IT investigation set to conclude in April

An investigation into how £42m of taxpayers money was wasted on two failed States IT projects at the States of Guernsey is set to conclude in April.

The inquiry was commissioned by States chief executive Boley Smillie after the Policy and Resources Committee (P&R) revealed the MyGov and revenue service transformation project had delivered little or no benefit.

In an update to States members, P&R vice-president Gavin St Pier said: "Accountability cannot be a witch hunt and must be based on evidence."

He said all work on the MyGov digitisation project had been halted.

Deputy St Pier admitted that after £24m had been spent, the revenue service system was still incomplete and reliant on manual processes.

But he said the new director of the revenue service had provided a stark assessment and a "credible route back".

As part of work to strengthen accountability in the States, chief officers, whose posts were removed in 2016 during a reform of the civil service, are set to be reinstated across the civil service.

Smillie said: "I'm conscious there has been discussion about restructuring the leadership of the civil service, in both the media and on social media.

"The range of views expressed reflects how much people care about the effectiveness of public service and I welcome that engagement.

'What I believe, firmly, is that there must be stronger alignment between officers and political committees."

Guernsey's States has not hired a new chief officer for the committee for health and social care, despite a budget for the post being agreed in 2024.

Smillie said: "When something succeeds, or fails, responsibility must be clearer than it is today. In some cases, this will mean introducing chief officers aligned directly to political committees.

"Where changes are required, they will be introduced incrementally and at the right time."

The States internal audit team has been working on the investigation into the failed IT projects since the start of this year.

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