Guidance

Risk and importance framework

Updated 23 October 2024

This framework categorises all digital and technology spend into four types:

• digital services
• platforms and common components
• commodity technology and licences
• specialist technology

Each type includes questions on:

• cost
• value
• risk to users
• delivery team capability
• novelty of technology
• previous delivery quality
• political priority 

The questions are classified as high, medium or low risk and importance. You must answer every question. 

Your spend request will be given a high, medium or low risk and importance rating based on your highest rated answer. 

If you have any yes answers in the high category, your spend will be rated as high risk and importance. 

If you have no answers in the high category but one or more  in the medium category, your spend will be rated as medium risk and importance.

If all your answers are in the low category, your spend will be rated as low risk and importance.

The CDDO will use this risk and importance rating to decide who carries out the assurance of your spend according to the earned autonomy policy.

A digital service

Building a service as outlined in the Service Manual. This includes all associated costs, such as a delivery partner and technology costs. 

Question	High	Medium	Low
What is the expected cost of development or operation each year?	more than £10,000,000	between £10,000,000 and £100,000	less than £100,000
How many transactions does the service expect to handle each year?	more than 1,000,000	between 1,000,000 and 10,001	less than 10,000 or not a transactional service
Is the service one of the ‘Top 75’ services published in the cross-government digital and data strategy, ‘Transforming for a Digital Future’?	Yes		No
Is the service primarily for users in need of special care, support, or protection because of age, disability, risk of abuse or neglect?	Yes		No
Have user needs been defined or is there a plan in place to conduct user research ?		No	Yes
A. Will the service be delivered primarily by an organisation outside of government? (if yes to A) B. Has the Service Owner delivered to the service standard before?	A: Yes; B: No	A: Yes; B: Yes	A: No
Does your spend cover the application of an emerging technology not yet widely adopted in public services?	Yes		No
Does your spend cover the procurement or development of a product or service that will either: (i) use AI as a significant part of decision making, including making recommendations to the decision maker, or (ii) use AI that requires specific training with data to meet your use case, or (iii) have AI features that constitute a key reason or benefit for the spend?	Yes		No
How many previous service assessments has the service received an overall “Not Met” outcome in?	>1	1	0
Has the service been subject to a Parliamentary hearing (for example Public Accounts Committee) in the past 3 years?	Yes		No
Is this service being built as an urgent response to a crisis?	Yes		No

Platforms and common components

Pre-built platforms or components, independent of a service.

Question	High	Medium	Low
What is the expected cost of development or operation each year?	more than £10,000,000	between £10,000,000 and £100,000	less than £100,000
How many services with more than 1 million transactions each year will use the component?	>1		0 or 1
How many government departments will use the component?	>1		1
Is a system being delivered or substantially transformed that is essential to the organisation, for example, a primary departmental corporate network?	Yes		No
Have user needs been defined or is there a plan in place to conduct user research ?		No	Yes
A. Will the service be delivered primarily by an organisation outside of government? (if yes to A) B. Has the Service Owner delivered to the service standard before?	A: Yes; B: No	A: Yes; B: Yes	A: No
Does your spend cover the application of an emerging technology not yet widely adopted in public services?	Yes		No
Does your spend cover the procurement or development of a product or service that will either: (i) use AI as a significant part of decision making, including making recommendations to the decision maker, or (ii) use AI that requires specific training with data to meet your use case, or (iii) have AI features that constitute a key reason or benefit for the spend?	Yes		No
How many previous service assessments has the service received an overall “Not Met” outcome in?	>1	1	0
Has the service been subject to a Parliamentary hearing (for example Public Accounts Committee) in the past 3 years?	Yes		No
Is this platform being built as an urgent response to a crisis?	Yes		No

Commodity technology and licences

Common software licences and technology that supports business activity.

Question	High	Medium	Low
What is the value of the initial term of the contract?	more than £100,000,000 or DAL	between £100 million and the CO Commercial threshold	less than CO Commercial threshold
Is a system being delivered or substantially transformed that is essential to the organisation, for example, a primary departmental corporate network?	Yes		No
Does your spend cover the application of an emerging technology not yet widely adopted in public services?	Yes		No
Does your spend cover the procurement or development of a product or service that will either: (i) use AI as a significant part of decision making, including making recommendations to the decision maker, or (ii) use AI that requires specific training with data to meet your use case, or (iii) have AI features that constitute a key reason or benefit for the spend?	Yes		No
Is this a direct award, or extension outside of the terms of the original contract?	Yes		No
Is this technology being procured as an urgent response to a crisis?	Yes		No

Specialist technology

Specialist or bespoke technology, built to your specific requirements either from scratch or by modifying existing solutions. For example, operational or military technology.

Question	High	Medium	Low
What is the value of the initial term of the contract?	more than £100,000,000 or DAL	between £100 million and CO Commercial threshold	less than CO Commercial threshold
Is the project on, or expected to be on, the Government Major Projects Portfolio?	Yes		No
Is a system being delivered or substantially transformed that is essential to the organisation, for example, a primary departmental corporate network?	Yes		No
Does your spend cover the application of an emerging technology not yet widely adopted in public services?	Yes		No
Does your spend cover the procurement or development of a product or service that will either: (i) use AI as a significant part of decision making, including making recommendations to the decision maker, or (ii) use AI that requires specific training with data to meet your use case, or (iii) have AI features that constitute a key reason or benefit for the spend?	Yes		No
Is this a direct award, or extension outside of the terms of the original contract?	Yes		No
What is the most recent IPA Rating if this is on the Government Major Projects Portfolio	Red	Amber	Green
Has the service been subject to a Parliamentary hearing (for example Public Accounts Committee) in the past 3 years?	Yes		No
Is this procurement an urgent response to a crisis?	Yes		No