Defra too reliant on outdated computers, MPs warn

Outdated IT systems are damaging the work of the government department in charge of protecting the environment and supporting farmers, MPs say.

The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) still relies heavily on paper forms, according to the public accounts committee.

And many of its computers are expensive to maintain and at risk of crashes and security breaches, the MPs warn.

In 2021, Defra was given £871m for digital investment.

Of that, £366m was meant to be used to bring the department's IT systems up to date.

However, Defra cannot deliver all its goals with the funding it has available and as a result the aim to digitise 20 of its most used services is unfunded, according to the committee's report.

The department has said one of its biggest problem areas was the system used to record bovine tuberculosis tests results from vets and farmers.

It explained that the system was too old to run on the operating system used by many newer devices, and vets had to buy old laptops on eBay to be able to run Defra's programme.

Defra recently invested around £11m in upgrading the system, which meant that it could be run on an iPad or phone.

According to the public accounts committee, Defra has made good progress in tackling its legacy systems so far, although it has some of the most out-of-date IT systems in government.

"It has tackled the most pressing issues first and prioritised work on applications that most need to be stabilised in the short-term."

However, 80% of Defra's applications remain either in extended support, where Defra may have to pay additional charges for updates, or are completely unsupported by their supplier increasing the risk of failure or cyber attacks.

The public accounts committee has also said Defra does not yet have a strategy to transform its existing digital services and is not taking a proactive approach to reducing reliance on paper forms.

There is still a digital skills shortage across UK industry and the public sector and, in December 2022, the National Audit Office said Defra had found it difficult to recruit and retain people with the right digital skills.

Between October 2021 and October 2022, Defra ran recruitment campaigns for 244 digital, data and technology roles but could not fill 31% of these roles.