UK government IT contracts worth £23.4 billion will expire during the current five-year parliament, according to researchers who warn that poorly performing suppliers are almost never excluded from re-bidding.
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A report by public expenditure research firm Tussell and the Institute for Government found that a third of these, worth £9 billion, are expected to be completed by 2025.
The report points out that major contracts due to expire next year include the long-running Post Office deal with Fujitsu to build and manage Horizon IT systems at the center of one of the UK's biggest miscarriages of justice. From 1999 to 2015, 736 local office managers were wrongly convicted of fraud when errors in the system were to blame. The total value of the Horizon contract is 2.38 billion pounds ($3.15 billion). It expires on March 31, 2025.
The report – also from bidding technology firm AutogenAI – found spending on ICT contracts has increased by 90 per cent over the past five years.
