'Verify' and 'TCEP' programmes deemed unachievable by UK government projects watchdog

Verify and Transforming Compliance Enforcement Programme red-flagged by Infrastructure Projects Authority

The issues surrounding the UK government's flagship digital identity projects 'Verify' and the 'Transforming Compliance Enforcement Programme' are impossible to be solved.

That's according to the latest report by the Infrastructure Projects Authority (IPA), which flagged both projects as "red", suggesting that their delivery is unlikely to be achieved.

In its annual report [PDF], the Authority reviewed 130 of the most complex and risky projects running under the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP).

The troubled £154 million Verify digital identity project falls under the Information and Communication Technology category and would appear to getting worse, not improving. In IPA's last review, Verify was rated as "amber", with the Authority noting that it face a number of challenges in terms of achieving the user volumes as per timescales initially planned.

Since then, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the National Audit Office (NAO) have issued several critical reports to alert the officials about unsatisfactory progress achieved in the project.

Earlier this year, the NAO warned that Verify had missed every target set and by a significant margin. The PAC also stated that Verify was badly designed from the start, ineffectively implemented, and also had several technical challenges.

Up to 2016, government officials claimed that approximately 25 million people would be enrolled in Verify by 2020, although current best estimates put that figure at around 5.4 million.

Besides 'Verify', the IPA report also red-flagged 'Transforming Compliance Enforcement Programme (TCEP)'. Led by the Ministry of Justice, this project is intended to develop automation systems to improve the implementation of criminal fines across the country.

According to the IPA, a variety of issues relating to project definition, budget, schedule, and quality have hindered the effective and timely delivery of this project. Like Verify, its many issues might not be soluble, the report stated warned.

In the IPA's latest report, some other major IT projects have been marked as "amber/red". These include the smart metering implementation project, programmes related to the development of the UK's 5G ecosystem, and initiatives to develop the Emergency Services Network in the country.