UK government delays digital roadmap again • The Register

The UK government's long-promised digital roadmap has slipped again, leaving a £45 billion potential savings figure in limbo. The Government Digital and AI Roadmap, intended to modernize creaking public sector IT and improve data sharing across departments, was originally due last summer, then promised for December 2025, and now faces further delays into 2026.

Speaking to MPs last week, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) permanent secretary Emran Mian admitted the roadmap had missed its Christmas deadline. "We had hoped to do that before Christmas – indeed, I think both officials and ministers said to Parliament that we hoped to do so before Christmas," Mian told the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee. "We were not able to, but we are hoping to do so very imminently, this month."

The £45 Billion Promise

The roadmap's delays matter because they represent more than bureaucratic slippage—they're tied to a massive financial promise. The government's Blueprint for Modern Digital Government, published in January 2025, claimed that modernizing public sector technology could eventually save up to £45 billion ($55 billion) of taxpayers' money. This figure was meant to justify the investment in digital transformation.

However, the roadmap's repeated delays undermine the credibility of these savings claims. The plan was originally supposed to be published alongside the second phase of the Spending Review in summer 2025, according to the blueprint. When that slipped, Mian wrote to the Public Accounts Committee in November promising a December publication, stating it would "allow the inclusion of fully costed, feasible and funded deliverables."

The Real Problem: Fraud and Error

The roadmap's importance stems from the staggering cost of public sector inefficiency. According to the National Audit Office (NAO), error and fraud in public services cost taxpayers between £55 billion and £81 billion in 2023-24 alone. The digital roadmap was specifically designed to tackle this by improving data sharing across government departments and other public sector bodies.

The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee was hearing evidence about using data and analytics to reduce these costs when Mian delivered the delay news. Better data sharing would enable more effective fraud detection and error prevention, but the technology to achieve this remains stuck in planning.

The Humphrey AI Tools

Beyond the roadmap delay, the government's digital ambitions include a new package of AI tools it has nicknamed "Humphrey," in homage to the classic British satirical TV comedy Yes, Minister. The name choice is telling—it suggests the government expects AI to help navigate bureaucratic challenges, though the tools' actual capabilities remain undefined without the roadmap's guidance.

The Department for Work and Pensions has already moved ahead with some AI procurement, launching a process for conversational AI across its phone answering service for pensioners and benefits claimants. This suggests individual departments are proceeding with their own digital initiatives while waiting for the central roadmap.

Political and Financial Context

The delays occur against a backdrop of high public debt, struggling public services, and a political promise not to raise income tax. The Labour government, like its predecessors, sees digital transformation as a potential solution to fiscal constraints. However, experts have already questioned the £45 billion savings figure, telling MPs that achieving such savings would likely require reducing headcount or capital spending—politically difficult measures.

The government's approach reflects a long-standing pattern in public sector IT: ambitious promises followed by implementation challenges. The 2022-2025 roadmap, "Transforming for a Digital Future," is being superseded by this new plan, but the new plan's delays raise questions about whether the government can break this cycle.

What Happens Next

Mian's promise of publication "this month" suggests the roadmap may finally be imminent, but the repeated delays have already created uncertainty. Plans for data sharing, data quality improvements, and legacy system modernization all depend on the roadmap's guidance. Without it, departments are making piecemeal decisions that may not align with a coherent government-wide strategy.

The ultimate test will be whether the roadmap delivers more than just a document. The government faces the challenge of turning digital ambitions into actual savings and improved services. For now, the £45 billion figure remains theoretical, and the digital transformation that could help address the £55-81 billion annual cost of error and fraud remains on the horizon.

The Register will continue monitoring the roadmap's publication and implementation, tracking whether the government can finally deliver on its digital promises or if the delays signal deeper problems with public sector IT transformation.