6 Aspire has provided service continuity, enabling HMRC to collect around £500 billion of tax each year with few significant service failures. Aspire has provided high levels of service continuity and systems availability. There have been few major incidents that affected HMRC's system performance since the contract began (paragraphs 2.2 and 2.7).
7 Aspire has helped HMRC to improve its operations by reducing operating costs, increasing tax yield and improving customer service. Over the contract's lifetime, HMRC has integrated two former departments (Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise). It has progressively generated more tax yield from its compliance work and substantially reduced its headcount through more automated processes. It has improved customer service, such as by helping more taxpayers to make their returns online. HMRC's operating costs fell by 30 per cent between 2006-07 and 2013-14. The projects and services provided through Aspire have been central to these improvements (paragraphs 2.2 to 2.4).
8 HMRC and Capgemini have implemented 95 per cent of major technology projects since April 2008 without a high-priority incident, though problems with some projects have had a significant impact. Several factors have helped HMRC and Capgemini to minimise the number of incidents affecting performance. These include taking a cooperative, partnering approach, and having experienced and qualified project managers and an extensive planning phase. However, where projects have experienced difficulties, this has resulted in significant impacts, such as when the PAYE service was impaired by problems HMRC encountered when centralising its databases. HMRC attributed these problems to failings in its own processes, rather than to poor performance by its Aspire suppliers (paragraphs 2.8 to 2.11).
9 In over 80 per cent of projects, HMRC and Capgemini changed the agreed scope, time or budget. One feature of the cooperative approach between HMRC and Capgemini has been a willingness on both sides to make changes once the extensive planning is complete and budget, scope and timing has been agreed commercially. These changes are made through formal governance processes and usually help to reduce risk. Some change is to be expected as part of good project management. However, we consider that HMRC and Capgemini made more changes than normal on projects after the point at which budgets, scope and timing had been commercially agreed. The degree of change makes it very difficult to hold the Aspire suppliers to account for their performance across the portfolio of projects (paragraphs 2.11 and 2.15 to 2.16).
10 Although Aspire has delivered improvements which have been fundamental to improving the way HMRC administers tax, HMRC has not evaluated the overall strengths and weaknesses of the contract over its ten years. Projects under Aspire have provided demonstrable benefits. However, HMRC has not assessed the overall value from the Aspire contract, nor the balance between risk and value achieved. This could have helped it to plan its future technology strategy (paragraph 2.5).