The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee is warning that the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) IT systems are outdated, inefficient, expensive and at constant risk of failure or cyber-attack.

According to the Committee, Defra has one of the most significant legacy IT challenges across government, with a proliferation of outdated applications across the Department and the many other organisations that make up the Defra Group.

In a new report published today, the Committee says that Defra legacy IT systems, which are used by a wide range of customers and are critical to the country’s trade, disease prevention, flood protection, and clean water supply, are both outdated and difficult to use. Defra and its organisations handle around 14 million transactions per year that still involve paper forms, making them inefficient and expensive.

80% of Defra’s IT applications remain in extended support or are completely unsupported by their supplier

Currently 80% of Defra’s IT applications remain either in extended support, possibly incurring additional charges for updates, or are completely unsupported by their supplier.

The report says that although it is embarking on a fundamental review and potential restructure of its organisation, Defra does not yet have a concurrent pro-active strategy for the transformation of its digital services, or for challenges like reducing reliance on paper forms and making applications widely available on mobile phones.

Defra estimates that it needs to spend £726 million on modernising legacy services between 2021 and 2025, and that fully transforming its digital systems could save £20 million to £25 million every year.

At the same time as addressing the challenges posed by legacy IT, Defra is undertaking a business transformation process which includes potentially major structural changes to Defra and its arm’s-length bodies.

However, the Committee says the lack of overall vision of how the transformed Department and its organisations will operate means any changes made now to its digital systems may not be appropriate in the longer-term and could lead instead to wasted time and money.

According to the MPs on the committee, Defra has not given enough attention to the impact of its poor digital services on its users.

In addition, it does not measure the cost to users of its unmodernised digital services, meaning it is not possible to assess the total burden they place on other organisations and the wider economy.

Defra is also struggling to recruit the digital, data and technology staff it needs, and therefore remains over-reliant on contractors which can cost up to twice as much.

The Committee is calling on Defra to explain what new approaches it will adopt to recruit staff and reduce its reliance on contractors and temporary staff to provide digital skills.

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Deputy Chair of the Committee, said:

“Defra’s IT systems are so outmoded and disconnected - where they exist at all, instead of paper forms - that in some cases the professionals who keep our food, water and air safe have been forced to buy obsolete equipment just to fill in the forms to fulfil their regulatory responsibilities. We are facing down rapidly spreading animal diseases, maybe the next pandemic, with systems that may rely on moving paper forms around. This cannot continue.

“We on the PAC will also not accept a situation where Defra spends hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ money on a disjointed upgrade programme only to find that it no longer fits the structure of new systems of air quality monitoring, food and clean water supply in this country. It’s time for a complete overhaul at Defra, with a concurrent, pro-active digital strategy that matches every step.”

The Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) at the Cabinet Office is working with departments to ensure that at least 50 of the 75 highest priority customer services across government reach a “great” standard by 2025. CDDO has reviewed nine of these services but only one of these meets this standard.

Defra does not expect to resolve all its legacy issues until 2030. In 2020, Defra estimated it needed to spend £726 million on modernising legacy services between 2021 and 2025 - the second largest legacy spend requirement in government after the Home Office.

In the 2021 Spending Review, Defra received £871 million over three years for digital investment. This included £366 million for addressing legacy issues and bringing systems up to the necessary standard. The settlement was 58% of Defra’s bid to HM Treasury.

Click here to download the full report