March 2026 snapshot

Civil Registration Service Transformation (CReST)

Government Transformation and Service Delivery

Record date: 31 March 2026

Whole-life cost: £326.9m
Published schedule: Not disclosed – 15/08/2030
NISTA delivery confidence: Not disclosed
Senior responsible owner: Thomas Greig

What the project is for

The programme will enable improvements within the General Register Office (GRO) for England and Wales delivery of its statutory service obligations; the Home Office and the Government’s wider digital identity ambitions, and the provisions within new legislative instruments for the modernisation of services.

Departmental delivery commentary

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.

Benefits

Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, the project's departmentally agreed Benefits at 25/26-Q4 (measured in £m) remained at £367M. This is primarily due to the following factors. Operational efficiencies throughout the Home Office and Local Registration Services (LRS), totalling approx. £45M per annum upon full realisation. Increase will be realised revenue via a new full service to the public. Further saving to be made where some commercial contacts are no longer required due to digitisation.

Delivery ratings

NISTA assessment: Not disclosed
SRO assessment: AMBER

These are the published NISTA and senior responsible owner assessments, not UK Pulse scores.

Financial year

Baseline: £51.9m
Forecast: £39.2m
Variance: 24.4%

The budget variance exceeds 5%, reflecting a combination of delivery rephasing and funding constraints. Since approval of the Programme Business Case (PBC) in September, the programme is forecasting an in-year reduction of approximately 20%. This is partly driven by delays to the Registration Legacy Infrastructure Transformation Project (Re-LiT), resulting in an in-year reduction of around £2.86m. Further reductions of between £3m–£4m are forecast in 2025/26 for the Record Digitisation project. This reflects the need to re-plan delivery in the context of affordability constraints, including changes to the approach previously agreed with the supplier.

Expected benefits

£320.2m

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