A Channel 4 Dispatches documentary tonight, 9 March,
examines a rise in public sector spending, including increases in
the estimated costs of the NHS's National Programme for IT
(NPfIT).
The NHS IT scheme was originally announced as costing £2.3bn.
This later became £6.2bn and £12.7bn is the latest estimate. So far
about £4bn has actually been spent, but the NPfIT has five or more
years left to run.
The Dispatches film is expected to include an interview with
Computer Weekly about a short meeting at Downing Street in 2002
which set in motion the NPfIT. Under the Freedom of Information
Act, Computer Weekly obtained minutes of the meeting, which was
chaired by the then Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The film investigates a variety of controversial public projects
which have had millions, if not billions, spent on them and
attempts to discover where the money went, who sanctioned the
spending and why so little appears to have been done to prevent
waste and excess.
Dispatches - 8pm on Monday 9 March on Channel 4