EMBARGOED UNTIL 00:01 Fri 6 March 2026
- The strategy described as critical to a ‘one government'
approach is still experiencing governance shortcomings, funding
uncertainty and delays.
- Progress is being hampered by inconsistent information making
it difficult to monitor and plan for integration with other
government IT systems.
- The Applicant Tracking System that government developed to
replace civil service recruitment had to be abandoned because it
was incompatible with shared services systems.
- The NAO report recommends that Cabinet Office clarifies
governance responsibilities to ensure that all government
departments are bought in and committed
The Shared Services Strategy aims to standardise processes,
reduce costs and improve data insights across government. It aims
for government departments to share ‘back office' functions such
as finance, payroll and human resources.
Overseen by the Cabinet Office, the strategy is forecast to
deliver £1 billion of net savings over its lifetime. Better data
after its delivery is also intended to boost decision-making at
the heart of government.
A new report from the NAO finds that, despite numerous
improvements, the programme is unlikely to realise its full
potential due to a range of issues including governance, funding
and IT integration. Some departments have not yet fully committed
to delivery plans which Cabinet Office views as compulsory, and
efforts to standardise processes across government have been
inconsistent.
A refreshed delivery model implemented in 2021 moved away from
the idea of individual departments procuring their own single
software platforms to five cross-government cloud-based shared
services platforms, known as ‘clusters'.
The NAO report finds that the interoperability of clusters'
systems with other, new government IT systems continues to be a
problem. While clusters have a clear governance structure and
delivery plans, governance issues at programme level remain and
Cabinet Office lacks a clear mandate to respond to issues
affecting the whole Shared Services Strategy.
The planned replacement for the civil service recruitment
platform, the Applicant Tracking System, had to be abandoned
because of interoperability problems with the cluster systems. As
clusters will have to interface with multiple government digital
programmes (at least 25) it is important that Cabinet Office
learns from the failure of the ATS and does not repeat the same
mistakes.
Cabinet Office's monitoring dashboards are of mixed use, the
report adds, due to inconsistencies in the quality and
completeness of data provided by clusters and other government IT
systems.
The report finds that the Finance Function is the most advanced
in standardising its processes across government. Standardisation
in Human Resources has been delayed, and the Commercial Function
opted out.
On funding, the report details efforts to address budgetary
concerns across these cluster groups, with the Cabinet Office
believing that these new arrangements addressed outstanding
issues. However, according to the NAO, wider departmental
pressures and funding constraints still mean that some clusters
will have to compete for departmental funds.
The Shared Services Strategy aims to standardise processes and
systems across government, offering potential for significant
efficiencies. However, to deliver the strategy successfully and
avoid a repetition of what happened with the ATS, Cabinet Office
needs to clarify governance responsibilities for getting
departments' buy-in and for actively managing other government IT
systems' compatibility with shared services.
, head of the NAO,
said:
“The Shared Services programme has the potential to deliver
efficiency gains across government, but governance issues,
interoperability problems and inconsistent commitments are
hampering efforts to keep the programme on track.
“Our recommendations are designed to address these findings
and maximise the chances of success”.
