The real challenge in digital government
The government has undeniable digital ambition, with a clear strategy: modernise service, improve data, increase public satisfaction, and strengthen internal Digital, Data and Technology capability.
The hardest part of the plan? Execution.
The constraint behind strategies is rarely intent. It’s usually capability.
For years, the public sector has relied heavily on external suppliers to deliver transformation. Some of that expertise is essential and accelerates complex programmes. But too often, external delivery substitutes for what should become core, in-house capability.
And that distinction matters.
When transformation depends on contractors rather than building permanent teams, progress can still be delivered, but it is rarely sustained.
The strategic direction is clear
Government strategy increasingly points toward capability repatriation.
In her formal update to Parliament, Cat Little, Chief Operating Officer of the Cabinet Office, outlined the government’s strategic shift away from heavy contractor reliance towards permanent DDaT capability. The ambition is clear. Increase digital and data professionals from 5 percent to 10 percent of the civil service. Replace around 7,000 contractors. Deliver potential savings of £500 million per year.
There is a stated ambition to grow Digital, Data and Technology professionals as a proportion of the civil service. To reduce reliance on contractors. To bring more expertise inside. To create long-term savings while improving continuity and resilience.
More than simply a cost-cutting exercise, this means a structural shift.
If only a small percentage of the civil service is made up of digital and data professionals, and the majority of digital spend flows externally, then transformation will always sit slightly outside the system it is meant to improve.
The strategic direction is therefore logical:
- Increase permanent DDaT capability
- Reduce structural dependency on contractors
- Deliver savings through long-term workforce reform
- Strengthen ownership and accountability within departments
But even if the direction is clear, the question remains: how to execute it without slowing delivery or increasing risk.
Flipping the consultancy model
This is where Counter operates.
Traditional consultancy models often optimise for continuity of contract. Teams land. Systems are built. Extensions follow. Build teams can quietly become expensive run teams because the internal capability to take over never fully materialised.
The public sector does not need more dependency. It needs capability that sticks.
Counter was designed differently to traditional consultancies.
We partner with public sector organisations to deliver high-quality digital and data capability at fair, transparent value. But we deliberately hire people who want to become permanent members of the organisations they serve.
We don’t measure our success by how long we stay, but rather by whether the capability remains. This means that when consultants choose to convert into civil service roles, we support it, and at no extra charge.
This alignment with government strategy is intentional.
From delivery to permanence: A Public Sector Case Study
A strong example of this model in practice is our work within a large public sector organisation.
A Counter team joined to modernise systems and processes that were operationally heavy and manually intensive.
The outcomes were clear:
- Over £300,000 in annual savings
- A 96% in daily manual platform check time (from 4 hours to 8 minutes) leading to an increase in team productivity.
In short, effective delivery.
But the more important outcome actually came after the delivery milestones, when those consultants moved into permanent civil service roles. The eventual savings here will be felt for many years to come as the department now has two fully integrated permanent members of their team, replacing the reliance and cost of expensive contractors.
That initial project might have been delivered, but these technologists still continue to maintain and evolve the systems they helped build. This means that even after the project, the knowledge stayed, for better accountability, but also real structural capability, rather than merely contractual.
That is what sustainable transformation looks like.
A joined-up talent ecosystem
Counter is part of Northcoders Group PLC. Northcoders is an Ofsted Outstanding provider, through which more than 5,000 technologists have entered the industry over the past decade. Today, Northcoders delivers exclusive cohorts for public sector bodies, building digital capability from the ground up.
Thanks to our ties with Northcoders, Counter is able to source junior developers from a wide range of backgrounds.
But sustainable transformation is not just about early careers.
Our teams operate across all SFIA levels. We provide Tech Leads, Engagement Leads and senior technical oversight through our Technical Director. We also operate the Tech Returners brand, maintaining networks of experienced technologists re-entering the profession.
This creates something government strategy consistently calls for but rarely sees joined up in practice: a coherent people pipeline.
Early careers. Returners. Senior practitioners. Consultants prepared to convert to permanent roles.
Rather than isolated hires, this is a full system that covers all levels.
Value, procurement and pragmatism
Traditional consultancy operating models carry structural overheads that drive high day rates and long engagements. Counter operates with lower structural cost, enabling fair and reasonable pricing without compromising quality.
Counter is accessible through established public sector procurement routes, including G-Cloud, DOS and TS4 frameworks.
Transformation strategy only becomes real when it aligns with delivery mechanisms. If the goal is to increase permanent DDaT capability and reduce dependency, then delivery partners must support that outcome commercially, operationally and culturally.
The bigger shift
Digital strategy in government has moved beyond debate, and the need for transformation is clear. But if digitisation levels are to rise, if data fragmentation is to reduce, if public satisfaction with services is to improve, then the long-term answer is not more external spending.
The focus is shifting from outputs to capability. From procurement to permanence. From short-term acceleration to long-term ownership.
If we want a sustainable transformation, we need embedded expertise and increased internal capacity that lasts.
