After the General Election: The next five years

On May 7th, the General Election 2015 took everyone by surprise: a majority Conservative Government took office. The initial reaction from the UK public sector SITS supplier community was relief. The appointment of a majority Government avoided weeks of uncertainty and potential delays in decisions around major Government projects.

We then heard of changes to the Cabinet. From our perspective the most interesting appointments were Matthew Hancock as Minister for the Cabinet Office in charge of efficiency and civil service reform (see Maude will be a tough act to follow) and Greg Clark as Minister for the Department for Communities and Local Government (see Cameron leaves Pickles on the sides).  Since then, we have also seen a shake-up in Whitehall. Most notably, John Manzoni, Chief Executive of the Civil Service, takes on additional responsibilities as Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office.

However, despite some certainty as a result of a majority Government, for UK public sector SITS suppliers, question marks remain.  Questions like:

· What will civil service reform look like and will ICT have a role to play?

· How will Government procure ICT services?

· Will more public services be outsourced? And how?

· What will be the role of the Government Digital Service?

· How will Government-as-a-Platform impact demand for ICT services?

· Will local government be increasingly influenced by Whitehall directives?

In this research note we consider these burning questions, as we contemplate the future of digital in the UK public sector.

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