Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Land registry deal saddles taxpayer with £98million bill
A Public-private partnership to provide online access to land registry documents will end up paying out more than twice the contracted price, auditors have found.
The Audit Office said there was no evidence to clearly demonstrate that the Land and Property Services’ Landweb project was value for money.
It provides online access to Northern Ireland’s Land Registry, Registry of Deeds and Statutory Charges register.
The original contract with BT was valued at around £46million.
While the initial contract term was 17 years from 1999 to 2016, it has been extended several times. At April last year, total payment to BT had risen to £97.89million.
Auditors found the LPS had achieved a net surplus of approximately £39million from the project since 2006-07. They recommended the urgent introduction of revised fees for customers.
After an inquiry was prompted by a member of the public, Comptroller and Auditor General Kieran Donnelly said: “I am alarmed mechanisms were not put in place to secure better value for money.”
A spokesman for BT stated: “The contract provided value for money. BT accepted all commercial risks and costs.”