Civil Registration Service Transformation (CReST)

Rating: Compared with Q4 2024/25, the NISTA / SRO Delivery Confidence Assessment (DCA) rating for Q4 2025/26 remains Amber. This reflects a combination of continued delivery progress alongside ongoing risks and dependencies. There has been positive progress in the delivery of digital products and services, including strong uptake across Local Registration Services, with the Death Registration Service now live in all districts. However, delays relating to key digital infrastructure dependencies have impacted overall progress. Challenges with the quality of record transcription have required a reassessment of the Record Digitisation project’s scope and delivery approach. The Programme Board has agreed that this is an appropriate point to review requirements, with the intention of re-procuring within the next 12 months. This approach is expected to enable the programme to take advantage of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, to improve digitisation outcomes and value for money. As a result, timelines for record digitisation are expected to extend to accommodate this re-procurement activity. The Registration Legacy Infrastructure Transformation Project has continued to progress well, including the successful completion of a proof of concept to transition services onto a single site. This is expected to help alleviate estate-related pressures within the General Register Office (GRO), with the potential for this phase of the project to be delivered ahead of schedule.

Schedule: Compared with Q4 2024/25, the project’s end date at Q4 2025/26 remains unchanged at 29 March 2030. This reflects a broadly stable delivery trajectory, alongside evolving scope and external constraints. Development of new services continues at pace, with key connectivity-related risks having been addressed. A Programme Board decision has been taken not to extend the existing XBP scanning and transcription contract. As a result, a re-procurement exercise will be required, and the programme will reassess the approach to record digitisation to align with its longer-term ambitions. The programme continues to explore innovative approaches to deliver its objectives more effectively. Work is underway to inform business case development and delivery planning for 2026/27, with a focus on identifying clear implementation options that provide a robust basis for decision-making. These plans are being developed in close consideration of end user needs. Following direction at InvestCo in May 2024, the programme has incorporated the decommissioning of over 20 smaller legacy systems that were previously out of scope. A dedicated project, the Registration Legacy Infrastructure Transformation Project (Re-LiT), was established to deliver this activity. Early progress has been positive, with initial objectives expected to be delivered ahead of schedule and within budget, contributing to the management of wider programme financial pressures.

Cost: During FY 2025/26, the CReST Programme’s cost position was realigned to the approved whole-life cost baseline of £348.05m, as set out in the Programme Business Case approved in September 2025. This baseline incorporates the costs associated with the development and operation of new digital services, contracted scanning and transcription activity, and core programme delivery. The updated cost profile reflects a matured delivery plan, including the timetable for required legislative changes to enable digital registration, the sequencing of Registration Legacy Infrastructure Transformation Project (Re‑LiT) decommissioning activity, constraints associated with the Southport estate transition, and the latest confirmed critical path. There has been no material cost growth driven by changes in scope during the year; movements in cost primarily reflect the re-profiling of expenditure and increased forecast maturity rather than any increase in the overall programme envelope. Enhanced financial oversight during the year has strengthened alignment between delivery plans and financial forecasts. This has reduced the level of forecast underfunding from 9% at Q2 to 3% by Q4. This improvement was primarily driven by a £3.65m reduction in the funding gap associated with Record Digitisation, alongside a £2.86m deferral of Re‑LiT costs following an assurance-led re-baselining exercise prior to full delivery commitment. Re‑LiT is also exploring opportunities to reduce cost pressures in FY 2026/27 by transitioning elements of delivery and support from programme-funded solutions to centrally funded enterprise services, reducing duplication and reliance on bespoke arrangements. Ongoing departmental discussions regarding potential reductions to Capital allocations over the period 2026/27 to 2028/29 present a risk to future affordability. While in-year cost control remains effective, the programme continues to carry a moderate affordability risk in the outer years, driven by delivery dependencies and funding uncertainty rather than forecast overspend against the approved baseline.

Source: NISTA Major Projects Annual Report 2025-26 (data)

Rating: The Infrastructure Project Authority's Delivery Confidence Assessment rating at 24/25-Q4 is AMBER. This is due to‚ The AMBER rating is reflects the positive progress made to date, whilst also reflecting current challenges and changes needed to continue to drive further progress, pace and efficiency through programme delivery. The Programme team have a high degree of confidence that the programme is on track to deliver against its objectives by the current forecast closure date in 2030, which is a pressing deadline linked to Estates changes required in respect of the General Register Office (GRO) Estate, in line with the Home Office estates strategy. However, the amber rating reflects the critical dependencies on key enabling legislative change timelines, the level of complexity involved in replacing legacy infrastructure both pre and post-legislative change, current year financial pressures and the current business case and underpinning delivery plan pending formal Investment Committee approval; and the risks currently being managed in respect of those pressures and challenges.

Schedule: The project's end-date at 24/25-Q4 is scheduled to be 29/03/2030. This is primarily due to the following factors‚ Civil registration is a core national function of any society which underpins basic identity and prevents abuse of deceased identities. In England and Wales, civil registration is supported by a multitude of ageing systems used by the General Register Office (GRO) & Local Registration Service (LRS) on behalf of the Registrar General for England and Wales. The age of the current civil registration services and systems continue to cause instability and risk outages that impact business continuity. The systems have been updated several times over the last two decades in response to changing circumstances and new legislation. In each year that passes, the risk of incidents and outages increases, and this poses a significant risk to the business and to government. Further, there is a heavy reliance on equipment that is no longer readily available from the commercial market, and GRO records stored on microfilm tapes are degrading beyond use. The current position is not sustainable. GRO for England and Wales is a Home Office (HO) responsibility; the HO must ensure the system of civil registration continues to function effectively and that GRO and the LRS can carry out their statutory functions. Therefore, this programme which started in April 2022 aims to replace the legacy business critical systems, digitise registration records, and provide digital life event registration options for users in the future as new legislation is laid. At InvestCo in May 24, the programme was directed to include decommissioning of more than 20 smaller legacy systems that had previously been out of scope. A dedicated project, Registration Legacy Infrastructure Transformation Project (Re-Lit), has been set up to take forward suitable options. In addition, an initiative to improve Home Office Estates sustainability has created a new timing pressure. This programme must now complete prior to the decommissioning of the Smedley Hydro site in Southport, where legacy systems servers and microfilms are housed. The site is to be decommissioned by March 2030, which is a fixed deadline.

Cost: The project's departmentally agreed Whole Life Cost at 24/25-Q4 (measured in £m) is 235. This is primarily due to the following factors‚ The baseline Whole Life Cost (WLC) of £235 million was established following the merger of two previously approved programmes, one focused on replacing core civil registration systems, and the other on scanning and transcribing historical records. The decision to combine them was made to streamline governance, improve delivery alignment, and maximise benefits realisation. This figure reflects a detailed reassessment of scope, delivery timelines, and resource requirements as part of the revised Programme Business Case. The WLC includes estimated costs for digital system development, scanning activities, and infrastructure replacement but excludes decommissioning costs, which are being considered separately. This figure excludes the cost of future decommissioning work, which is expected to be scoped and costed separately. The updated baseline was agreed during the department’s internal assurance process and supported by the Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) review that enabled the programme’s entry into the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP) in 2024/25.

Source: NISTA Annual Report 2024-25 (data)