4.16 When the significant increase in the estimated cost of technical transition from £41 million to £450 million was identified by GCHQ's review team in late 1999, the Cabinet Secretary commissioned Lieutenant General Sir Edmund Burton, formerly a Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Systems), to report on the project's management. His appointment in March 2000 required him to establish:
■ the reasons why a substantially based cost estimate and options for the technical decant only emerged in November 1999; and
■ whether the arrangements now in place for managing the project as a whole were effective and adequate and provided confidence that it would be implemented successfully.
His report in May 2000 made forty-three management recommendations on the basis of a more strategic approach.
4.17 On the question of technical transition costs, the report found that the earlier management had focused "solely on the PFI building and associated services", and had not approached the project strategically as a move of GCHQ's whole business. This had been a major reason for the failure to identify the large cost of technical transition, as this had been seen as small in comparison with the overall costs of the project.
4.18 The report recommended that more emphasis should be placed on the technical transition process, in line with the re-designation of the Project as a Programme. It also recommended that GCHQ monitor and review value for money throughout the technical transition process.
4.19 On the management arrangements to achieve the successful implementation of the project, the Burton report recognised the changes in GCHQ's management procedures instigated under the revised programme definition to consider the whole move. However, it identified high level planning and management weaknesses and made recommendations to address these. The failure to co-ordinate the development of the PFI deal and the transition process at strategic level was a symptom of such weaknesses.
4.20 The report recommended the development of a high level "blueprint" which would detail key changes based upon a comprehensive analysis of GCHQ's business process. Further, the report recommended that the current strategic planning process should extend beyond the three-year horizon in operation at the time of the review. These plans would formulate tasks and milestones, assign them to management and establish Directorate Board members' roles and responsibilities in relation to this "blueprint". Such planning would allow the Board to oversee progress at strategic level.
4.21 The remaining recommendations addressed issues of leadership and management; communications between different types and levels of staff; capture of information for planning; investment in people and staff training; project management; and the oversight and control of programmes of work.