Defra’s IT systems are “outdated, inefficient and expensive” and put the food industry under constant threat of cyberattack, a new report has claimed.
MPs on the Public Accounts Committee warned today that the “lack of vision” in the department is such that the near £750m earmarked for upgrades to technology systems at Defra risks being out of date even before it is spent.
Defra systems are used by a wide range of customers “critical to the country’s trade, disease prevention, flood protection, and air quality monitoring” according to the report.
But services used for farmers, vets, scientists, retailers and other sectors of the food and drink industry are outdated and difficult to use, it found.
Defra is said to handle around 14 million transactions per year that still involve “inefficient and expensive” paper forms.
Fundamental review
The department has embarked on a “fundamental review” of its structure and organisation. However, the report said there was no concurrent proactive strategy for the transformation of its digital services, or for challenges like reducing reliance on paper forms and making applications widely available on mobile phones.
Defra has estimated it needs to spend £726m on modernising legacy services between 2021 and 2025, and claims fully transforming its digital systems could save the taxpayer £20m-£25m every year.
But the PAC said the lack of overall vision meant any changes made now to its digital systems may not be appropriate in the longer-term and could lead instead to “wasted time and money”.
It found 80% of Defra’s IT applications remained either in extended support, possibly incurring additional charges for updates, or completely unsupported by their supplier, with the department having failed to pay enough attention to the impact of its poor digital services on its users.
It said it was impossible to measure the burden the issues placed on other organisations and the wider economy.
One example raised was vets having to buy old laptops to be able to run the programmes they needed to use.
Urgent action
The report calls for urgent action to explain what new approaches it will adopt to recruit staff and reduce its reliance on contractors and temporary staff to provide digital skills.
“Defra’s IT systems are so outmoded and disconnected – where they exist at all, instead of paper forms – that in some cases the professionals who keep our food, water and air safe have been forced to buy obsolete equipment just to fill in the forms to fulfil their regulatory responsibilities,” said Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, deputy chair of the committee.
“We are facing down rapidly spreading animal diseases, maybe the next pandemic, with systems that may rely on moving paper forms around. This cannot continue.
“We on the PAC will also not accept a situation where Defra spends hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ money on a disjointed upgrade programme only to find that it no longer fits the structure of new systems of air quality monitoring, food and clean water supply in this country. It’s time for a complete overhaul at Defra, with a concurrent, proactive digital strategy that matches every step.”
A Defra spokesperson said: “We have made significant progress on enhancing and improving the resilience of our current technology and digital services through an effective and wide-ranging investment plan.
“We have already delivered new and improved services to improve flood warnings, farming and countryside schemes and food imports and exports, developed with the input of end-users and customers.
“Defra is a wide-reaching organisation, and we are committed to improving the quality and availability of our digital services and ensuring our systems are secure and resilient.”
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