Government IT problems
- From: "TD" <tdefries@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 31 May 2006 19:23:38 +0100
Just some notes I have on some Government IT disasters, which I thought some
ukpm readers may be interested in at this particular time. One or two may
overlap with previous (Tory) Government (e.g. contract awarded in 1996,
project continues to 1997-1998). Cursory glances at NAO reports and media
articles reveal common errors: changing objectives and priorities, poor
understanding and management of risks.
These are exactly the problems that critics have suggested the Home Office
will encounter with the Identity Cards and National Register project, and
ISTM history will undoubtedly repeat itself as it has done time and time
again.
No particular order, except perhaps in order of the amount of information I
have on the projects.
The NHS 'electronic care record' (the "world's largest civil computer
project") is two and a half years late and will finally cost nearer £20bn
(according to Computer Weekly's government 'insiders', it could be as much
as £50bn) than the widely quoted figure of £6.2bn. Government is still
changing the system's specifications. Doctors don't like it, and have
complained about not being consulted in the planning phase.
The police computer system known as Impact has been delayed for three years,
originally being due for 2007. The initial deployment of the system was
estimated to cost £164m - the Government is now saying the total cost to the
taxpayer will be £367m over the next ten years. Apparently the project is
more complicated than first thought.
After awarding the contract to EDS to create the CSA's new IT system (CS2),
the DWP requested 2,500 changes and increased the value of the contract by
7%. The PFI initiative was worth £456m, plus additional work of £30m, with
£107m being withheld because of performance issues, another £17m retained
depending on a step-by-step plan to fix 500 'known faults'. EDS signed the
ten-year deal in 2000, the system was due to go live in 2001, but was
delayed until 2003. The system won't meet original 2001 specification until
2007.
The system initially processed claims so slowly that it made a backlog of
30,000 new cases every quarter. Millions delayed, many overpaid. The
624,000 old cases on the old system, 546,000 new cases on the new system,
and 305,000 old cases on the new system. Of the one million cases on CS2,
17,000 are being processed clerically and tens of thousands more are stuck.
Since its introduction the CSA has written off £1bn in claims. The CSA
contract was the last Private Finance Initiative deal for a technology
programme before the Treasury ruled the model was unsuitable.
The Magistrates Courts IT system (Libra) cost taxpayers more than twice as
much as expected at £319m instead of £146m. Main supplier (ICL, also
involved with the Benefits Agency IT system) threatened to withdraw twice
unless it was paid more money, and issued deadlines for officials to make
decisions on whether to renegotiate the contract. The PFI contract was
renegotiated twice. Further additions to the system mean a total cost of
£557m over 14.5 years.
Problems caused by the new Passport Agency IT system in 1999 led to a cost
of an estimated £12.6m (including £6m for additional staffing). Backlog of
over half a million passports. Compensation to members of the public over
£161,000. Umbrellas for people waiting in the rain cost £16k. 500 travel
dates were missed. Passport Agency received compensation totalling £69k
from its contractors. Waived compensation worth £275k due from Siemens.
National Insurance Recording System (NIRS2) installed by Andersen Consulting
(now called Accenture) at a cost of £170m. Crashed soon after its
introduction in 1999 leading to compensation totalling £2m to claimants for
"unreasonable delays". Bugs numbering 4,500. Another project reported as
the 'biggest/most complex in Europe'. Many payments made manually without
usual vetting for entitlement.
PAYE end-of-year filing (ERIC), supposed to be 'easier, quicker, and
cheaper', contractor was Capgemini. Four month delay in deployment, hitting
cashflow, halting end-of-year reconciliation work, and chasing of
underpayments, because staff couldn't see from their systems if PAYE had
been paid in full. Backlog of millions of returns, problems with refunds of
overpayments and cash incentives for filing online. HMRC had to temporarily
switch off its PAYE validation engine and and drop penalties in order to
receive an unexpected volume of electronic submissions. Hundreds of
millions of pounds in write-offs. This was part of the first phase of the
Modernisation of PAYE Processes for Customers (MMPC), with a total cost of
£164m over six years, and the delay forced HMRC to defer the second phase
for two years, to April 2007.
The Inland Revenue Tax Credits System run by EDS held up millions of claims
and led to 375,000 emergency payments when it was launched in April 2003. It
emerged that millions were overpaid because of faulty calculations by tax
office staff.
The Benefits Payment Card (Pathway) project was scrapped after 3 years and
an estimated expenditure of £1 billion because the card technology employed
was already outdated.
The Crown Prosecution Service's case tracking computer system installed in
just over half of CPS branches by 1997 before being scrapped "on the grounds
that the technology was outdated". The CPS told the Tory Government that a
new case tracking system would be its top information technology priority
and estimated that it would be deployed by 1993-94. This did not proceed as
quickly as planned, and by September 1997 the system had been introduced in
only 53 of the CPS's 96 branches. The total capital cost of the system was
initially projected at £8.0 million but, at the time of the Comptroller and
Auditor General's report, £9.6 million had been spent in implementing it in
just over half of the Service and the revised projection for implementing
the system nationally was £15.9 million.
Delays in implementing the system had adversely affected the way in which
branches operated. Deployment had been hampered by significant legislative
changes, which meant that parts of the program had to be rewritten; by
organisational changes, notably the introduction of integrated teams of
prosecutors and caseworkers; and by technological advances.
In December 1997, after the Comptroller and Auditor General's report had
been published, the CPS decided not to extend the system to the remaining 43
branches, because the benefits of continuing to roll out the system would be
outweighed by the costs. The system did not have the capability or
flexibility to meet its future needs, in particular for links with other
agencies. The CPS accepted that, with hindsight, it could have taken this
decision earlier, but stressed the difficulty of determining the optimal
point in time to stop the project. As the system will not now be extended
across the whole of the CPS, the final capital cost is expected to be £10.6
million, with a further £9.6 million to be spent on running costs.
Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food Arable Area Payments Scheme where
software which was rolled out in stages, causing the need of multiple
application submissions "for local validation approximately four times on
average and for central validation approximately 3.5 times on average". Once
again the costs of the system escalated.
The Criminal Records Bureau disclosure service run by Capita, which suffered
backlogs and caused school closures. Capita received a £19 million
Government bailout, the cost of standard checks will double from £12 to £24
and performance targets are to be cut. The CRB failed to meet its target of
issuing 95% of standard disclosures within one week, issuing only 19.4%.
Home Office's Immigration and Nationality Directorate Casework programme
which suffered "backlogs of 76,000 asylum cases and 100,000 nationality
cases". Eighteen months late, missing three deadlines, eventually dumped.
Cost: £77m.
Air Traffic Control system, cost of £623m, almost double original estimate
of £350m, six years late, plagued by bugs and problems early on (such as
on-screen text being too small to read). Has crashed a few times (no pun
intended).
The Probation Service system cost 70% more than expected at a cost of £118m.
The management system CRAMS was budgeted at £4m but cost more than £11m.
The Ministry of Defence's Project Trawlerman abandoned with costs of £41
million, a replacement system in 1997 cost of £6 million.
Northern Ireland Vehicle System Replacement Project abandoned and £3.7
million written off.
Firearms Register - to look into
PNC - to look into
The NHS Purchase of the Read Codes and the Management of the NHS Centre for
Coding and Classification ran up costs of £32 million by March 1998 and
"eight years after the Codes were purchased and three years after the
clinical terms projects ended, Version 3 of the Codes was being tested and
used in only 12 NHS hospital sites". <- I don't yet know what these are.
.
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