An important debate about Government IT procurement was run by a self-described novice, according to transcripts of a Westminster Hall session from this week.
In a debate, called to discuss major changes in a existing process that has led to a litany of overspending on IT, the Conservatives sent a junior minister who admitted he was a "fish out of water".
“I do not know whether you count yourself as one of life's anoraks. I do not,” said Nick Hurd, a minister and MP for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner.
“It is one of the oddities of this place that the Minister for Civil Society should find himself responding to a debate on cost reduction information and communications technology procurement, but that is my fate as the junior Minister in the Cabinet Office," he continued.
“This is not my area of day-to-day responsibility, so I am a fish out of water here, but I shall flap to the best of my abilities for the next eight minutes or so.”
Hurd's comments were in response to an opening statement from John Pugh, the Liberal Democrat MP for Southport, who has regularly criticised IT procurement failures, including at the Ministry of Defence and the Department for Transport.
Pugh highlighted an MoD infrastructure contract that he said had ballooned in price “from £2.3 billion to about £7 billion”.
Despite his self-confessed ignorance, Hurd reassured the debate's attendees that “the Cabinet Office takes seriously the opportunity to find substantial savings and efficiencies, and better ways for the Government to commission, procure and manage ICT".
Hurd went on to highlight recent successes, such as potentially having saved £1 billion following a moratorium on IT spending this year, as well as outline plans to streamline the procurement process.
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/364387/gove ... f-water-mpOh yes, the Cabinet Office are really taking it seriously...
