Podcast transcript 
Managing ICT contracts in central government: An update (published 00.01 on Thursday 18 June 2015)
I’m speaking today with Morag Campsie, audit manager on our latest report, which provides an update on managing ICT (Information and Communication Technology) programmes in central government.
Morag, can you talk me through what the report is about?
Well, Information and Communication Technology has the ability to transform the way that public services are delivered to meet the needs of users, reduce costs and meet future demands. So, it’s important that ICT programmes are managed effectively. 
Our audit looked at what progress has been made by the Scottish Government and central government bodies in taking forward the recommendations we made in our 2012 report, and we’ve also used case studies to demonstrate some of the different approaches that have been taken by a selection of central government bodies.
And what were your main findings?
Well, it’s been well-documented that managing ICT programmes can be a tricky area to get right, in both the public sector and private sector. The Scottish Government and central government bodies are no different, and we found that they continue to face challenges when managing these types of programmes. 
We found that assurance and oversight arrangements were put in place by the Scottish Government in 2013, but these were unclear and had a limited impact in capturing the breadth of work and progress that’s been made on ICT programmes in central government.
Some progress has been made in taking our 2012 recommendations forward, but there’s still room for improvement across the whole sector. For example, a lack of ICT skills continues to be a major issue. But what’s encouraging is that the Scottish Government and central government bodies recognise what the issues are, and are now taking some action to try and address them.
So what action is the Scottish Government taking to tackle these issues? 
The Scottish Government has a key role to play in the strategic oversight of ICT programmes, and making sure that work undertaken by central government bodies is in line with the overall digital strategy, and that the right processes are in place to provide proper support and scrutiny. 
What we found was that the assurance framework that the Scottish Government put in place in 2013 was not effective. The framework was unclear, and the body responsible for overseeing the framework, the Information Systems Investment Board (ISIB), did not have the capacity or the information it needed to be able to carry out its role effectively.
However, the Scottish Government has recognised this, and has introduced a revised framework to provide clearer guidance to bodies, and there is now also the Office of the Chief Information Officer which will support ISIB, but the split of roles and responsibilities has not yet been finalised. 
A lack of digital skills in the sector remains a big problem for central government bodies, though the Scottish Government didn’t carry out a skills survey across the public sector until August 2014. 
It’s now developing a shared Digital Transformation Service to make digital skills more readily available to central government bodies. This is an ambitious project, and how the service will operate has, has, still to be finalised. But, if this is to be implemented effectively it will require strong leadership and the collaboration with ISIB and the Office of the Chief Information Officer. 
It’d be fair to say, based on what you’ve talked us through just now, that performance across central government has been mixed. How have you captured this in the report today?
Well, we selected 12 central government bodies to look at aspects of their ICT programmes and how they’ve managed them. 
Some central government bodies can demonstrate good processes for managing parts of their programmes, such as identifying benefits at the start of a programme and investing in contract management. But by the same token, other bodies struggled to demonstrate good processes in some areas. To try and capture all this, we’ve included eight case studies in the report which highlight the approaches that some central government bodies have taken.
We’ve also included an update on the progress made by the three bodies that were the focus of our 2012 report; that’s Registers of Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, and Disclosure Scotland, and those updates are available as an appendix of the report.
So, what is Audit Scotland recommending happens next? 
Well, everyone has a role to play if ICT is to be effectively managed. We’re recommending that the Scottish Government reviews the management of ICT programmes in central government, and shares lessons learned from those programmes with bodies. 
Everyone involved in managing ICT in central government needs a clear understanding of all the arrangements and processes in place to support and monitor these programmes, and what they need to do to contribute to ensure that they work. 
The Scottish Government needs to clearly communicate the new assurance and governance arrangements to the central government bodies, and the bodies themselves should also make sure that they are familiar with the new structures, and the framework, to make sure that they take the opportunity to improve how ICT projects are managed.
Morag, thank you. And the report is available to view on our website www.audit-scotland.gov.uk