UK Government Chases AI While Aging IT Leaves It Exposed, PAC Chair Warns

Skills Gap and AI Ambitions

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chair of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC), has warned in his second annual report that the UK government is failing to tackle its longstanding technology problems even as AI gives criminals and hostile states new ways to attack government systems. "AI is approaching government like a tsunami, and I remain sceptical that government is prepared for the enormity of this challenge," Clifton-Brown writes.

The Conservative MP notes that ministers have announced reforms to improve digital capability but have yet to explain how they will close the civil service's skills gap, or when. He also fears that the creation of the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade will make matters worse.

Currently, just 6 percent of civil servants work in digital and data roles, well short of the government's 10 percent target. Senior specialists are particularly thin on the ground, and the PAC warns that meeting the target will require recruiting and retaining many more of them.

Legacy IT and Cybersecurity Risks

The PAC report also highlights a "worrying lack of urgency" in addressing legacy IT systems, which create significant cybersecurity risks and prevent departments from reaping the benefits of new technologies. Whitehall's aging infrastructure remains vulnerable to cyberattacks at a time when adversaries are gaining more sophisticated tools through generative AI.

Fraud and error already cost taxpayers an estimated £55 billion to £81 billion annually, figures cited by the PAC show. Clifton-Brown expressed dissatisfaction with efforts to reduce those losses, pointing to the Department for Work and Pensions, which overpaid £9.9 billion in benefits through fraud and error in 2025-26, equivalent to 3.2 percent of its spending.

Asylum Costs and Modernization Failures

At the Home Office, years of asylum backlogs and mounting costs have prompted what Clifton-Brown calls "counterproductive quick fixes." The Home Office and Ministry of Justice spent around £4.9 billion on asylum in 2024-25, and ministers have promised an entirely new system without explaining how it will work. This comes as the Open Rights Group called for the Home Office to scrap its AI asylum tools over concerns about accuracy, transparency, and human oversight.

Meanwhile, National Savings and Investments (NS&I) began overhauling its IT in 2020 in hopes of cutting running costs. By December 2024, the price tag had reached £3 billion, £1.3 billion more than first expected. The project has been rated red since 2022-23, meaning successful delivery looks unlikely, and NS&I could not provide MPs with an up-to-date spending figure or a realistic completion date.

Bank of England Offers a Contrast

By contrast, the Bank of England successfully overhauled its Real-Time Gross Settlement system for £431 million, completing the job in April 2025. The PAC was impressed enough to direct its recommendations at Whitehall rather than the Bank, suggesting that ministers might want to take notes from the central bank's approach.

Sources: The Register