VOA Business Systems Transformation (BST) Council Tax

Rating: Compared to financial year 23/24-Q4, the Infrastructure Project Authority's Delivery Confidence Assessment rating at 24/25-Q4 increased from RED to AMBER. This is primarily due to the following factors‚ Business Systems Transformation (BST) is the VOA’s digital transformation programme for domestic property valuations. It is redesigning the VOA’s core Council Tax business processes and replacing its outdated and end-of-life core valuation and data IT platforms. It will support greater organisational efficiency and agility, and the ability to respond more flexibly to policy change. The programme was rated AMBER in March 2025, reflecting significant progress in the 2025/26 financial year. Following successful progression through HMRC’s Change Advisory Board (CAB) the programme delivered all 14 processes into live, with nine being deployed in Release 1.0 on 23rd January 2025, and a further five on 24th March 2025 in Release 1.1. The programme successfully launched a Local Authority (LA) Portal into Private Beta on 11th March. The 12-week phased rollout to 18 local authorities continues to plan and is receiving positive feedback. The programme will continue to address defects and improve functionality prior to an expected Gate 5 review in 25-26.

Schedule: Compared to financial year 23/24-Q4, the project's end-date at 24/25-Q4 decreased from 31/03/2026 to 30/06/2025. This is primarily due to the following factors‚ The programme delivery schedule reduced from March 2026 to June 2025, to reflect the removal of Non-Domestic Rates deliverables. A new programme has been established which is now accountable for the scope that was removed from BST.

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 236. This is primarily due to the following factors‚ WLC will be recalculated accounting for the exclusion of Non-Domestic Rating deliverables ahead of a Gate 5 review.

Source: NISTA Annual Report 2024-25 (data)

Rating: The Infrastructure Project Authority's Delivery Confidence Assessment rating at 23/24-Q4 is Red. This is primarily due to the following factors. The overall SRO Delivery Confidence Assessment for the BST Programme is Red. The IPA assessed the Programme as Red in the most recent IPA Gate Review. At the time of the IPA assessment, BST Council Tax delivery was deemed viable, but BST Non-Domestic Rating (NDR) was undergoing a substantial reset. Completion of NDR reset will provide greater confidence around longer term delivery. Significant progress has been made in addressing all of the findings identified.

Schedule: The project's end-date at 23/24-Q4 is 2026-03-31. This is primarily due to the following factors. The Programme's release of the Geospatial platform in 2023 is due to be followed by the delivery of the Council Tax value stream in 2024, which remains on track. Council Tax covers a taxbase of 26.5 million properties equating to 95% of properties and data. Delivery of Council Tax into the business is Q3 FY24-25 including the migration of all relevant business data and integrated technology. The delivery of the Non-Domestic Rating value stream is currently expected to be delivered and rolled out by the end of FY25-26. The detailed delivery schedule will be confirmed in due course.

Cost: The project's departmental-agree Whole Life Cost at 23/24-Q4 is 236m. This is primarily due to the following factors. Whole life costs have been reviewed and revised at Full Business Case (FBC) stage.

Source: IPA Annual Report 2023-24 (data)