One in six initiatives in the core technology infrastructure category have been assessed as being ‘unachievable’ on current timelines and spending plans, annual study from Infrastructure and Projects Authority reveals
Government’s annual report of the progress of major projects reveals that programmes in the information and communications technology category have the highest proportion of red risk ratings.
The yearly round-up from the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) – which covers the 12 months to end of March 2024 – contains assessments of the 227 initiatives which comprise the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP). Of these, 26 are classified in the ICT category.
These schemes cover total projected spending of £26bn, with an average delivery timeframe of 8.5 years. In return, the initiatives are forecast by government to provide cumulative financial benefits of £61bn.
In the ICT segment, four programmes were given a delivery confidence assessment rating of red – indicating the highest level of risk. This equates to 16% – or about one in six – of all schemes in the category.
The assignment of a red rating indicates that “successful delivery of the project appears to be unachievable”, the report says.
The document adds that this is because “there are major issues with project definition, schedule, budget, quality and/or benefits delivery, which at this stage do not appear to be manageable or resolvable; the project may need re-scoping and/or its overall viability reassessed”.
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Only two out of 26 ICT programmes were rated as green, indicating that delivery on time and to budget is probable or highly likely.
Alongside the dedicated ICT category, there is also a segment for government transformation and service delivery – which is the largest block of programmes, with 89 projects. These initiatives contain numerous significant digital and reform schemes, and represent £135bn of spending – and an estimated return of £322bn in benefits.
This area has the highest overall volume of red-rated schemes, with 10 projects given the top risk rating – equating to 11.2% of the overall total.
The two other categories – military capability and infrastructure and construction – respectively have 11.8% and 13.6% of schemes currently in the red zone.
Despite the difficulties faced by some major digiital programmes, the ministerial foreword from Georgia Gould, a parliamentary secretary at the Cabinet Office, suggests that tech will play and important and growing role in the delivery of projects going forward.
“We now need to embrace new ways of doing things and to seize the opportunities that come with a digital revolution,” she wrote. “At a time of rising prices, particularly in construction, data analytics and AI are important tools to deliver value for money for the taxpayer. I am pleased to see the progress made by the IPA in this space, allowing us to modernise and keep up with the fast moving technological landscape.”
The annual IPA report is typically published in the summer after the conclusion of the financial year in March but appears to have delayed by about six months this year, after the election and the change of government.