back to article Oh the irony: Government Digital Services can't pay staff because of tech problems

The UK's Government Digital Service – the Whitehall body responsible for transforming government IT – is having problems paying staff because of, er, technical issues. In an internal email sent within GDS, and seen by The Register, the body said: "We are aware of a number of pay related issues currently within GDS." Last …

  1. Dan 55 Silver badge

    The Register has asked the Cabinet Office for a comment

    Why? Don't you know your betters don't need to be bothered by the likes of you?

    Now let the natural party of government get on with... whatever it is it does.

    1. kmac499

      Re: The Register has asked the Cabinet Office for a comment

      Cabinet Office twinned with Apple?, well as far as El Reg enquiries concerned.

  2. hatti

    Yikes

    SSCL is a joint venture between the Cabinet Office and French outsourcer Sopra Steria, intended to shift departments' back office servers and ERP systems into privately owned shared services centres.

    Just reading like a disaster movie script.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Yikes

      Must confess I had a "what the actual fuck!?!" moment there. Our government outsourcing their computing to a private foreign company.

      Can't actually think of a way that can end well.

  3. steelpillow Silver badge
    Trollface

    Logic

    Well, there you go.

    You screw your staff - so they walk. D'oh!

    You walk away from your boss's payment system - so you don't get paid. D'oh!

    I know, why don't we outsource the bosses as well as the staff? I mean, it follows the same logic....

    1. maffski

      Re: Logic

      There is some proper government logic behind it. By not paying the staff they don't have to sort the IR35 issues.

      1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: Logic

        "By not paying the staff they don't have to sort the IR35 issues."

        A faulty payroll system won't bother the contractors. They get paid against invoice and if that payment system fails theirs always the Small Claims Court (never let the outstanding sum exceed the SCC limit) and bailiffs.

    2. disorder

      Re: Logic

      I believe the government to be entirely satisfied with outsourcing bosses, at least 'industry' bosses, just look at trains (e.g. arriva - deutsch bahn), planes (BA = International Airways Group (Spain)) and automobiles - (surely nothing needs to be said, but the best may be say, Nissan; calling up the week after for a special, unspecified insurance over any incurred brexit costs).

      Not to mention ARM to Softbank (immediately after the £ crash/discount), Thames Water; any electricity supplier, etc. I may indeed find additional examples to go on with, but it's already depressing so I'll instead find some article in the mail hating on poor people to make me feel better. Dragging us down. Yeah that's got to be it.

      I wonder what will happen when there's nothing left to sell. Maybe that time is already here.

  4. Your alien overlord - fear me

    Hopefully these Frenchies hold all that personal data in the UK because I've heard a rumour we might not stay in the EU (I know, I know, never trust rumours!!!)

  5. herman

    The cost savings are substantial actually

    If they don't pay staff, then that certainly will save a lot of money.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    SSCL is a joint venture between the Cabinet Office and French outsourcer Sopra Steria, intended to shift departments' back office servers and ERP systems into privately owned shared services centres.

    So...a key business function got outsourced abroad, it all went wrong, and now they're suffering as a result.

    Well I never...who'd have ever expected that?

    1. bondyboy

      Outsourced yes but not abroad (unless you count Wales as abroad)

      Although Steria are now planning on moving most of those jobs to India

  7. JeffyPoooh
    Pint

    Canada's Phoenix payroll fiasco rises again...

    We humans are slowly losing the ability to perform even the most basic functions, such as paying staff.

    It seems that the Telephone Sanitizer genes are gaining the upper hand. God help us.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      It seems that the Telephone Sanitizer genes are gaining the upper hand

      I thought the space program was supposed to take care of that?

  8. Pascal Monett Silver badge

    "Last month GDS switched over to a new payroll system"

    Why did I, upon reading that, immediately imagine that the new system hadn't been tested properly ?

    Doesn't anyone do dry runs before putting into production any more ? I'm guessing they tested the parts, but they obviously didn't test the whole thing.

    1. Scroticus Canis
      Unhappy

      Re: "Last month GDS switched over to a new payroll system"

      One would have hoped that the systems would have been run in parallel for a few months before totalling the old one.

      Sigh! Tried and trusted methods are just not fashionable any more.

      1. Richard 12 Silver badge

        Re: "Last month GDS switched over to a new payroll system"

        Something tells me they'd pay everyone twice if they did that...

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Consistent

    with most of the other shared services.

    i.e. inflexible, expensive, and no idea what the end-consumers needs are...

    Failure to pay people is just an example of the above - normal organisations would have probably tried to send out a few transactions in advance of payday to make sure it all worked and links/credentials were all in place.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Facepalm

    Sopra Steria works closely with technology partners

    So, the Cabinet Office outsourced to SSCL which outsourced to Sopra Steria which outsourced to ..

  11. Tim99 Silver badge
    Facepalm

    WTF?

    That is all.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    slammed the centres as having so far failed to prove "value for money".

    I disagree. They seem to have found a way to cut staffing costs without job cuts.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Pure Schadenfreude

    I've had to use GDS services a couple of times in the last 18 months, and each time it would have been faster and far less frustrating to jump on a plane back to the UK to deal with real people.

    It's about time they had a taste of their own medicine.

  14. JaitcH
    Thumb Up

    You can't beat C-A-S-H!

    Here in VietNam we have no cheques - the banks have a fund raising system called Transfers.

    Whenever you want to pay a bill or send money somewhere UNLESS you go to the payee's actual branch, there is the money raising Transfer Fee.

    The law also requires that payments in excess of USD$3,500 equivalent (79,420,893 Dong) in an effort to get people to pay VAT!

    My company does sizable business with EVN (Electricity VietNam-government owned) every month well in excess of USD$11,000 equivalent, The Invoices we have to issue are basically word-processed without any numbers other than the amount owed.

    Within a few days Mr. Moneybags rolls up on his motorcycle, with a bulging square briefcase, and he walks in straight to the rear of the premises. He calmly counts out 78 blocks of money, all neatly tied up with strings and a special seal. We sign a simple receipt and he's off. Next day he returns, same process.

    On the final day he counts out the precise balance and, again, a simple receipt concludes the transaction.

    People like this system - it works day and night, rain or shine, power on or off. Best of all is the no VAT deal.

    Beats computers and cash registers every time!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: You can't beat C-A-S-H!

      A motorcycle, you say?

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Trollface

    It's agile, innit!

    Some staff got paid, so it meets the GDS definition of a minimum viable solution!

  16. GrapeBunch

    Highest priority

    To pay the staff, but it's still going to take them two weeks, and that's after having not paid the staff for weeks already. Heart of stone grinds exceeding fine.

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