The performance of the Department for Transport - Fleet News

2055. The NAO is satisfied that, in many cases, the Department for Transport is achievinglong term savings. The main reasons for the NAO's concerns are that 80% of theDepartment for Transport’s reported savings relate to support for the rail industry, and theNAO considers the baselines against which these savings were measured should have beenrevised in the light of the most recent information, which would have reduced the savingsreported in 2008–09. There is also the risk that large elements of the savings are notsustainable across the spending review years owing to the impact of the economicdownturn on passenger revenues.56. The Committee, like the NAO, is concerned that such a high proportion of claimedsavings could possibly be overstated. We support the NAO’s view that the baselinesagainst which savings have been reported should be recalculated, and that all claimedsavings should, in future, be carefully reviewed before publication to ensure that theyare defensible and real.Shared services57. The Department has transferred various corporate functions, such as human resources,payroll, and finance support to its agencies, to a Shared Services Centre, operated bycontractors. For several years, we have been critical of the Department for allowing the costof the shared services programme to over-run. 88 We have also had concerns about thesuitability of the Department for Transport to be in the vanguard of the project. 8958. In 2008, the NAO investigated the establishment of the Shared Services Centre. Itreported that, by March 2008, the project was forecast to cost £81 million to 2015, ratherthan save £57 million as originally forecast by the Department in April 2005. 9059. The NAO once again draws attention to Shared Services in its briefing note ofDecember 2009. 91 The Department describes a number of measures that it has taken toimprove the reliability and performance of the Shared Services Centre. It concludes that“At year end [31 March 2009], a position had been reached where the internal controlsover transactions had reached acceptable levels. This level of control has beenmaintained.” 92 This is hardly a statement of resounding success.This is an embargoed advance copy.Not to be published in any form until00:01 on Thursday 4 March60. Our concerns are about both value for money and the impact on the Department’seffectiveness, including on its agencies. For example, during 2008–09 DVLA and DSA hadto employ “extra-systems controls” in order to maintain effective control of their financialservices. 93 The Department brought in experienced civil servants and contractors to88 Transport Committee Fourth Report of Session 2006–07, Departmental Annual Report 2006, HC 95, p 489 It is the policy of the Cabinet Office that in order for Shared Services to be desirable for an organisation, it needs tohave between 20,000 and 50,000 staff. When the project was approved, the Department for Transport group hadjust 19,000 staff, plus 3,000 volunteers in the Coast Guard Rescue Service.90 National Audit Office, Shared Services in the Department for Transport and its Agencies, HC 481, Session 2007–08,23 May 2008, Fig 191 National Audit Office, Performance of the Department for Transport 2008–09, Briefing for the House of CommonsTransport Select Committee, November 2009, p 1292 Department for Transport, Annual Report and Resource Accounts 2008–09, HC 454, July 2009 pp 324–5 and Ev 1993 These are not explained in the Accounts. Presumably they are additional manual procedures and ad hoc systems tosupplement and validate the financial information provided by the Shared Services Centre.