£60m bill for taxpayers as IT project costs double

THE cost of a new government IT system for a farmer subsidy programme has doubled, MSPs have heard.

Members of Holyrood’s Public Audit Committee were told spending on the IT company delivering the project has risen from an estimated £28.8 million to £60.4m and that there was a “significant risk” to the programme’s delivery.

MSPs and a taxpayer group raised concerns about the computer system farmers and crofters must now use to apply for European Union subsidy payments. The Scottish Government attributed the increased costs of the programme to the need to deliver the IT solution in “compressed timescales” and to changes to EU requirements.

But a spokesman for Taxpayer Scotland said: “Another day, another bungled government IT project. We have to look seriously at the implementation of the project and, for once, learn the lessons of this costly IT fiasco.”

The system is part of the Scottish Government’s Futures programme, a five-year plan to oversee the implementation of the new EU Common Agricultural Policy and ensure delivery of financial support to farming and rural affairs. Caroline Gardner, Scotland’s Auditor General, said: “The programme will continue to carry significant risk up to full implementation and beyond.”

Conservative MSP Mary Scanlon raised concerns the problems would lead to delays in farmers receiving their payments.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The new system is radically different to the existing policy and offers significant benefits to farmers ensuring they get paid what they are due.”