ECHO 2 PROGRAMME
FCDO · FCO_0010_1617-Q3 · Last reported March 2025
Department page: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
| Data as at | Rating | End date | Whole-life cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 2024 | Amber (the department's own assessment) | 23 January 2025 | £265m (price basis not stated) |
| March 2025 | Green (the department's own assessment) | Low: 05/03/2025, Mid: 05/03/2025, High: 05/03/2025 | Low: 265.00, Mid: 265.00, High: 265.00 (price basis not stated) |
Each year’s cost is shown with its price basis. Costs are not compared between years: the March 2024 and March 2025 reports state no price basis, and from March 2026 costs are in 2024/25 prices.
The department’s commentary
This is the department’s own commentary. It may use different prices from the table above, so its figures may not match.
March 2025
Rating: Compared to financial year 23/24-Q4, the Infrastructure Project Authority's Delivery Confidence Assessment rating at 24/25-Q4 increased from AMBER to GREEN. This is primarily due to the following factors‚ The ECHO2 Programme has a delivery confidence of GREEN, with the Programme having transitioned the capability to Live Service, completed all of its transitions and now closed. The Programme delivered to its requirement, under its allocated FBC budget and to the re-baselined timeline. No exemptions or exceptions are required and as a now closed programme it was recommended by the IPA that it be removed from GMPP governance and removed from GRIP reporting as a result.
Schedule: Compared to financial year 23/24-Q4, the project's end-date at 24/25-Q4 increased from 23/01/2025 to 05/03/2025. This is primarily due to the following factors‚ Cutover failures due to equipment failure, low response times, no connectivity and complex sites pushed the timescales to the right
Cost: Compared to financial year 23/24-Q4, the project's departmentally agreed Whole Life Cost at 24/25-Q4 (measured in £m) remained at 265.
Source: NISTA Annual Report 2024-25 (data)
March 2024
Rating: The Senior Responsible Owner's Delivery Confidence Assessment rating at 23/24-Q4 is Amber. This is primarily due to the following factors. Following the Gate 4 Review in January 2024 the Programme obtained an AMBER RAG status and a range of actions were agreed which have been taken forward by the Programme. A further Gate 5 review is planned for around November 2024, towards the end of deployment.
Schedule: The current forecast end date for the Programme is Q4 23/24 following the re-baselining in January 2024 as a result of significant delays to the design, build and test phase. The authority has been working closely with the suppliers to increase confidence in this revised delivery timeline. Despite the delays the Programme remains within the FBC approved spend envelope despite the delayed profile for benefits realisation.
Cost: Compared to financial year 22/23-Q4, the project's departmental-agree Whole Life Cost at 23/24-Q4 decreased from 313m. to 265m. This is primarily due to the following factors. The Programme re-baselined from OBC to FBC data (including sunk costs) of 265.37m. The Programme is forecasting against the current baseline with an expectation that further cost reductions may be possible if transition is delivered against the current plan.
Source: IPA Annual Report 2023-24 (data)
Names, figures, dates, ratings and commentary are as the department reported them. Where a rating, cost or date is withheld, the file’s wording is shown. Every major project →