8 February 2011 | Angeline Albert
The government has missed its own targets to
deliver IT procurement reform.
A report published on the Downing Street
website shows the Cabinet Office has
failed to announce new procurement rules for ICT to meet its January
deadline.
The Cabinet Office’s structural reform planmonthly implementation update reveals it has also failed to
identify the first tranche of ICT projects to be decommissioned as part of its
major projects review.
In
the update the government department said: “This action is in progress and the
Cabinet Office is currently verifying decommissioning.”
In
relation to the new ICT procurement rules, the update said: “Strong progress
has been made on this commitment. A procurement policy note on the procurement
rules for ICT has been issued. However, we still need to confirm the new open
standards for IT.”
The
report also pledged to “crowdsource” for feedback once the open standards were
complete, which involves the information being put on a public platform for
comment and possible collaboration. These proposals are now due to go ahead
this month.
Last
November, all Whitehall departments published business plans highlighting
progress on implementing government policy. The Cabinet Office's business plan
contained reviews of major projects, changes to IT procurement and overall IT
strategy.
Last
month, the Cabinet Office was due to publish all new central government
contracts over £10,000 in full, with some security exemptions. However the
department said it has “made available a mechanism for departments to publish
their contracts online”. It said departments have already begun to post their
contracts onto the Contract Finder website which will launch formally on 11 February.
