Once briefed, the panel will form their own view, as I am just the chairman. But given the nature of what they are being asked to help with, there is certain territory which it could be assumed that experienced, independent experts might gravitate towards. The Policy & Resources Committee may also have priorities that it passes on to the panel.
Before anything else, the panel will want to understand the landscape clearly and form their own view of where the most pressing needs sit. That means establishing a clear, honest baseline from which everything else follows, so ‘warts and all’ briefings are a must. Without that, any plan risks addressing the visible rather than the critical.
Any technology recovery has to manage a fundamental tension, as the organisation cannot stop while improvements are made. The panel may focus on how that balance is handled practically, ensuring that the drive to improve does not itself create disruption to the services people depend on.
The panel will likely want to form a view on what skills are needed, when, and in what form. A recurring theme in technology recoveries is that operational capability and senior leadership capability are both required, and the absence of either will stall progress.
The panel will provide some of that perspective, but it is important to be clear about what that role is and what it is not. Panel members are experienced practitioners giving their time in an advisory capacity. They are closer in nature to a non-executive function than an executive one, offering scrutiny, challenge and guidance rather than carrying operational responsibility. That contribution is genuinely valuable, but it is not a substitute for P&R having strong technology leadership capability within its own senior ranks.
Holding vendors to account is an area where the panel brings the technical depth to challenge suppliers on equal terms, evaluating what is being proposed, whether it represents sound practice and fair value, and whether what has been promised is actually being delivered.
Helping P&R lead may be one of the panel’s most important contributions.
The panel can help to frame issues in terms of decisions that P&R actually need to make, what to prioritise, where to invest, what risk is acceptable, and which direction to take. The panel will enable P&R to exercise real judgment.
Looking further ahead, one of the panel’s most significant contributions may be to encourage P&R to lift its ambition beyond recovery and stabilisation. There is an opportunity, and arguably an obligation, to develop a bold, far-reaching digital strategy that sets out clearly how technology will underpin the government’s own objectives and the expectations of the people and businesses it serves. That means moving from a posture of managing technology to one of leading with it. The panel, drawing on experience of what that looks like in practice, is well placed to help P&R think through what such a strategy would need to contain and what it would take to deliver it with credibility.
That means structuring the information P&R receives so that choices are visible, consequences are clear, and accountability is meaningful. It means P&R being able to say with confidence not just that it was told something was happening, but that it considered the options and made a considered choice.
That shift from passenger to driver is what genuine board leadership looks like, and it is entirely achievable with the right support alongside the committee.
Experienced practitioners know that attempting too much at once in a complex environment tends to deliver nothing well. The panel may focus on helping shape a sequenced approach, one that is honest about dependencies, realistic about capacity, and structured so that progress in one area genuinely enables the next.
P&R needs clear, reliable visibility of progress and risk without needing to be technologists themselves. The Panel may want to help establish what that reporting looks like in practice, keeping it simple, honest and focused on what actually needs a decision or response.
Ultimately, the panel’s focus will be on helping chart a credible route from the current position through to a stable, well-run technology function that serves the public effectively. That journey will be phased and will take time, but having independent expertise helping to shape and validate that path is precisely what the panel is there to provide.
However, the panel has independent members, so they will make priority choices based on their thoughts and any direction the panel is given by P&R.
