New Labour, old procurement mistakes?

The UK government unveiled its Modernising Government White Paper this week, and had the technology industry slavering at the mouth over the prospect of more juicy public sector contracts coming up for tender.

Over the next five years, Labour has promised to review all central and local government services and activities to "identify the best supplier in each case".

This isn't just about technology, but you can bet your bottom dollar that a government committed to delivering all "basic dealings with government" electronically by 2008 will be relying even more heavily on IT - and the private sector - than its Tory predecessor.

So there will be new contracts up for grabs - and current ones ditched. At least that seems to be the inference of minister for the Cabinet Office Jack Cunningham's assertion that he had inherited some "IT calamities" from the previous government.

If he's serious about not repeating the mistakes of the past, the process of reviewing current services and appointing new suppliers is key. The person advising government on this simply cannot be someone from the supply-side of the industry - or even an MP.

Whoever is appointed must be given real decision-making power, Cabinet-level access and the budgets needed to oversee the complex procurement processes. According to Peter Kilfoyle, minister for public services, "a senior, board level person" will carry out procurement within every government department, so "IT is dealt with the seriousness it deserves, and not dealt with by a junior person".

Cunningham talked of creating a "corporate IT strategy" for government - something which will require the skills of an IT director. Whether the government will come up with the salary levels needed to attract the top talent remains to be seen.

The role of CITU (Central IT Unit), the government's IT policy making body, will become even more crucial. On 1 February 1998, responsibility for the application of PFI (Public Finance Initiative) to IT projects was transferred from CITU to the Treasury Taskforce. The government should consider giving CITU its teeth back to avoid an unhealthy obsession with costs.

It's easy to knock initiatives like this at such an early stage. It's feasible that it will benefit government (and UK citizens) as much as the IT suppliers who will pick up the new business. But the government must ensure there is substance and money behind the rhetoric if it's serious about modernising itself - and the correct personnel appointed in the key positions.