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The 23 major programmes across Home Affairs and Justice have been given RAG ratings in the Infrastructure and Projects Authority annual report.

Last week Government Departments across Whitehall published their Major Projects Portfolio data, in support of the  the 2018 Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) annual report. The Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP) comprises over 130 large and complex projects, and this annual report tracks the progress of these projects, highlights good practice and challenges, and gives each project a RAG rating.

Home Office

Of the Home Office’s 12 projects in the GMPP, seven received a rating of Amber, meaning that while issues exist, these “appear resolvable at this stage and, if addressed promptly, should not present a cost/schedule overrun.” And the Communications Capabilities Development & Home Office Biometrics Programmes were given ratings of Amber/Green, which is fairly impressive given the complexity of the programmes.

However, both the Disclosure and Barring Service, and Digital Services at the Border (DSAB) programmes were rated as Amber/Red, meaning that “successful delivery of the project is in doubt, with major risks or issues apparent in a number of key areas,” which is concerning.

And the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) was one of eight projects in the entire GMPP to be rated Red, as “successful delivery of the project appears to be unachievable.” The major issues with project definition, schedule, budget, quality do not appear to be resolvable. The review concluded that “In the light of continuing challenges with some of the authority projects and subsequent evidence of further slippage from the main suppliers, work has started on a full scale programme re-plan. The aim is to complete the re-plan, engage in commercial renegotiations and recalculate the Full Business Case (FBC) numbers by late September 2018.”

Ministry of Justice

The Ministry of Justice has 11 projects in the GMPP. Two (Shared Services Evolve; Berwyn Programme) were given Amber/Greens ratings. Five were rated Amber/Red (Electronic Monitoring; CJS Common Platform; HMCTS Reform; Prison Estate Transformation Programme; Transforming Compliance Enforcement Programme), and the rest were Amber.

So of the 23 major projects across the Home Office & Justice system, over two thirds are rated Amber or Amber/Green. But the 7 projects given ratings of Amber//Red or Red will be of concern to industry and Government alike. techUK looks forward to working with the departments involved to improve their access to innovation and knowledge of market capabilities, to contribute to the successful delivery of major transformation programmes.