The Gateway Review process for central government procurement
projects is on track to deliver its promised £500m cost savings by
2003, according to a senior official at the Office of Government
Commerce (OGC).
The review process was launched after a series of high-profile
public sector IT disasters at the Immigration and Nationality
Directorate, the Passport Office, National Insurance Records, the
air traffic control systems at Swanwick and the Post Office
Horizon/Pathway project.
Ian Glenday, Gateway Programme Director at the OGC said: "We are
doing an audit now to demonstrate that it is producing results."
The OGC will be releasing information on the Gateway Review's
progress towards meeting its target in the next 2 or 3 months, he
added.
Launched in February last year, the Gateway Review process aims to
shave £500m off the cost of government procurement on a range of
major projects -including IT projects - by 2003.
Speaking at the OGC's annual IT Conference in central London,
Glenday highlighted the importance of proving Gateway Review cost
savings. He said: "Unless we can demonstrate real value for money,
the programme has no future. We are not in the business of just
creating jobs for ourselves."
The success of the scheme is crucial to the OGC, which was formed
in 2000 and charged with streamlining central government
procurement. ]
Gateway Reviews assess projects at various stages of their
development. To date, 160 Gateway Reviews have been performed on
104 projects.