You really don't get it, do you?
Oh boy - have any of you ever been near government IT? I can tell you that Ian Watmore is NO dummy, so I have a different view on what is going on here.
Since New Labour, the government has become infested with consultants. Allow me not to get into detail why, but your three main problems are accountability (lack thereof), profit and job assurance. Allowing a consultancy to make money somewhere means they take the accountability, and use the taxpayer's money to set up a nice cushy exit role for he/she who looketh the other way. This required rigging the system from end to end, so you have all these pork barrel artists looking at how they can please their new master so they can keep sucking tax money from the by now almost empty trough.
In comes Ian Watmore, who has seen it all go to hell from his days in a Conservative Cabinet Office. His first act surely had to be warning those bloodsuckers that the game is up, and he has done so by not offering Powerpoint answers. He signals he's quite prepared to start again if need be. I would not read too much into details, he is busy warning the previous idiots that the game is finally up. This is not about technology, it's politics.
Watmore is not an expert, but he knows at least how to identify one, and (most important) listen to them. I have more trust in him than in the seedy mass of consultants that is still washing around Whitehall. It got so bad they even had to rig the National Audit Office by installing one of their own (in my opinion it's the only reason the ID Card project actually passed audit)..
Ian Watmore has my vote, and I know he has a hard job ahead. I suggest you give the man some time, I think he'll surprise you. Unless you're a consultant - I suggest you start fixing where you have been creative..