A flagship Office for National Statistics project to share data across the UK government appears to be ending several years before its time after failing to make enough progress, getting a “Red” risk rating two years in a row, and never appointing a program director.
Lotus Notes has been removed from the bulk of our systems, and we are in the process of removing it from the remainder
The Integrated Data Programme (IDP) was designed to address some of the challenges faced with data sharing. One of the ways it planned to tackle data silos was by establishing systematic data sharing agreements across the public sector through the Integrated Data Service (IDS). It was originally given budget to run until 2029.
But the project will now be shuttered in March 2026.
A spokesperson for the Office for National Statistics told The Reg: “The Integrated Data Service programme is closing as planned by March and we are focusing use of its infrastructure and datasets on the production of core statistics.”
The project kicked off in 2020 but struggled to make progress, according to National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA), the HM Treasury body which tracks major public sector projects.
The risk rating for the 2024/25 financial year remained Red, the same rating it was given the year before, which NISTA said was the result of a review process. “The program was given a RED delivery confidence assessment due to being unable to demonstrate sufficient progress in unlocking cross-government data sharing; limited case studies of analysis undertaken on IDS; ongoing uncertainty in the relationship with National Data Library (NDL) and the future of linked data; [and] lack of a replacement programme director,” the report said.
The NDL aims to make public data more accessible for research and development and help create “data-driven public services.” The project is led by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology.
The ONS project’s budget was also slashed in the recent multi-year spending review.
Compared to financial year 2023/24, the IDP’s whole life cost agreed by the department has been cut from £525 million to £284.6 million (from c $710 million to $380 million). This is because some previously ring-fenced funding was supporting core ONS infrastructure required for the Integrated Data Service, but was equally meant for the everyday delivery of core statistics. “The ring-fenced program funding was therefore revised down from 2025/26 onwards as per the outcome of the 2025 Spending Review Phase 1,” NISTA said of the IDP when it handed out its “Red” risk rating.
As a result the previous £53 million annual budget from 2025/26 to 2029/30 has been slashed to £24.6 million in 2025/26, with no specially allocated budget after that. “Post 2025/26 budgets are dependent on the Business case decision and the outcome from the Spending Review Phase 2,” NISTA said.
At the same time as having one of its flagship projects slammed and cut, the national statisticians have been struggling to upgrade their tech stack. In April, the ONS said it needed to protect budgets for economic statistics and essential security while finding additional funding for survey operations within a “flat cash” settlement from the Treasury in 2025/26. It said this balancing act meant it had to make “tough choices.” Included in a number of programs on the back burner is the transition away from legacy IT systems, which it acknowledged would have a financial downside in the long term.
Among the items of legacy technology on the list is Lotus Notes, the much loved collaboration and email system from the 1990s which once belonged to IBM.
The ONS published a procurement note in April which confirmed its need for licenses for Lotus Notes and Domino from HCL, the current owner, until at least March next year.
An Office for National Statistics spokesperson told us: “Lotus Notes has been removed from the bulk of our systems, and we are in the process of removing it from the remainder.” ®