From The Ground Up – Addressing Core Inefficiencies in The UK Public Sector

Sir Keir Starmer’s government is stepping into one of the most challenging periods since World War II, as highlighted by the IPPR. The public sector is under tremendous pressure, grappling with rising demand, stretched resources, and the lingering effects of the pandemic. Given this landscape, our new government must invest in the correct areas to tackle the inefficiencies that have long hindered the sector. The key here is the back-end operations that services are built upon – a core part of the public sector IT infrastructure that should underpin collaboration, data sharing and digital innovation.

With the new Labour government in power, we must ensure we do not repeat past mistakes. Instead of focusing solely on new, flashy and high-visibility projects, the government should prioritise fixing the back-end inefficiencies that are dragging the whole system down. These hidden bottlenecks undermine every effort to improve public sector performance. If left unaddressed, they will continue to sap resources and frustrate users, no matter how polished the front-end digital and citizen services become. And, given that bigger savings can be made here than on the front-end, there’s a strong incentive for the government to fix things.

A sector in need of change

This focus on front-end digital innovation with a slick website and mobile access was at the expense of the foundational systems that often remained overlooked, resulting in increasing technology fragmentation, limited data sharing and lost opportunities for driving productivity and innovation. Take HMRC, for example. Of the calls that took place, HMRC estimates that 72% of telephone calls it received in 2023-24 were identified as failure demand, which covers calls caused by HMRC’s process failures and delays, customers chasing progress, including when HMRC has not yet reached target timescales for responding, and customers’ errors. This has increased from 65% in 2018-19. Most people will try to fix the issues themselves online, but soon give up and call. This suggests that something failed and prompted them to call. But what is this failure? Maybe the online self-service options could not provide the answers. Maybe HMRC can’t deliver connected data and bespoke services on its website because joining the pot noodle spaghetti at the back-end is too difficult. Or perhaps they simply can’t ‘see’ where the bottlenecks are as they don’t have the end-to-end process visibility to identify where things are stressed.

One of the biggest challenges in the public sector is the existence of technical and cultural silos that fragment data flows and hinder innovation. These silos lead to disjointed processes, making it difficult for data to be effectively utilised across different parts of an organisation. As a result, even the best-intentioned efforts to modernise and improve public services often fall short. There is also a lack of visibility into where to dedicate the effort so it often feels like the government is treating the symptoms and not the root cause. There is an urgent need for change. The government is starting to recognise this with initiatives to improve the back-end such as the Central Digital & Data Office’s (CDDO) Legacy IT Risk Assessment Framework. But more can be done. For example, private sector organisations can help the government realise the majority of the benefits a back-end systems overhaul would give, without the majority of the effort and cost.

Breaking bureaucratic barriers

Many of the hurdles that the UK’s public sector faces are bureaucratic, stemming from decades of systems and processes that have not evolved enough to keep up with change in technology, demographic profiles and preferences. The complex organisational structures and cautious approach to change that define much of the public sector make it difficult to innovate effectively. By breaking down these barriers and creating a more cohesive and agile environment, the public sector will quickly reap the benefits of process optimisation. This change requires more than technical fixes – it demands a cultural shift in how the public sector thinks about and manages its operations.

The challenge isn’t just knowing the correct steps but having the authority and resources to take action. Securing sponsorship from senior leaders is crucial, as they can drive change and buy-in across departments. Often, those generating the data aren’t the same people using it for strategic decisions, so there needs to be a strong cohesiveness between business strategy and the technical architecture that supports it.

The sector needs alignment and a common understanding of the processes and services cross-department. Inefficiencies are likely caused by a complex jumble of systems that are bolted together in an undocumented manner and were never designed to integrate or work with each other. Making the process more efficient starts with identifying where this causes challenges, where the delays, issues or gaps are. The root cause could be people, process, system or a combination of those key factors. Identifying and working through one blockage, will likely result in the next challenge in the process surfacing somewhere else as the next weak link is found. But, if we keep doing this constantly then it will make things so much more efficient.

Empowering citizen developers

There is a significant technological shift happening in the UK public sector that could drive transformative change. At the heart of this shift is the growing use of low-code platforms, which make software development accessible to a wider range of people, including those without formal programming skills. This has led to the rise of citizen developers in the public sector – employees who aren’t traditionally trained in coding but are now creating custom applications and tools to meet their specific needs.

This shift is significant and can help accelerate positive change in the public sector where budgets are tight, but expectations are high. Low-code platforms allow for faster, more cost-effective development, enabling the rapid creation and iteration of new solutions. This not only boosts operational efficiency but also encourages innovation from the ground up. We need the employees who know what is required to make a difference to be empowered to deliver new capabilities with the safety net of IT supporting the environment in which they do this. This workforce can directly contribute to the design and implementation of the digital tools they use.

Ultimately, the new Labour government should address the shortcomings of previous administrations and make it a priority to modernise critical public sector systems. It’s not good enough to ignore the weeds at the back-end that are applying a stranglehold to the sector. They are long overgrown, and they must be cut. Keir Starmer and his government have a unique opportunity to make a lasting impact by focusing on these foundational issues, ensuring that the public sector serves the people with modern solutions, not dated tech and processes. By cutting through bureaucratic red tape and addressing the foundational issues, the government can unlock significant resources and direct them toward critical areas that require investment.

In March 2010, then Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the Labour government released the “Smarter Government” whitepaper. This document included proposals for improving IT infrastructure, streamlining back-office functions and integrating services across departments. It emphasised the need for greater efficiency through the better use of technology, including cloud computing and shared services, to reduce duplication and enhance collaboration across different parts of the public sector. The Labour government also recognised the importance of investing in digital services to support front-line staff, ensuring they had the necessary tools and systems to work more effectively. This included upgrading legacy IT systems, improving data management, and fostering innovation in the use of technology across government departments. These statements are evidence that previous governments have been aware of the back-end issues for many years but there hasn’t been enough progress, whilst technology has blazed ahead and become even more powerful. It’s time for the UK government to deliver and be at the forefront of technology, innovation and citizen services again.

Peter Corpe, Industry Leader – UK Public Sector, Appian.