"LONDON (Reuters) - Blunders in implementing a plan to make big efficiency savings at the Department of Transport through a centralised services system could end up costing it 81 million pounds instead, a report said on Friday.
The department had envisaged saving 57 million pounds by amalgamating support services such as human resources and payroll for bodies such as the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and Driving Standards Agency.
But its plans were over-optimistic, the department could not agree a common set of business practices and the IT system was not properly tested, meaning an "unstable system" was introduced, said the report by financial watchdog the National Audit Office (NAO).
"This project has been a classic case of act in haste, repent at leisure," said Edward Leigh, chairman of parliament's Public Accounts Committee to which the NAO reports."
Just another day in our politician-managed public services. There are similarly expensive and delayed IT systems in most of the government departments. A year ago we identified lots of them in our report (PDF) on big government projects. What a farce.
(story from Reuters)