IT projects costing £42m a 'waste of public money'

Multi-million pound IT projects at the States of Guernsey have been labelled an "unconscionable waste of public money" by a senior politician.

Vice-president of the Policy and Resources Committee (P&R) Deputy Gavin St Pier described a £24m scheme to transform IT at the revenue service and an £18m project to digitise government services as particular failures.

A review of how projects within the States are managed has been launched, led by States chief executive, Boley Smillie.

St Pier said Mr Smillie had "serious concerns about the way major projects had been run over many years, with repeated failures to deliver what was promised or achieve the intended benefits."

During his speech, St Pier announced deputy Marc Lainé would lead an independent IT advisory panel which would challenge on digital strategy, major IT contracts, and the resilience and security of States systems.

Scrutiny Management Committee president Andy Sloan described the failures as "a catalogue of waste".

St Pier said the new IT system at Guernsey's under-fire revenue service was "incomplete" and criticised it for offering "poor service levels" and "reduced functionality".

In addition to that, according to St Pier, the MyGov digital government programme has cost £18m and "delivered very little".

He also criticised the electronic patient records system for being over budget, despite assurances earlier in 2024 it would not rise further.

In questions to St Pier, deputy Sally Rochester called for the States to introduce an auditor general, to analyse the use of public resources and ensure value for money.

While former vice-president of P&R deputy Mark Helyar called for changes within the management of the States.

St Pier stressed the issues with IT projects were not the fault of frontline staff at the States of Guernsey.

He said: "Frontline staff know where inefficient processes are wasting time and money.

"They have been telling us for years. We are now listening.

"Part of this work must remove the barriers that stop them doing their jobs more easily and more efficiently. We want to unlock their ideas and make sure improvements actually happen."

Follow BBC Guernsey on X and Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].