MPs call on UK government to learn from central bank’s IT project success story

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has called on the UK government to learn from the Bank of England’s nine-year core system replacement project.

In a break from the norm, the PAC is making recommendations to the government following a hearing with the Bank of England, rather than to the central bank.

MPs on the committee explained, during a hearing in March, that they were not used to investigating successful government IT projects. As a consequence, their recommendations are normally targeted at the government department being quizzed.

During the PAC hearing, the UK central bank’s nine-year IT transformation project to replace its Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system was likened to an archaeological discovery that could serve as a blueprint for future government IT initiatives.

The PAC said its findings offered lessons in leadership, setting objectives and procurement, as well as good examples of early modernisations, adaptability and encouraging staff to openly raise concerns.

“There is much that government can learn from the Bank of England’s successful modernisation of a critical part of the UK’s payment infrastructure,” said the PAC.

“Given the modernisation of this system represents an all-too-rare positive example of public sector digital transformation, the PAC is taking the unusual step in its report of making recommendations based on its findings for government, rather than the Bank of England, so that lessons can be learned from it.”

The £431m RTGS project achieved value for money and demonstrated good digital transformation practice, according to the National Audit Office (NAO). The spending watchdog said the overall cost increased by 15% from the £375m budget, set in 2020.

The RTGS system settles £800bn in payments a day, through systems including the Clearing House Automated Payments System (Chaps) and Bankers’ Automated Clearing Services (Bacs). It has been in use since 1996 and is a part of the UK’s critical national infrastructure that ensures money flows in the economy.

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, chair of the PAC, said: “For the government, we simply say: this is how you do it. Our scrutiny over many years could give the public the impression that public sector digital reform and transformation is an endless litany of failure. Our report today demonstrates to the government and the taxpayer that success is possible.”

He added: “We have provided here for the government a guide informed by the bank’s success to avoid a repetition of the failures of the past.” Clifton-Brown cited, as an example of a failure, the handling of the National Savings & Investments (NS&I) transformation programme, which he said exposed taxpayers to unacceptable risk.

As reported by Computer Weekly, during the PAC hearing looking at the Bank of England project, the bank’s deputy chair, Dave Ramsden, said the NS&I is closely engaging with the central bank’s CIO as it seeks support to rectify its ongoing IT transformation disaster.

The PAC said the government needs to work to learn these lessons. “For the Bank of England, it must make good on its plans for maintenance and further enhancement of this foundational system. Delivering long-term value from the RTGS depends on the [bank] sustaining and adapting the system as the payment landscape evolves.”

• Read the full PAC report into the Bank of England’s Real-Time Gross Settlement renewal programme here