A high-risk government IT project is so secret is that it
cannot even be named under the Freedom of Information Act.
The information commissioner has ruled that 23 Gateway Reviews
on various projects be published following an application by
Computer Weekly under the FOI Act in 2006.
The projects in question include the ID cards scheme, NHS IT
programme and a plan to unify benefit systems at the Department for
Work and Pensions.
But the information commissioner accepted an argument put
forward by Office of Government Commerce that one of the projects
was too secret to have even its name revealed.
The project is deemed to fall under Section 23 of the Freedom of
Information Act. This excludes from the terms of the FOI Act
organisations which deal with security, such as the Security
Service, The Secret Intelligence Service, Government Communications
HQ, special forces and the National Criminal Intelligence
Services.
Information commissioner Richard Thomas said in a decision
notice to Computer Weekly: "The Office of Government Commerce
refused to name one project, its RAG [red, amber green] status and
recommendations."
Thomas was given the name of the project and the organisation
involved and accepted that the OGC was entitled to withhold the
information.
The OGC has until 10 July to decide to appeal against the rest
of the commissioner's ruling, which called for the OGC to publish
the recommendations and the red, amber or green traffic light
status on these high-risk IT-related projects:
- Bichard Implementation Programme [Home Office] - Gateway
Zero
- EDRM [Home Office] - Gateway 4
- Identity Cards Programme [Home Office] - Gateway 0b
- Identity Cards Programme [Home Office] - Gateway 1
- Single non-emergency number [Home Office] - Gateway Zero
- Single non-emergency number [Home Office] - Gateway 0b
- Single Transactional shared services programme STSS [Home
Office] - Gateway Zero
- Science and Research Group framework contracts [Home Office] -
Gateway 2
- VISOR - National Implementation in NOMS [Home Office] - Gateway
Zero
-
Adelphi Oracle-based financial system [formerly ERP] [Home
Office] - Gateway 5
- Centralisation of Benefit Processing Project [DWP] - Gateway
0a
- Centralisation of Benefit Processing Project [DWP] - Gateway
1
- Pension Transformation Project [DWP] - Gateway 0a
- WATCH {DWP] - Gateway 0a
- IS DTC Procurement Wave 2 [Department of Health]
- IS DTC Procurement Wave 2 [Department of Health]
- Various NPfIT - NHS IT programme - projects [which were
released last week.]
Computer Weekly's application under the FOI Act in April 2006
was for:
"The results of all Gateway reviews on high-risk IT-related
projects carried out over the past year at the Home Office,
Department of Health, including Connecting for Health. and the
Department for Work and Pensions, including CSA."
The Information Commissioner's ruling on the Computer Weekly's
application in full [approx 6Mbytes] >>
Information Commissioner orders release of 23 high-risk IT-related
projects >>
16 key points in NHS IT Gateway reviews >>