IT projects have contributed around £11bn to a total
overspend of £19bn on government projects, according to a
report by
the Taxpayers Alliance.
The project with the biggest overspend is the National Programme
for IT in the NHS, which is £10.4bn or 450% over budget, the report
said.
This was followed by a £342m project overrun for Libra, a
project to links magistrates court systems, and £279m for
Nomis, which aims to track offenders through the criminal
justice system.
The Department for Work and Pensions' central payment system was
£88m over budget, its customer information system was £48m over,
and the Armed Forces Joint Personnel System (JPA) ran over budget
by £24m.
Too many projects are coming in late and over budget, and this
failure is costing the taxpayer billions, endangering essential
services, said John O'Connell, policy analyst at the TaxPayers
Alliance.
"Sadly, it seems like the public sector's record is getting
worse, not better, over time," he said.
Realigning priorities and increasing management stability can
help to correct the failings of the public sector in capital
project procurement, said the report.
Fundamental to the success of a project is consistent
leadership, strong governance and close monitoring by a central
project management team, it said.