MPs slam Defra for lack of strategy to address outdated IT

A cross-party group of MPs has condemned Defra’s IT systems as “outdated, inefficient, expensive, at constant risk of failure or cyber-attack,” and asserted that the government department lacks a strategy to address the alleged shortcomings.

The House of Commons’ Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has reported the government department’s legacy IT systems “feel outdated and difficult to use” and “still involve paper forms, making them inefficient and expensive”. Elsewhere in its report: Tackling Defra’s ageing digital services, PAC said Defra “does not yet have a concurrent pro-active strategy for the transformation of its digital services, or for challenges like reducing reliance on paper forms and making applications widely available on mobile phones.”

PAC reported that Defra has estimated that it needs to spend £726m on upgrading its IT services between 2021 and 2025, and to save £20-25m a year. But the committee warned that Defra’s “lack of overall vision means any changes made now to its digital systems may not be appropriate in the longer-term and could lead instead to wasted time and money.”

PAC said 80% of Defra’s IT applications “remain either in extended support, possibly incurring additional charges for updates, or are completely unsupported by their supplier, and it hasn’t given enough attention to the impact of its poor digital services on its users. According to PAC, Defra’s failure to account for the cost to users of its legacy digital services make it impossible to assess the total burden they place on other organisations.

PAC claims also that Defra is “struggling to recruit the digital, data and technology staff it needs, and so it remains over-reliant on contractors which can cost up to twice as much.” The committee has called on Defra to explain how it might address this issue.

Deputy chair of PAC, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, said: “Defra’s IT systems are so outmoded and disconnected that in some cases the professionals who keep our food, water and air safe have been forced to buy obsolete equipment just to fill in the forms to fulfil their regulatory responsibilities. It’s time for a complete overhaul at Defra, with a concurrent, pro-active digital strategy that matches every step.”