Category Archives: public services

Cabinet Office takes on open-source specialist

Posted on 28/06/2011 | 1 comment

By Tony Collins

“Let’s not waste this great opportunity to make British government IT the most effective and least expensive service per head in Western Europe.”

 An open source advocate and critic of the high costs of government IT, Liam Maxwell, is joining the Cabinet Office for 11 months  to provide expertise on how civil servants can use innovative new technology to deliver better, cheaper solutions.

His secondment from Eton College where he is ICT head underlines the determination of Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister, to continue bringing in strong people to oversee major changes in the way government works.

What remains unclear, however, is how much influence the Cabinet Office will have on autonomous government departments and their permanent secretaries.

Although David Cameron has given his personal backing to the changes being sought by the Cabinet Office, the PM has  little or no direct control over what departments do or don’t do.

Simon Dickson at Puffbox points out that Liam Maxwell has said all the right things in the past. Maxwell co-wrote a 2008 paper for the Tories on ‘Open Source, Open Standards: Reforming IT procurement in Government’, and also a 2010 paper Better for Less‘ for the Network for the Post-Bureaucratic Age, which said:

“British Government IT is too expensive. Worse, it has been designed badly and built to last. IT must work together across government and deliver a meaningful return on investment. Government must stop believing it is special and use commodity IT services much more widely.

“As we saw with the Open Source policy, the wish is there. However, the one common thread of successive technology leadership in government is a failure to execute policy.

“There is at last a ministerial team in place that “gets it”. The austerity measures that all have to face should act as a powerful dynamic for change. Let’s not waste this great opportunity to make British government IT the most effective and least expensive service per head in Western Europe.” 

In a statement, the Cabinet office said that Maxwell will help to develop ideas for how technology can:

– increase the drive towards open standards and open source software

– help SMEs to enter the government marketplace

– maintain a horizon scan of future technologies and methods

– develop new, more flexible ways of delivery in government

Ian Watmore, the Government’s Chief Operating Officer said: “Liam’s insight and knowledge will make him a valuable source to the team over the coming year. He has a strong track record of delivering success in government ICT and he also brings significant experience of turning the theory into practice.”

Dickson said that Maxwell was a Windsor and Maidenhead councillor who drove the debate a year or so ago on councils switching to Open Document Format, part of OpenOffice.

The Guardian said Maxwell has been an adviser to the  Conservative party on government ICT.  At the Cabinet Office he will advise the Efficiency and Reform Group and Ian Watmore. He will begin the job in September and is taking a sabbatical from Eton.

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Posted in innovation, open source, public sector, public services, Uncategorized

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Co-operative and mutuals membership up 25% since credit crunch – now close to 10m

Posted on 27/06/2011 | Leave a comment

By David Bicknell

The Co-operative sector has grown by more than 25% since the credit crunch, with membership of co-operatives now close to 10m. Turnover in 2o10 was over £16bn, according to a report in the Observer.

The article says that the annual report from Co-operatives UK, to be published this week, will show that as well as  big players such as the John Lewis Partnership and the Co-operative Group performing strongly, a thriving new generation of smaller, grassroots organisations has sprung up.

The report also refers to efforts by some MPs to persuade Chancellor George Osborne to consider a mutual model for bailed-out bank Northern Rock, which Osborne is expected to put up for sale before the end of the year.

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Posted in Campaign4Change, mutuals, public sector, public services

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NHS users should require mutuals to deliver more benefits than in-house, says NAO

Posted on 24/06/2011 | Leave a comment

By David Bicknell

The National Audit Office (NAO) has highlighted risks to value for money associated with the Department of Health’s programme aimed at enabling its staff to take the lead in leaving the NHS – or ‘spinning out’ – to set up health social enterprises or mutuals.

The NAO’s  Report recognises that, at this early stage of the ‘Right to Request Programme’, it is too early to assess its costs and benefits. But it makes the point that the Department of Health has not set measurable objectives specifically for the Right to Request Programme against which to evaluate its success. PCTs expect social enterprises or mutuals to deliver more benefits than other providers, but did not generally contract for them to deliver savings or any other additional benefits.

The NAO’s report points out that many risks and liabilities still reside with the PCTs and will need to be managed if value for money is to be achieved. In the last resort, the trust or its successors will be responsible for ensuring that essential services continue to operate. For a time, social enterprises will be highly dependent on work and cash flow from their respective PCTs. They will also be operating in an ‘increasingly competitive market’ owing to changes in health legislation currently going through Parliament. So PCTs or their successors will need to have a clear idea of how they will react if enterprises run into financial difficult or fail.

Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, said, “There are many risks to be managed if the Department is to get value for money from the £900 million contracts awarded to social enterprises. The Department needs to reassess its approach, when contracting with social enterprises, of not requiring efficiencies over and above what would have been achieved if the services had remained within the Department.”

You can access the full report here

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Posted in Campaign4Change, mutualisation, mutuals, NHS, public sector, public services

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Third Sector: “Pathfinder mutuals suffering mixed fortunes and need more support mechanisms”

Posted on 24/06/2011 | Leave a comment

Third Sector has taken a look at the fortunes of the current mutual Pathfinders and concludes that they have been suffering mixed fortunes.

Plans for lecturers to take over Newton Rigg College in Cumbria were hit when the college was taken over by another institution.  And a project to spin out youth services in three London councils has been held up because the councils – Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham and Kensington and Chelsea – are currently negotiating to merge many of their services as a result of the financial squeeze on local authorities.

Many mutuals, though, are making good progress, and some have already been launched successfully, Third Sector says. However, although the government has created a lot of buzz around mutuals, the piece argues that mutuals need more frameworks and support mechanisms in place.

That particularly includes a framework for council workers to take over services, which will be partly solved when a ‘right to challenge’ is enshrined in the Localism Bill towards the end of this year. However, many observers feel the right as it currently stands is not strong enough.

Third sector has also interviewed Julian Le Grand, who is leading the government’s Mutuals Taskforce. He suggests there are five key issues that the taskforce must help mutuals tackle:

  • Business Planning
  • External opposition, notably from unions
  • Procurement
  • Money issues
  • Getting start-up funding

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Posted in Campaign4Change, mutualisation, mutuals, public sector, public services

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Katie Davis for new Health CIO?

Posted on 23/06/2011 | 2 comments

The Cabinet Office’s Katie Davis, who takes over next month, on an interim basis, from Health CIO Christine Connelly,  is ex-Accenture.

But that shouldn’t be held against her.  Accenture left the NPfIT in 2006 with its reputation untarnished.

A profile of Davis appeared in The Telegraph in 2007. The newspaper described her as a yank at the court of King Tony, set on excellence in IT.

Though it could be assumed that Davis has a “big company” approach, and so would welcome the continued dominance of the NPfIT, she told The Telegraph she found her time at Accenture highly satisfying but after a while she stopped having fun.

“The overheads of working for a huge corporation had slightly impaired my ability to deliver. By overheads, I mean travel and the demands of process. My needs and those of the corporation did not overlap so well.”

She also said she worked in the NHS.

“I had worked with the NHS before, and was seconded to work with some of the cleverest and most committed people I’d ever been in a working environment with. It opened my eyes to the challenges and the excitement of working in the public sector.”

Davis has the advantage of having started her career as an engineer (electrical). Which makes it sound as if she’s more practical and realistic than visionary and idealistic. She may make an excellent (permanent) Health CIO.

Telegraph profile of Katie Davis.

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Posted in Campaign4Change, NHS, npfit, public sector, public services

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Who’ll support the NPfIT now?

Posted on 23/06/2011 | 5 comments

By Tony Collins

The departure of Christine Connelly as health CIO at the end of this month will leave the NPfIT’s main civil service supporter, Sir David Nicholson, Chief Executive of the NHS and Senior Responsible Owner of the NHS IT scheme,  more isolated.

That Nicholson is a supporter of the continuance of the NPfIT is not in doubt. He spoke about the NHS IT scheme last month in terms of life and death. At a hearing of the public accounts committee on 23 May 2011, Nicholson said:

“We spent about 20% of that resource [the £11.4bn projected total spend on the NPfIT] on the acute sector. The other 80% is providing services that literally mean life and death to patients today, and have done for the last period.

“So the Spine, and all those things, provides really, really important services for our patients. If you are going to talk about the totality of the [NPfIT] system … you have to accept that 80% of that programme has been delivered.”

But without Christine Connelly, who put detailed arguments in favour of continuing with iSoft’s Lorenzo, and who was solidly behind the costly implementations of Cerner by BT, Nicholson may not have the civil service backup he needs to promote the continuance of the NPfIT.

The Cabinet Office’s Major Projects Authority, under the directorship of the independently-minded David Pitchford,  is now reviewing CSC’s £2.9bn worth of NPfIT contracts. It is known that the Authority regards the new proposals worked out between CSC and the Department of Health as poor value for money, even with CSC’s willingness to reduce the value of its contracts by £764m, to about £2.1bn.

That promised reduction comes at a cost. A leaked Cabinet office memo said that the CSC’s proposals would double the cost of each Lorenzo deployment.

The easiest thing for Nicholson and the Department of Health would be for the Major Projects Authority to approve the deal worked out between CSC and the Department of Health, and simply sign a new Memorandum of Understanding which would be, in part, legally binding.

Strong grounds for ending CSC’s NPfIT contracts

The more difficult but more practical alternative is for the Cabinet Office to require the Department of Health to end CSC’s NPfIT contracts, which would leave the NHS more able to decide its own IT-based future.

Indeed the signs are in some trusts that officials are not unhappy about Connelly’s departure in that they perceive it may weaken the centre’s control over NHS IT.

Legally it appears that an end to CSC’s contract would be feasible. The Department of Health has accused CSC of a breach of contract because of its failure to achieve a key milestone; the Department has also notified CSC of “various alleged events of default under the contract” which are “related to  delays and other alleged operational issues”. The Department is considering its position on termination of all or parts of the contract.

But the Department has not taken its claims to arbitration; its allegations are only a formal legal manoeuvre at the moment.

CSC accuses NHS of failures and breaches of contract

CSC has reacted by accusing the NHS of a breach of contract. The company’s formal legal position is that it has cured or is preparing to cure the faults that led to the alleged breach; it says that failures and breaches of contract on the part of NHS have caused delays and issues.

The DH could end CSC’s contract for reasons of convenience which could trigger a request from CSC for a large sum in compensation. But the Department could give strong legal reasons for not paying. Although CSC could pursue its claim for compensation, it may be on soft ground because of its failures. Also, CSC, if it pursues any legal action, could jeopardise its other work for government: some of its other major contracts with the UK government are with the Identity and Passport Service, which is part of the Home Office.

The Coalition is now supervising its major suppliers, including CSC, in the round, which is reason enough for CSC to do all it can to maintain a good relationship with the Cabinet Office.

CSC would support NHS trusts even if its contracts ended

The  Department of Health is concerned that if it ends the NPfIT contracts with CSC, the supplier may leave unsupported many trusts that have CSC’s iSoft software installed. That is highly unlikely, however, because CSC has a $1.03bn investment in the NPfIT contracts according to the regulatory reports to US authorities.

In the NHS CSC has a large customer base. Through its acquisition of iSoft, CSC will want to capitalise on its investment in iSoft’s Lorenzo software by selling it across the globe. That’s its stated plan. So CSC’s continued support for NHS trusts that have installed iSoft software is not in doubt.

What NHS Trusts want

The best outcome of the negotiations with CSC, for NHS trusts that have installed iSoft software, is that they have the:

-choice to continue with CSC if the price is right

– buy support elsewhere, or

– choose a different product.

Will CSC’s NPfIT contracts end by mutual agreement? – it’s possible

The question is: does the Cabinet Office have the courage to end CSC’s contract, freeing up billions of pounds that would otherwise have been spent on the NPfIT without a commensurate return for taxpayers, the NHS or patients?

It seems  so, even if it means paying a relatively painless sum to CSC as compensation for termination.

Leaked memo reveals CSC’s plans.

A sign that coalition reforms will change behaviour of major suppliers.

Health CIO resigns – Cabinet Office executive steps in.

Example of a trust that’s succeeding without the NPfIT – Trafford General Hospital.

Connelly at odds with PM over NPfIT value for money?

NHS CIO in dramatic resignation.

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Posted in NHS, npfit, outsourcing, public sector, public services, supplier relationships, Uncategorized

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Health CIO resigns – Cabinet Office executive steps in

Posted on 22/06/2011 | Leave a comment

By Tony Collins

The Health CIO Christine Connelly has resigned. I understand it’s for personal reasons and that she has no new job lined up.

She is being replaced on an interim basis by an executive at the Cabinet Office Katie Davis. It’s likely that Davis will remain Director, Operational Excellence at the Cabinet Office until she replaces Connelly on 1 July 2011.

Connelly says in her statement that the Department of Health faces a major reorganisation of its top structures that will result in fewer Director General posts. “I have been reflecting on whether I would wish to go for one of those roles and decided that I will not.”

The Cabinet Office has indicated in recent months that it wishes to have more control over negotiations of a £3bn contract with CSC under the National Programme for IT, NPfIT.

This was the Department’s statement this morning, in full:

“Christine Connelly, Chief Information Officer for Health, has announced that she will be leaving the Department of Health at the end of the month.

“Christine said: “The Department of Health faces a major reorganisation of its top structures that will result in fewer Director General posts. I have been reflecting on whether I would wish to go for one of those roles and decided that I will not.

“I have had a fascinating and challenging time in this role and I have decided that this is the right time to step back and think about what I might do next.

“I believe that information and technology have the potential to dramatically change the way health services are delivered to patients, and we are already seeing this happen in many parts of the service. I am confident that informatics will have a major role to play in delivering both the quality and efficiency challenge that the NHS faces.”

NHS Chief Executive, Sir David Nicholson, said:

“Christine has made a major contribution to the NHS, in promoting both the sharing and management of information, and as a professional with considerable experience of leading change.

“She has tackled a very difficult set of issues around the National Programme for IT, and moved them forward. I wish her well in her future career.”
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said:
“Christine has brought a huge amount of experience, talent and technical knowledge to the National Programme for IT. For almost three years, Christine, as the first Chief Information Officer for Health, has worked to deliver the Department’s information strategy. I wish Christine the best of luck with whatever she chooses to do next.”
“Christine will be replaced on an interim basis by Katie Davis. Katie joins us on loan from the Cabinet Office where she has been Executive Director, Operational Excellence, in the Efficiency and Reform Group (ERG) since 2010. Before that, she was Executive Director of Strategy, Identity and Passport Service in the Home Office and Director of the Government IT Profession in the Cabinet Office. Katie will be joining us on 1 July 2011.”
**
Comment: One of Connelly’s strengths is her lack of artifice. She answers the most difficult questions about the NPfIT with openness and honesty. Not everyone will agree with her strong support for the continance of the NHS IT scheme but her arguments are made with a genuine conviction, clarity of thought and explanation, and without distortion of the truth. I wish her well.

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Agile is brilliant says DWP’s head of major programmes

Posted on 17/06/2011 | Leave a comment

Steve Dover, head of major programmes at the Department for Work and Pensions, is qu0ted in Computer Weekly as saying of agile methods:

“It’s a brilliant, brilliant methodology … Get it right. Don’t pay it lip service.”

 Mark O’Neill, CIO at the Department for Communities and Local Government and leader of the government’s “skunkworks” team to promote innovation, is quoted as saying: “SIs [systems integrators – large IT companies] must recognise that the old world is dead and they have to change their model”.

But Malcom Whitehouse, DWP deputy CIO, implied there was some work only systems integrators could handle.

Agile can fix failed GovIT says lawyer.

Steve Dover on YouTube – the benefits of agile in GovIT [for the Institute for Government]

Cabinet Office turns to agile SMEs to reform Whitehall IT.

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SME company gains 395 new customers despite a challenging marketplace

Posted on 16/06/2011 | Leave a comment

Campaign4Change spent some time this week talking with Scott Haddow, chief executive of York-based value added reseller Trustmarque Solutions, which through its Enterprise Solutions Group (TESG) is helping its customers reduce their IT expenditure costs.

Trustmarque’s approach has been so successful, that in the last year it gained 395 new public and private sector clients.

Over the past eighteen months, Trustmarque has successfully transitioned from Large Account Reseller (LAR) to Value Added Reseller (VAR) status, moving away from a high volume, low margin business where there is no direct relationship with the customer.

Its success has had a significant impact on the bottom line.  In the first nine months of its 2010/2011 financial year, Trustmarque increased its Gross Profit by 28 percent, with TESG doubling its associated turnover from consulting, managed services and software solutions.   That continued growth also means Trustmarque currently has 20 open vacancies in Sales, IT, Finance and Operations which it needs to fill by the start of its next financial year in September.

The public sector may be wary of cloud computing, for now, but the private sector happily sees the potential in adopting it, which is perhaps why Trustmarque bought cloud infrastructure and hosted services provider Nimbus Technology Systems  to provide it with more breadth and depth of expertise in cloud services delivery as well as an expanded portfolio of managed cloud services. 

What we also learned from speaking with Haddow is that many of the company’s NHS Trust customers are very forward thinking in their approach to IT. In a sector that may not have been known for competition, it is clear that some want to be at the leading edge and are prepared to use whatever technology solutions they can to gain a competitive advantage. Just like the private sector, there are  trusts that are happier being front-runners and who’ll actively seek to use technology to keep their edge.

We also learned how Trustmarque sits down with new customers for lengthy meetings to thrash out where they can make savings, through consolidation of IT assets, and especially by reducing their software licensing costs. For example, Durham Constabulary is saving £190,000 in licensing costs over three years; Derbyshire Fire and Rescue will save £88,000 in licensing costs over six years; Transport for Greater Manchester will also save £60,000 a year on licensing costs; and Plymouth City Council will see savings of £494,000 over a 3 year period and a 26% reduction in its previous licensing arrangement.

It’s clear that even though the Coalition has aspirations to open up more business for SMEs, success-stories like Trustmarque don’t need to rely on those plans to gain a healthy slice of government business: they’re doing it for themselves.

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Posted in Campaign4Change, NHS, public sector, public services, software licensing

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Public sector still Cloud-wary but needs dynamic approach to cut costs and keep key services

Posted on 16/06/2011 | Leave a comment

By David Bicknell

I wasn’t at the Guardian’s SmartGov Live event this week, but what came out of it made for interesting reading.

For example, this article by Gill Hitchcock for the Guardian Professional Network gave an insight into the suspicion and lack of confidence  with which the public sector regards cloud computing.

According to the article, cloud computing is not a certainty to be used by public authorities, because those councils considering adopting it have to take account of the risks involved.

Chris Pope, director of transformation at Merton Council told SmartGov Live that he was “nervous” about adopting cloud computing and being infrastructure free.

“Why? Because I do not trust the supply market yet,” he said. “The number of instances of organisations taking their IT services back in-house, because the service they have got from their supplier has not been up to standard, are too frequent at the moment and there is too much risk at this stage … to be completely infrastructure free.”

Meanwhile, Steve Palmer, the chief information officer and head of ICT at Hillingdon council, was reported as saying that the aim should be to be as infrastructure free as possible.

Palmer,  who is also quoted in the Guardian report, believes the public sector is particularly vulnerable  in finding suppliers with enough capacity and resilience to be able to keep cloud services going during a major failure.

Andy Tait, who until the end of March was deputy director of the G Cloud programme at the Cabinet Office and is now head of public sector strategy for cloud services company VMware, emphasised that cloud is an approach to technology rather than a new technology.

Tait said that the UK public sector was under enormous pressure to cut costs, while maintaining critical frontline services, and IT has a significant role to play in achieving those objectives. “But it can only do that by facing the fundamental transformation to move from the direct and dedicated style of IT infrastructure to a more dynamic and shared common infrastructure that is possible through virtualisation and some cloud technologies,” he said.

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Posted in Cloud, public sector, public services

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