Digital skills shortages in the civil service could prove disastrous for digital transformation efforts in the UK government, a new report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has found.

A lack of digital expertise may mean that Whitehall is unable to genuinely transform its services, and will only be capable of incremental upgrades. This could lead to increased costs in the long run, with government continuing to run its services on ageing legacy systems.

The government is therefore at risk of increasing its technical debt, which can lead to higher overall costs from outdated software and hardware, and lessen their cyber resilience.

This all stems from a lack of digitally skilled workers in the civil service – the report found the number of digital, data, and technology professionals in the civil services is estimated at only 4.5%.

This is less than half the number it needs when compared to an equivalent industry average of between 8% and 12%, meaning this number will need to double.

In response to the findings, the government claims that “pay constraints” mean that they are unable to compete with the private sector in “hard-to-recruit roles.”

However, the PAC said it was “disappointed” to find that some of these digital skills shortages were “self-inflicted” via counter-productive staffing cuts.

Digital headcount has been rationed in government departments – against the backdrop of a struggle to recruit and retain the necessary skilled people in a drive to double the civil service’s digital workforce.

Further, the inquiry found a troubling shortage of cybersecurity experts, which, coupled with the national shortage of skilled cyber experts, makes their command a “premium.”

Recently, another government report found that 50% of UK businesses do not have the cybersecurity staff to accomplish the most basic tasks listed by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

Part of the civil service’s issues may be in their requirements for senior leaders – the PAC found that senior generalist leaders were not formally required to have a better understanding of digital business.

This can lead to poor management of vendor selection for software and data storage, a lack of understanding surrounding legacy technology replacement, and introduces massive gaps in cybersecurity resiliency.

“Our inquiry has found that Whitehall’s digital services, far from transforming at the pace required, are capable of only piecemeal and incremental change” Dame Meg Hillier MP, chair of the committee, said.

“Departments’ future-proofing abilities are hobbled by staff shortages, and a lack of support, accountability and focus from the top. In particular, a lack of cyber-security experts should send a chill down the Government’s spine.

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“The Government talks of its ambitions for digital transformation and efficiency, while actively cutting the very roles which could help achieve them.

“Our inquiry leaves us unconvinced that these aims will be achieved in the face of competing pressures and priorities. Digital must not be treated merely as a sideline, but must sit right at the heart of how Government thinks about delivery. Without swift and substantial modernisation, opportunities to improve services for the public will continue to be lost.”