*New Research* Government Digital Service: Priorities askew

Today the National Audit Office (NAO) published its review of the role and effectiveness of the Government Digital Service (GDS). GDS budget has swollen year-on-year. In 2015-16 the budget stood at £96m; in 2016-17, the budget is peaking at £150m (though an underspend of expected because of lower than expected uptake of centrally provided services). Thus, staff numbers have also expanded rapidly; numbers jumped from 653 FTEs in 2015-16 to 911 in 2016-17. It’s no wonder that there is a desire to ensure the organisation is providing value for money. 

There is certainly a role for a central organisation like GDS, as Whitehall (and the wider public sector) seeks to reform with the support of digital technologies. However, in this latest UKHotViewsExtra article - GDS: Has it got its priorities right? - PublicSectorViews Research Director, Georgina O'Toole, argues that, GDS must get its priorities in order if it is to have any significant impact on the complex transformation agenda.

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Posted by Georgina O'Toole at '20:50' - Tagged: publicsector   centralgovernment   digital   transformation