The public sector is suffering from a lack of effective monitoring and accountability. The government are at risk of exacerbating the problem with the failure to adopt open reporting on public sector IT projects.

Whitehall had originally planned to release a series of ‘gateway’ reports, detailing the progress of major public sector IT projects. This would co-inside with the creation of a supplier blacklist which would be implemented to encourage companies to meet high standards.

The gate way reviews act as independent reports on large scale projects, that require approval from the Treasury. Francis Maude, the compliance Cabinet Office minister, had originally planned to publish the reports, which are currently kept secret, in order to promote responsibility and control.

The recent revelation of the governments backtracking on regular IT project reports represents a dangerous precedent and risks the return of unregulated spending on ineffective projects such as ID cards and the UK border force.

Maude went back on his promise, reportedly after senior civil servants complained, fearing that such accountability could damage their reputation if they became linked with failed IT projects.

The government have made significant savings from increasing IT efficiency and carrying out cost cutting. In backtracking on public accountability, reportedly in favour of protecting civil servants linked to failed projects, the government are risking the health of public sector IT operations.

Both suppliers and users must be made to be held accountable for the success of projects. It could be argued that the damage done to civil service members from public exposure to failed projects is justified. In failing to abide by this key practice of contract management, Whitehall are harming the prospects of government IT projects