18. In the field of ICT, the Cabinet Office told us that the government is moving away from thinking about what ICT is needed, towards commissioning services and using ICT to deliver cost savings.[28] The change required is a cultural one; rather than considering what ICT to buy, government should be seeking to deliver a better service.[29] There are examples which demonstrate this change, such as the Government Digital Service's work with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which developed a new product in-house, saving the need for an expensive and lengthy procurement.[30] However, we have seen examples recently where this approach is clearly lacking; the procurement of BlackBerrys for police forces is a case in point, where there was little consideration of how police officers would get the most benefit from using them.[31]
19. In order to deliver these reforms and to improve the way it does business, government will need to ensure that it has the right skills in place.[32] The Cabinet Office pointed to a number of initiatives to develop the skills it needs; the Major Projects Leadership Academy, for example, aims to build commissioning skills, and the government has put 800 procurement staff through 'Lean' training. The Chief Procurement Officer has also launched an initiative to bring together the skills for managing large ICT contracts at the centre.[33] The Cabinet Office told us that it will be investing in skills at the centre, but we are concerned that key skills are being lost, with some staff using government as a stepping stone to a career in the private sector. Incentives will need to be in place to retain those people with the skills government needs.[34]
20. Progress has been made but the challenge remains regarding how to make further improvements, and how to sustain these reforms. The Cabinet Office set out four priorities on which it will need to deliver in order for the reforms to be sustainable: more cost effective procurement, the expansion of digital services, making the most of potential savings from shared back office services, and better management information. The Cabinet Office explained that the goal was for departments to understand what can be bought centrally and what they should buy themselves, to deliver on the digital and shared services strategies, and to obtain consistent clear management information so that all departments know what they are spending and where they are using their resources. These four areas are inter-dependent; for example, accurate management information is essential to implementing successful shared services.[35] The Cabinet Office also recognised that it needed to work closely with HM Treasury, and that it will be important to deliver on its priorities to maintain the trust of departments, whose participation is crucial to success. In addition, the tight economic environment creates a favourable opportunity for implementing changes, so it is crucial to act with urgency.[36]
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