The Science, Innovation and Technology Committee has questioned tech experts on the government's plans for the digital center of government – or the new government digital service (GDS).
The committee examined the role of the new center and the whether the government's digitization of public services will be successful.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister keir starmer Promised a Potential £ 45bn in Savings Should The Government Get Digital Services Right, And Pledged to SED TEAMS INTO GOWERNMENT DAPARTMENTS to ENSURE ARE UTILISING TECHNOLOGY and Artificial Inlegation (Ai).
This is part of the government's Blueprint for digital government.
Giving Evidence to the Committee, The Government's Head of Ai, Laura Gilbert, Said There are currently a lot of people in senior digital, data and technology (ddat) “Consider Technology People”, Adding, “I wouldn'T hire them”.
“It's very different to hire technologists well. The way the civil service hires for this sort of role is not suitable for this Sort of purpose. Its's real Hit and Miss,” SAIDING HOING HOWS Right buzzwords and programming languages checked off doesnysarily makes theose people the right fit for the job.
“The system does not have a way to hire that assures that people [can] Do the job. Until that changes, it's going to continue to be very different. “
She added that to become an ai engineer in the government's ai incubator, she puts potential hires through a four-his coding test, testing their skills in a real SCENARIOI, Whilel The Civil Service ” Behavior-based interviews and trying to apply that to technical roles ”.
Gilbert said sheid she is also Concerned about the Prime Minister's Announcement that, by 2030, One in 10 Civil servants will be in a digital role.
“Will they really be digital skills?
The committeee also questioned the potential £ 45bn in Savings, a Figure That Comes from A Bain & Company Report Published in January 2025,
Gilbert said the methodology for coming up with that those numbers “is perfectly good” but, as with everything else, it's gueswork.
She said there is a front-loaded part where there are easy gains on quite big projects you can spin up that don't rely on keeping legacy systems after, but a lot of it will be long-fitted People and money, and she doubts the government will ever get to a point where they can say they've saved extended exactly £ 45bn.
Former Civil Servant Turned Consultant Richard Pope, Director of Richard Pope and Partners, Added That It is “Really hard to digitise an ana analogue service and not save money”, so there will be saving.
“But projects predicated on Saving Money Tend Not to Work very well for the public,” he added.
He is also concerned that the government has publicly focused too much on ai as the Savior.
“I wonder if menisters have painted themeselves into the corner with a little bit, because it's almost like ai ai has become synonymous with saving,” He Said, Digital Products, services and systems that may not sound as flashy, but work well, and that to achieve the Savings predicted, the government needs to use “The full scope of digital”.
Both Pope and Gilbert are concerned by the Lack of Clarity Around What the Government is Trying to do in Data Exchange.
Pope said that in the past five years, gds have done five different data exchange projects, and the government's blueprint signs that anothar one is in the works.
Gilbert is concerned that the value Around the data programs so far has been “really low and not far-recanding”. She says the plans around the data library and data sharing need to be “really clea” Data, Personal Data, What the outcome will be, and where the money is being.
“The practical implementation is very important.
Pope added that the new gds needs to show that it can exercise influence across the system and focus on delivery good services for civil servants and the public, particularly getting to Getting to Getting to Getting to Getting to Getting to Getting to Getting to Getting to Getting to Getting to Getting to Getting to Getting to Getting to Getting to Getting To End-of-Life Systems.
“There's a lot of unmainTailed technology the government related to do its job. It's not good enough at the moment, and we obvious need to fix that. Value to the public, “He said.
While the government's plans for digitization focus heavily on Cyber Security and Legacy Systems, Pope said it is important to think “a bit more holistic infriend And what is needed to deliver what works-cross-road.
The experts also pointed out that rest of the new gds is a good one, should it work, it will be different to get right.
Pope said that historically, gds have been focused on citizen-facing services, as opposed to businesses and the wider economy, which has been left out.
Gilbert added that the proof will be in the implementation.
“The other thing is, how are we tracking wheether it's delivering on that remit in a way that does not involve lots of written documents and involves Acual Outcomes?” She said.