IT Implementation Strategy Not Followed By Inland Revenue

by Robert Lee, Tax-News.com, London

11 August 2003

According to recent reports, the Inland Revenue is said to have disregarded three stages of the government's official six-stage process for the implementation of key information systems when developing its heavily criticised tax credit computer system.

The so-called 'Gateway Review' process is administered by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) which oversees large IT projects to guard against failure. It is reportedly an essential process for large 'high risk' systems with a single going live date. However, according to IT news service Computing, sources close to the project have revealed that the first three stages (Gateway zero, one and two) were not undertaken by the Revenue. These stages are said to encompass business justification and procurement strategies.

Although the Gateway system is compulsory for such projects, government departments still have to invite the OGC to participate, and it has no legal powers to force departments to do so. It would appear that the Revenue did not invite the OGC to review the tax credit project until the end of last year, when the system was in its final stages of development. Despite this, Paymaster General Dawn Primarolo (head of the government department responsible for the IR) told the BBC last month that: "The report that the OGC did on our readiness going into April was that it was an exemplary example."

A Revenue spokewoman took a similar line, announcing that: "The Revenue agreed with the OGC that a review would be undertaken and focus on programme governance in its widest sense. As a result of the review, which found that the Programme was an exemplar of good programme management, the Revenue was able to move on to Gateway Four."

According to Computing's sister publication, Vnunet, a report published by the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology this week has concluded that Gateway Zero is of particular importance to the successful implementation of IT systems.

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