Thursday
14th May, 10.00am, Grimond Room, Portcullis
House
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will examine what progress
the government has made on its Shared Services Strategy on
Thursday 14th May, at 10.00am.
To operate effectively, Government Departments need access to a
range of back-office functions such as human resources and
payroll. The Shared Services Strategy is the latest attempt to
consolidate these functions to cut the cost of services and
improve the consistency of data across Departments.
MPs will use this session to question Cabinet Office and
Department of Work and Pensions officials on the challenges in
progressing the current strategy, and the inability of previous
governments to achieve these savings. Questions are likely to
focus on the reluctance of some Departments to engage with the
strategy ahead of the 2030 deadline, and the impact this could
have on the overall value for money of the strategy.
The Committee is also likely to examine the government's decision
to award Capita a £700m shared services contract, in the context
of its ongoing scrutiny of the civil services pensions crisis.
The lack of central leadership on the strategy could be
discussed, as well as the potential impact of issues across
interdependent digital transformation programmes in government
which could further delay the delivery of the scheme.
Witnesses from 10.00am:
- Caitlin Kinsella, Interim Chief People Officer, Cabinet
Office
- Nathan Moores, Shared Services Strategy Director, Cabinet
Office
- Dianne Jeans, Senior Responsible Officer, Synergy cluster,
Department of Work and Pensions
- Marcus Mason, Director for Public Spending at HM Treasury
