HM Treasuryis to review how the
government buys information technology and related services in a
dozen billion-pound initiatives in an effort to cut waste and get
better value for money.
A Treasury spokesman said the review would look at how the
National Health Service commissions work, the road building
initiative and the housing regeneration initiative, plus nine
others that are still to be chosen.
He said the review, by Yvette Cooper, chief secretary to the
Treasury, would include IT as part of a wider attempt to improve
the value received from the contracts.
Cooper would not review the government's controversial
£5.4bn ID card project, nor would it examine the Gateway
reviews associated with the project, he said.
The spokesman said the decision to hold Cooper's review preceded
a computer crash at HM Revenue & Customs as hundreds of
thousands of tax payers tried to file their self-assessment returns
on-line. In 2007
HMRC was responsible for losing the personal details of 25 million
people who receive child benefit payments.
The government spends about £14bn a year on IT and related
services. According to National Audit Office reports, in the past
10 years, billions have gone on IT systems that have run over
budget, failed completely or run insecurely.