DEFRA Single Payment Scheme shows poor value for money

Accenture have asked that we post the following response:

The article said ‘Accenture has 100 contractors working full-time on the system, which is only 4 years old, and each one cost the taxpayer £200,000 in 2008/2009.’ This is inaccurate.

In keeping with the terms of our contract, the RPA does not pay Accenture for services delivered by individuals but rather for outcomes delivered. This was accurately reported by the NAO in its  2007report.  Accenture’s rates are market relevant, competitive and were agreed to by the RPA.

In relation to the section in the article referring to data being mislaid I would like to offer the following context:

·         Accenture does not store, maintain or track DEFRA or RPA’s production data back-up tapes.  Backup tapes are written and stored only at IBM’s secure data centre in Reading.  Management of the data centre and all of its processes are the sole responsibility of IBM.

·         Of the tapes that were originally identified as missing, Accenture was able to provide records that helped determine that several of the tapes were in IBM’s possession. IBM’s own 2008 inventory determined that it was in physical possession of the two tapes in question. Their 2009 inventory check determined the two tapes were missing from the IBM data centre.

·         Most important of all, there is no evidence that indicates Accenture ever had physical possession of the two remaining missing tapes.  According to Accenture’s records we last accessed the missing tapes remotely in 2006.

·         All RPA Information Technology Application (RITA) back-up tapes that were transferred from the IBM data centre to Accenture’s development centre in Newcastle have been accounted for in the standard course of business.  While in Accenture’s possession all RITA tapes are kept in a locked data safe.

This debate is now concluded.