Scrutiny 'hopeful' its Agilisys report will be out by year-end

It hopes to publish the report by Christmas, two-and-a-half years after launching a review prompted by IT costs revealed in the States accounts for 2021.

The Scrutiny Management Committee originally intended to publish its findings in May but agreed a delay to provide more time for feedback from the Policy & Resources Committee, which is responsible for IT.

The committees worked on a further draft of the report later this summer.

Scrutiny president Yvonne Burford said yesterday that P&R’s most recent comments were received before the end of August.

‘Due to the need to go back to parties more than once on occasion for clarification, as well as delays caused by the holidays, this has taken longer than expected,’ said Deputy Burford.

‘The SMC will publish the report once all the stages have been satisfactorily completed.

‘Although this is taking longer than was originally anticipated, our commitment is to get it right.

‘I can’t commit to an exact date because above all we are determined our report will be thorough and we must allow the fact-checking process to run its course, but we are doing everything we possibly can to release it in the last quarter of this year.’

The 10-year contract between the States and Agilisys reached its halfway point last month.

Their partnership was placed under review by Scrutiny to examine whether it provided value for money for taxpayers.

Deputy Burford said yesterday that her committee’s review was ‘complex and challenging’ and admitted that she ‘would have liked it to move more quickly’.

But she believed that the time taken to finalise the report would make the recommendations no less relevant or worthwhile.

‘Once the committee agreed its draft recommendations earlier this year, we shared them with P&R, as we are fully aware that work on the development of the technical infrastructure and IT staffing was and is ongoing and being led by P&R,’ she said.

‘This approach has enabled P&R to consider Scrutiny’s recommendations when making major decisions in this area.

‘Ultimately, the shared goal of all parties must be a well-functioning States IT environment that provides good services for the community and value for money.

‘The SMC believes its review will contribute to that aim.’

Deputy Burford said there had been no change to her committee’s original intention to publish a final report with recommendations for P&R but not to take it to the States Assembly for debate or hold a public hearing into the findings.

A spokesman for P&R said that Scrutiny’s review was running alongside an extensive programme of improvement and investment in States IT and the ‘continued evolution’ of its relationship with Agilisys.

‘Developing the States’ use of technology, starting with enhancing our IT foundations and managing our data collection, is a priority,’ he said.

‘As acknowledged by Deputy Burford earlier this year, delays to the publication of the Scrutiny report have not affected progress.’