CTO Ian Patterson says the change will support the organisation in becoming more agile
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) expects to achieve big savings in the first year following a move to pull its IT operations back in-house.
Chief technology officer Iain Patterson (pictured) has said it will save £70 million from the costs of retendering for a new outsource supplier, and £22.5 million per year on operations.
He includes the forecast in a flag waving blog on the change, published to mark the end of the old Partners Achieving Change Together (PACT) contract with Concentrix and Fujitsu on 12 September.
Patterson says the decision was taken because of concerns about the commercial constraints on the way that DVLA wanted to develop its business, notably in becoming more agile. He said it has given itself the scope to find a blend of in-house and outsourced IT capabilities, making more use of SMEs and services procured through the Digital Marketplace.
It will also be used to support its intensified focus on digital, which it is aiming to increase from 50% to 80% of its activities.
In-housing case
The savings forecast could also provide some weight to the case for in-housing in other government organisations: Patterson makes the points that it is the first government body to exit such a large outsourced contract.
The decision to move IT back in-house was taken two years ago, and was led by the DVLA’s Information Technology Directorate. It involved taking responsibility for more than 400 roles, of which 302 were transferred under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations (TUPE).
It also involved taking on 300 contracts, 60 technical tools and 62 IT services, funding 20 places at Swansea University’s Computer Science Foundation course, and providing six graduate placements for IT students.
Image from GOV.UK, Open Government Licence v3.0
