funny thing is, I'm sure at least one pub in The Hague serves Murphy's Red in CE-marked pint/half pint glasses.
Re: There will be no manual back-up.
Anyone seen a 'Brexit bonus' yet?
CodeJunky, but he doesn't want to share...
Re: There will be no manual back-up.
Anyone seen a 'Brexit bonus' yet?
All big consultancies operating in the UK as it made IR35 changes that remove competition possible.
What was it? A blue parrot?
No. Norway or nothing. That was it. The UK has had a decent serve of nothing and I suspect is now pining for the fjords.
Oh well
Anyone who has recently tried to post goods into the EU, or dealt with pan-European VAT collection will be sharply aware that this whole area has been a disaster zone for years..
They'll also be aware that posting into somewhere as distant as Australia or as fragmented (from a taxation point of view) as America is still twice as fast as dealing with Austria for exactly the same reasons.
There was a brief opportunity to admit that bureaucracy had become unnecessarily complex (and entirely self-serving) in this area, and to make clear that minimising the friction when importing goods was only beneficial. However, it appears we missed the opportunity and are now committed to adding a few layers of inefficiency and governmental IT-chaos to the whole process.
It seems that some people in Government are completely committed to trying to be 'little Europe' in their public services when we are essentially just a single country with a single taxation system and border to manage. Then they complain that there has been no "Brexit Bonus"... the lack of self-awareness is impressive.
As for the actual implementation, of course it's no shock that the civil service has feet of clay and the memory of a goldfish when it comes to large-scale IT projects. The fact that we're not far from ten years notice that this modernisation was going to be required (and would have been needed regardless of the Brexit vote) is perhaps more shocking....
And the pressure to modernise is huge, right across the board - global trade is simply a fact of life now, and an absolute requirement if we wish to keep our economy running. As another example The Post Office should be leading the way on international goods transfer (we're a damn island nation, it's one of the things we need to be good at), and yet...
It's almost like this government has never done business in their lives.
Re: Oh well
Is there still a thing as the Post Office delivering goods?
I thought Royal Mail was on the verge of being bought by a Continental tycoon?
Otherwise, there is still DHL, FexEx, UPS...
Re: Oh well
And there is still no such thing as a Fish & Chips scented stamp, when the Bloody Frogs have one for Baguette!
Re: Oh well
> Otherwise, there is still DHL, FexEx, UPS...
We have a publicly owned organisation that should be providing a core competency for effective international trade, but it's ok if they don't because we can rely on a bunch of American companies instead? (Good luck with that by the way, they each have their own circles of hell for customers to dwell in).
Re: Oh well
@ wouldn't you know it - a/c
Yes, they deliver our products to customers, both in the U.K. and the e.u. (Yes, I know)
Single Trade Window
Is that like lunchtime at the Post Office where there's a massive queue for the sole open counter?
-A.
What could possibly go wrong...
Answers below....