NAO: Only 7% of recommendations on ICT fully implemented by local councils

Only 7% of recommendations made by the National Audit Office (NAO) regarding the IT infrastructure of local councils are fully implemented, a report found. 

The report by the NAO set out to establish the progress made in the IT setup of local councils since an audit in 2020. 

This follow-up audit discovered that, of the 28 recommendations made following the 2020 audit, 7% had been fully completed, 50% had been partially implemented, and 43% had not been implemented at all. 

Among its findings, the audit noted that when it comes to having an ICT strategy, much was left to be desired. In fact, of the 54 local councils that took part in the NAO survey, eight stated that their ICT strategy is discussed but not formally documented, and 46 did not have any ICT strategy.

The NAO also noted that ICT is far from the top of local councils’ concerns. The audit found that 12 local councils out of the 54 that responded to the NAO survey set aside money specifically for their ICT needs each year, whereas the remaining councils handled ICT demands as an unforeseen, one-time expenditure.

Meanwhile, in their yearly budget, six councils included capital spending items including installing local area networks, buying new equipment, and installing the needed software.

With regards to training, out of the 54 local councils, 38 reported to the NAO that none of their employees had received any IT training since 2020. Employees of two local councils and five local council employees received IT training from the Institute for the Public Service and a private company, respectively. 

On a positive note, the NAO also found that the local government division had fully implemented an online Permit System across all local councils, among other improvements.