Defra, the government contracted IT system used for a range of customers, is critical to the country’s trade, disease prevention, flood protection, and air quality monitoring.

But a recent report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) says Defra’s legacy IT systems feel outdated and difficult to use for its customers, which range from farmers to vets to scientists to traders and beyond.

Defra and its organisations handle around 14 million transactions per year that still involve paper forms – making them inefficient and expensive in the views of Parliament.

Though it is embarking on a fundamental review and potential restructure of its organisation, Defra does not yet have a concurrent pro-active strategy for the transformation of its digital services, or for challenges like reducing reliance on paper forms and making applications widely available on mobile phones.

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Deputy Chair of the Committee, said: “Defra’s IT systems are so outmoded and disconnected – where they exist at all, instead of paper forms – that in some cases the professionals who keep our food, water and air safe have been forced to buy obsolete equipment just to fill in the forms to fulfil their regulatory responsibilities.

“We are facing down rapidly spreading animal diseases, maybe the next pandemic, with systems that may rely on moving paper forms around. This cannot continue.”

Defra estimates that it needs to spend £726 million on modernising legacy services between 2021 and 2025, and that fully transforming its digital systems could save £20m to £25m every year.

But the Committee has warned that a lack of overall vision means any changes made now to its digital systems may not be appropriate in the longer-term and could lead instead to wasted time and money.

The PAC report has revealed that 80% of Defra’s IT applications remain either in extended support, possibly incurring additional charges for updates, or are completely unsupported by their supplier, and it has not given enough attention to the impact of its poor digital services on its users.

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Further, Defra does not measure the cost to users of its unmodernised digital services, so it is not possible to assess the total burden they place on other organisations and the wider economy.

For example, previously vets had to buy old laptops to be able to run the programmes they needed to use, rather they use new models.

The report also found that Defra is struggling to recruit the digital, data, and technology staff it needs, and so it remains over-reliant on contractors which can cost up to twice as much.

The Committee is calling on Defra to explain what new approaches it will adopt to recruit staff and reduce its reliance on contractors and temporary staff to provide digital skills.

Clinton-Brown added: “We on the PAC will also not accept a situation where Defra spends hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ money on a disjointed upgrade programme only to find that it no longer fits the structure of new systems of air quality monitoring, food and clean water supply in this country.

“It’s time for a complete overhaul at Defra, with a concurrent, pro-active digital strategy that matches every step.”