Public Bodies Still Struggling With ICT

A new report shows Scottish Government bodies are still struggling with ICT skills, despite dire warnings three years ago.

Ministers were warned in 2012 that organisations suffered from a lack of IT skills. Audit Scotland research shows there is still a skills gap shortage.

Caroline Gardner, Auditor General for Scotland, said: "When managed effectively, ICT programmes have the power to transform public services, and make a real and positive difference to people's lives. 

"However, the difficulties in managing ICT programmes in both the public and private sector are well documented, and remain a complex challenge for the Scottish Government and central government bodies. While steps have been taken to improve, and overcome obstacles such as the shortage of ICT skills in the public sector, today's report shows that significant progress is still needed.

"Our recommendations reflect the continuing work by the Scottish Government and central government bodies and are intended to help them achieve the full benefits of effective ICT;  particularly in this time of reducing budgets and increasing demand for public services."

Scottish Conservative MSP Mary Scanlon said the report "makes for worrying reading." 

"If the SNP had carried out a skills gap survey earlier when it was previously recommended by Audit Scotland they could have worked with colleges and universities to equip students with the skills they needed.
 
“The SNP government wasted two years after the first Audit Scotland report before even looking into the skills shortage which resulted in temporary staff being recruited at a higher cost to the taxpayer.

"It’s important that the public sector manages an efficient and tight ICT system to provide better services for the public and to reduce costs.
 
“Scotland needs to be keeping up with the rest of the world when it comes to IT and digital skills in order to provide best value to the taxpayer and quality public services. We should be world-leading not lagging behind.”