Government’s ability to make well-informed decisions and address issues as they arise during the pandemic has been hampered by slow progress in addressing longstanding issues with data and legacy IT. We have repeatedly highlighted longstanding data issues within government, including the lack of data standards, ageing IT systems, fragmented leadership, and a culture that does not support sharing data across departmental boundaries. These issues came to a head during the pandemic. For instance...

Government’s ability to make well-informed decisions and address issues as they arise during the pandemic has been hampered by slow progress in addressing longstanding issues with data and legacy IT. We have repeatedly highlighted longstanding data issues within government, including the lack of data standards, ageing IT systems, fragmented leadership, and a culture that does not support sharing data across departmental boundaries. These issues came to a head during the pandemic. For instance, missing or inaccurate telephone numbers within NHS patient records meant that the shielding programme was unable to follow-up letters to 375,000 vulner Type: conclusion | Number: 2 | Response status: not_addressed Government response: 2: PAC conclusion: Government’s ability to make well-informed decisions and address issues as they arise during the pandemic has been hampered by slow progress in addressing longstanding issues with data and legacy IT. 2a: PAC recommendation: HM Treasury and the C