Major Coalition projects like aircraft carriers, welfare reforms and broadband roll-out questioned by official Whitehall report
Ministers have been warned that many of the Government’s flagship reforms including the universal credit welfare system, the High Speed rail two train link and the replacement of Britain’s aircraft carriers are “unachievable” or “in doubt”.
A Whitehall audit released last night discloses that officials have warned that billions of pounds of public money is in jeopardy because of the poorly-managed reforms.
The publication of the report from the Major Projects Authority - on the eve of a Bank Holiday weekend when MPs have started a long holiday - sparked accusations of “burying bad news” as the audit paints a damning picture of the Coalition’s competency.
The Major Projects Authority was founded in 2010 with a mandate from David Cameron to turn around the Civil Service’s record of delivering projects.
Its report uses by a traffic light system to rate the risk of delivery of every one of the Coalition’s 191 spending projects, which are so large that they provide Treasury approval
Of the 191 schemes, 32 are defined as either “red” or “amber/red”. which means that they are unachievable or in doubt.
Red means that “successful delivery of the project appears to be unachievable”, with “major issues on project definition, schedule, budget, quality and/or benefits delivery which at this stage do not appear to be manageable or resolvable”.
A red classification also means that the “project may need re-scoping and/or its overall viability reassessed”.
Amber/red means that “successful delivery of the project is in doubt, with major risks or issues apparent in a number of key areas. Urgent action is needed to ensure these are addressed, and whether resolution is feasible”.
Red projects include the two Ministry of Defence's new £7billion aircraft carriers, the £5billion West Coast Mainline scheme and a shared services project at Ministry of Justice.
Amber/red schemes include many of Iain Duncan Smith’s welfare reforms, which are worth billions, including the Universal Credit scheme and reforms to the Disability Living Allowance, child maintenance and benefit cap.
Other amber/red projects were the roll out of broadband across the country, the Government’s high speed rail 2 programme and the sale of the Student Loans book.
Last night Margaret Hodge MP, the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, said she would be ask the National Audit Office to examine the report as part of an investigation.
She said: “We are pleased that this long overdue report has been put into the public domain. It confirms our fears that there are far too many badly managed major projects in Whitehall. What is a particular worry is that key political priorities are in a mess right across Government.
“In these straitened times taxpayers simply can’t afford this lack of control and the extra money that will be wasted as a result of that. One is left wondering this why this important information was put out one hour before everyone went home for the bank holiday?”
A source close to Ed Miliband said: “David Cameron promised change but instead we are seeing collapse. He has failed to cut the deficit and this report shows he is failing to deliver major projects he promised the country.
“Slipping out the news at just before 5pm on a Bank Holiday weekend is a shoddy attempt at burying bad news. It will not work.
“The public will see David Cameron is a Prime Minister who is out of touch, failing to deliver and standing aside as he has no answers to the problems the country faces.”
In a foreword, Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said: “We have a long way to go to ensure that our project delivery matches what the public expect”.
He admitted that “by their very nature these works are high risk and innovative. They often break new ground and dwarf anything the private sector does in both scale and complexity. They will not always run to plan.
Public scrutiny, however uncomfortable, will bring about improvement. Ending the lamentable record of failure to deliver these projects is our priority.”
He added: “Transparency is not easy. We are taking a big step by publishing this honest appraisal of our major projects. A tradition of Whitehall secrecy is being overturned. And while previous Governments buried problems under the carpet, we are striving to be more open.”
A senior Government source admitted that “publication of this information is a difficult moment for the Government”.
The source told The Daily Telegraph: “But the situation is being turned around, we inherited a completely lamentable situation within the civil service when we were elected with billions of pounds of taxpayers money being wasted.”
Cabinet Office sources insisted that it had published the information late on Friday because of the scale of the challenge to bring together all the data across Whitehall.
The Department of Work and Pensions said the report contained out of date information from September last year. A spokesman said: "This rating reflects where the project was eight months ago rather than now.
"Since this September 2012 assessment, the Universal Credit Pathfinder has successfully launched and David Pitchford - the Government's leading expert in major projects - has put in place a strengthened plan and leadership team.
"We are on course to begin the national roll-out of Universal Credit in October 2013."
Government projects rated as red or amber/red in the Major Projects Authority annual report
Department – Project name
Red
Transport - Rail ReFranchising Management Programme - West Coast
Home Office - Transforming the Customer Experience (Formerly A&E)
Defence - WATCHKEEPER
Defence - QEC Aircraft Carriers
Defence – Defence Core Network Services
Justice – MoJ Shared Services
National Statistics - European Systems of Accounting 2010 (ESA 10)
National Statistics - Web Data Access (WDA) Project
Amber/Red
Department – Project name
Business, Innovation and Skills - Student Loans Monetisation Feasibility Study
Cabinet Office - G-Cloud Programme (covers Data Centre Consolidation and Application Store)
Communities, Local Government - ICT Relet Project (formerly entitled ICT Desktop Refresh)
Culture - Broadband Delivery Programme
Culture - Urban Broadband Fund - Super-connected City Initiative
Transport - Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern refranchising project
Transport - High Speed Rail Programme
Transport - Shared Services Futures Project
Health - E&N Herts NHS Trust - Lister Hospital ('Our Changing Hospitals' Phase 4 Programme)
Health - Health and Care Modernisation Transition Programme
Health - London Programme for IT
Work and Pensions - Fraud and Error Programme
Work and Pensions - Personal Independence Payment Implementation
Work and Pensions - Universal Credit Programme
Work and Pensions - Benefit Cap
Work and Pensions - Child Maintenance Group Change
HMRC - One Click
HM Treasury - Equitable Life Payment Scheme
Home Office - Immigration Case Work (ICW)
Home Office - SOCA Information Systems and Operating Technology (ISOT) Programme
Defence - Defence Information Infrastructure
Justice - Payment by Results Pilot Programme
NS&I - Yoda Project (Outsourced Services Re-tender Project)
Source: The Major Projects Authority Annual Report
A red classification also means that the “project may need re-scoping and/or its overall viability reassessed”.
Amber/red means that “successful delivery of the project is in doubt, with major risks or issues apparent in a number of key areas. Urgent action is needed to ensure these are addressed, and whether resolution is feasible”.
Red projects include the two Ministry of Defence's new £7billion aircraft carriers, the £5billion West Coast Mainline scheme and a shared services project at Ministry of Justice.
Amber/red schemes include many of Iain Duncan Smith’s welfare reforms, which are worth billions, including the Universal Credit scheme and reforms to the Disability Living Allowance, child maintenance and benefit cap.
Other amber/red projects were the roll out of broadband across the country, the Government’s high speed rail 2 programme and the sale of the Student Loans book.
Last night Margaret Hodge MP, the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, said she would be ask the National Audit Office to examine the report as part of an investigation.
She said: “We are pleased that this long overdue report has been put into the public domain. It confirms our fears that there are far too many badly managed major projects in Whitehall. What is a particular worry is that key political priorities are in a mess right across Government.
“In these straitened times taxpayers simply can’t afford this lack of control and the extra money that will be wasted as a result of that. One is left wondering this why this important information was put out one hour before everyone went home for the bank holiday?”
A source close to Ed Miliband said: “David Cameron promised change but instead we are seeing collapse. He has failed to cut the deficit and this report shows he is failing to deliver major projects he promised the country.
“Slipping out the news at just before 5pm on a Bank Holiday weekend is a shoddy attempt at burying bad news. It will not work.
“The public will see David Cameron is a Prime Minister who is out of touch, failing to deliver and standing aside as he has no answers to the problems the country faces.”
In a foreword, Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said: “We have a long way to go to ensure that our project delivery matches what the public expect”.
He admitted that “by their very nature these works are high risk and innovative. They often break new ground and dwarf anything the private sector does in both scale and complexity. They will not always run to plan.
Public scrutiny, however uncomfortable, will bring about improvement. Ending the lamentable record of failure to deliver these projects is our priority.”
He added: “Transparency is not easy. We are taking a big step by publishing this honest appraisal of our major projects. A tradition of Whitehall secrecy is being overturned. And while previous Governments buried problems under the carpet, we are striving to be more open.”
A senior Government source admitted that “publication of this information is a difficult moment for the Government”.
The source told The Daily Telegraph: “But the situation is being turned around, we inherited a completely lamentable situation within the civil service when we were elected with billions of pounds of taxpayers money being wasted.”
Cabinet Office sources insisted that it had published the information late on Friday because of the scale of the challenge to bring together all the data across Whitehall.
The Department of Work and Pensions said the report contained out of date information from September last year. A spokesman said: "This rating reflects where the project was eight months ago rather than now.
"Since this September 2012 assessment, the Universal Credit Pathfinder has successfully launched and David Pitchford - the Government's leading expert in major projects - has put in place a strengthened plan and leadership team.
"We are on course to begin the national roll-out of Universal Credit in October 2013."
Government projects rated as red or amber/red in the Major Projects Authority annual report
Department – Project name
Red
Transport - Rail ReFranchising Management Programme - West Coast
Home Office - Transforming the Customer Experience (Formerly A&E)
Defence - WATCHKEEPER
Defence - QEC Aircraft Carriers
Defence – Defence Core Network Services
Justice – MoJ Shared Services
National Statistics - European Systems of Accounting 2010 (ESA 10)
National Statistics - Web Data Access (WDA) Project
Amber/Red
Department – Project name
Business, Innovation and Skills - Student Loans Monetisation Feasibility Study
Cabinet Office - G-Cloud Programme (covers Data Centre Consolidation and Application Store)
Communities, Local Government - ICT Relet Project (formerly entitled ICT Desktop Refresh)
Culture - Broadband Delivery Programme
Culture - Urban Broadband Fund - Super-connected City Initiative
Transport - Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern refranchising project
Transport - High Speed Rail Programme
Transport - Shared Services Futures Project
Health - E&N Herts NHS Trust - Lister Hospital ('Our Changing Hospitals' Phase 4 Programme)
Health - Health and Care Modernisation Transition Programme
Health - London Programme for IT
Work and Pensions - Fraud and Error Programme
Work and Pensions - Personal Independence Payment Implementation
Work and Pensions - Universal Credit Programme
Work and Pensions - Benefit Cap
Work and Pensions - Child Maintenance Group Change
HMRC - One Click
HM Treasury - Equitable Life Payment Scheme
Home Office - Immigration Case Work (ICW)
Home Office - SOCA Information Systems and Operating Technology (ISOT) Programme
Defence - Defence Information Infrastructure
Justice - Payment by Results Pilot Programme
NS&I - Yoda Project (Outsourced Services Re-tender Project)
Source: The Major Projects Authority Annual Report
