The local government IT directors group, needs to
resolveleadershipissues before it can fulfil
a lead role in delivering the government's IT professionalism
agenda, initial findings from the organisation's corporate service
review reveal.
The KMPG
review concludes that the Society of Information Management is
well positioned to become the professional body for IT across the
public sector, and can fulfil a "positive lead role in delivering
the government's IT professionalism agenda."
But 85% of members interviewed for the review said they were not
clear about Socitm's current strategy, and 80% of people said a
lack of leadership is the major reason for Socitm's problems. The
report said, "Both the day to day activities and future strategic
direction of Socitm are being constrained by poor leadership."
The review also said that Socitm has a poor decision-making
process, and that the corporate team provide poor management of
services such as financial management, PR, marketing and overall
service management.
The report says, "There is no easy or clear view of what these
services are, what they deliver or what they cost - from the
financial records estimates range between £700,000 and £900,000.
Some of the external contracts have not been re-tendered for a
number of years."
Positive aspects of the review include members' pride in their
association with Socitm, and its strong image. They also saw
networking, sharing information and best practice as good reasons
to belong to Socitm.
The review also said that Socitm's strong policy role provides
an effective single voice in government and industry.