Initiatives aimed at reducing ICT spending saved the government £316m in 2011-12, but a lack of evidence makes it impossible to validate all the savings the Cabinet Office has reported, according to an NAO report published today.
The NAO said spending controls, a shared infrastructure programme, and centralised procurement were “starting to work”, finding that 89 per cent (£316m) of the £354m of savings reported by the Cabinet Office met the NAO’s savings criteria. The main reason for savings not meeting the NAO’s criteria was a “lack of clear evidence”.
Though the Cabinet Office claimed that managing major suppliers as a single customer had resulted in further savings of £348m in 2011-12, the NAO was unable to verify this, again due to poor data.