Public sector requires a systematic digital reboot
WHILST the business community is constantly embracing the advantages of digital technology to improve productivity and efficiency, there is a general acceptance that more could be done by the public sector to follow its lead, especially at a time when public expenditure is being reduced.
A survey earlier this year by Ipsos showed that 58% of UK citizens recognised the positive impact digital is having on the quality of public services. However, while three-quarters said government should press ahead with plans to digitise public services, 47% did not believe the public sector had the necessary skills to make progress on this issue.
That is why a report this week is to be welcomed as the first step in hopefully closing the gap between what citizens in Wales want and what is currently being delivered by the public sector.
System Reboot: Transforming Public Services Through Better Use of Digital is a long-overdue study for the Welsh Government from an expert panel chaired by Llanelli AM Lee Waters, who yesterday was appointed to Mark Drakeford’s new cabinet as Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport. Its aim was to provide external advice on transforming public services through better use of digital and to come up with recommendations to shape the next steps.
It’s an excellent beginning to what will be a critical agenda in Wales over the next decade and I would urge everyone working in public services in Wales to read this 58-page report from cover to cover and to add to the debate where possible.
It is full of excellent examples of where public services are doing well but also where, more critically, there is room for improvement. Given the brevity of this column, it is impossible to cover everything in detail, so I shall focus instead on the main recommendations and their implications for public services in Wales.
The first recommendation is that public services should be designed around the needs of the user, ie that policies and systems should be citizen-centric. Unlike many consumer businesses, public bodies in Wales do not provide a seamless end-to-end digital transaction for all requests, and a movement towards such an approach to could transform the delivery of public services in Wales.
The second is to establish a clear digital leadership in Wales by having a new minister responsible for a new digital strategy, supported by a chief digital officer with a mandate for change and an advisory group made up of those with experience and expertise in a range of specialisms required to make digital a success.
This approach can then be rolled out across Wales with the appointment of a digital leader in each public service body, who is empowered to effect change and who can be held responsible for delivery.
Another key element is a commitment to user-centred design through the adoption of a set of service standards, building from experiences elsewhere across the UK. These standards would be regularly assessed so that quality is improved across the public sector.
As noted earlier, one of the concerns of the public is that civil servants and others do not have the skills to properly adopt digital technology.
The first step in addressing this issue is to identify the digital skills and capability gaps in the Welsh public sector and develop a plan to close them, especially by providing training and support. This can be supplemented with a range of positive interventions, including the creation of communities of practice, reviewing government IT contracts to identify new ways of working with the private sector, and examining how procurement frameworks can create opportunities for the development of digital skills and capabilities.
Clearly, none of the above can be done without incentives and it is critical, even at a time of shrinking budgets, that the Welsh Government provide additional investment to new digital services. However, the quid quo pro for this funding must be public bodies’ full alignment with a key set of agreed digital principles and standards that encourage efficiency by championing user-led design while maximising economies of scale.
And there is no time to waste. While the civil service has been accused of sometimes being as rapid as a somnambulistic snail in implementing government policy, there must be a clear and ambitious timetable for change for this agenda, demonstrating pace and scale with clear signposts and opportunities for reevaluating progress at key milestones.
With the digital world increasingly affecting all aspects of our personal lives, it is critical that the public sector steps up to the mark to provide the same level of service that we would expect from any private sector provider.
This report by Lee Waters and the ministerial taskforce is the first important step in achieving that and I hope that the new Welsh Government will take this forward urgently as part of its agenda for Wales.