Where Will The Coalition Take British Tech?

IT spending cuts

One area of policy that the parties cannot fail to agree on is the need for major cuts in IT spending. In January an investigation by the Independent newspaper found that British taxpayers were left saddled with a bill of more than £26 billion for government computer systems that had either suffered severe delays, or run over budget, or that had been cancelled altogether.

A report from analyst group TechMarketView in February predicted that public sector spending on software and IT services would grow by an average of just 0.8 percent per year under a Tory government, compared to 2.9 percent under a Labour government. British business executive and former civil secrvant Sir Peter Gershon has advised the Tories that renegotiating contracts with suppliers could lead to cuts in IT spending of between £2 billion and £4 billion per year. The Liberal Democrats have also stated that, by scrapping unpopular ICT schemes such as ID cards and biometric passports, they could save £3.37 billion over five years.

The Labour government proposed the use of open source tech to help the public sector cut IT costs during the economic downturn, and the new government is equally keen on open source software. The Tories support the use of open standards in government IT projects, and the Lib Dems have sung the praises of open source’s cost benefits in the past. However, as TechMarketView analyst Georgina O’Toole wrote in a report dated 12 May,  “The devil is (and will be) in the detail.”

“On some issues there seems to be broad cross-party agreement – opening the way for increased adoption of open source software, moving towards software-as-a-service where possible, the consolidation and rationalisation of IT infrastructure, and opening up the Government IT market to smaller providers,” she said. “Where the parties differ is in their approach to achieving these goals – and that will raise its head when dealing with the practicalities begins and procurement reform is put under the spotlight.”

Likely clashes ahead

One area where the parties are likely to clash is on the subject of rolling out super-fast broadband in rural areas. The Liberal Democrats originally supported the Labour government’s strategy of a 50p-per-month broadband tax, which was scrapped in order to fast-track the Finance Act and enact the budget ahead of the general election. However, the Tories strongly opposed the levy, instead proposing that the broadband network could be funded by a combination of private investment and a portion of the BBC’s licence fee.

In February the Liberal Democrats accused the Tories of operating fantasy world economics. “Anyone can promise the earth,” said culture, media and sport spokesman Don Foster. “What matters is how you pay for it. All independent research shows that the market simply cannot provide high speed broadband in all parts of the country in the short term without investment.”

The Conservatives also threatened at the beginning of this year to abolish the regulator, Ofcom, leaving the proposed auction of the UK’s radio spectrum hanging in the balance. The Liberal Democrats’ stance on this proposal is unknown, but it is possible that there will be some resistance to abolishing Ofcom – particularly as MP Don Foster has called on Ofcom for firm regulation in the past.