HMRC spends £70m on duo of deals for ‘technical and strategic support’ for transformation


The UK’s tax agency has retained two major IT consultancies to provide additional tech personnel on demand to support ongoing modernisation work across various service areas over the coming years

HM Revenue and Customs is set to spend tens of millions of pounds via two contracts intended to provide the department with on-demand “technical and strategic support” for ongoing digital transformation projects.

On 1 October, the tax agency signed a pair of deals with IT consultancies CGI and Accenture. Both the engagements run for a period of four years and each covers the provision of “architecture strategy and design” services.

Although both have no minimum commitment to spend, the CGI deal – which is focused on HMRC’s “customer engagement” operations – is expected to be the larger of the two, with potential spending of £47.5m.

The Accenture deal, meanwhile, relates to the department’s “customs, valuation and operations” areas of business, and could be worth up to £24.5m.

Between now and 2028, the agreements will be collectively worth up to £72m to the two suppliers. During the first 12 months of the engagements, HMRC expects to spend a cumulative total of almost £18m.

The text of the contract with Accenture says that the engagement “will be utilised to provide capabilities, services and deliverables that support HMRC’s programmes, and will include flexibility to accommodate changes in strategy, budget and chief digital and information office structure”.


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The IT firm will assist the department via individual statements of work setting out “outcome-based deliverables… where HMRC needs to temporarily increase capability as per demand”. Accenture will be expected to provide the department with additional staff “at pace” to support programmes in train.

The contract indicates that, at any given time, there are typically about 380 civil servants and 100 supplier personnel working in the area of strategy and design.

“The supplier will extend our technical capability and capacity to respond to increasing technical demands across HMRC, especially in the creation and build of IT artefacts that will transformation our existing digital services, making them more accessible and intuitive for citizens,” the document adds. “The supplier will bring industry best practices and high performing capabilities to work alongside various CDIO teams and functions, working collaboratively with high-profile programmes across HMRC, whilst adhering to the service standard.”

Both of the contracts were awarded via the Digital and Legacy Application Services (Dalas) framework, a £3bn arrangement focused on helping HMRC to upgrade legacy software systems. The CGI and Accenture deals were signed through the framework’s first lot, which is dedicated to ‘value realisation and design services’.

The Dalas arrangement was developed by the Crown Commercial Service in close collaboration with HMRC, but is available for use by a comprehensive range of public sector buyers.

Sam Trendall

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