Government admin error sparks Brexit concerns for G-Cloud

Official data showed October spending figures fell 45 per cent on a monthly basis, but Cabinet Office admits numbers are wrong

An apparent sharp decline in the latest official G-Cloud sales figures sparked fears that Brexit was causing problems, but the government has since admitted an "administrative error" with the numbers was actually to blame, not Brexit.

The government publishes G-Cloud figures periodically, and the most recent data up to October, published before Christmas, shows that in that month, spending through the framework was just £38m - down 22 per cent annually, down 45 per cent on a monthly basis, and far below the average monthly spend on the framework for 2016 (January to October) of £59.7m. Spending through the framework has not been as low since May 2015.

The figures, which are still live on the G-Cloud sales dashboard, prompted concerns among the G-Cloud supplier community that Brexit was causing a headache. However, suppliers CRN spoke to did expect the supposed shortfall to be made up in the coming months as departments use their budgets before they expire.

When contacted by CRN for comment, the Cabinet Office confirmed that the data for October does not reflect any Brexit-related slowdown, but was in fact an administrative error. The correct data is expected to be uploaded shortly, and CRN will provide an update when that happens. No indication was given was as to whether the new, accurate figures will reflect a monthly increase or decrease in sales through the flagship cloud framework.