Delays in delivering major public sector IT projects are resulting in existing contracts for legacy systems being repeatedly extended, at a cost of hundreds of millions of pounds to taxpayers. That is among the findings of a report published today (Friday 04 July 2025) by Northern Ireland’s Comptroller and Auditor General.
Dorinnia Carville’s report gives a high-level overview of the portfolio of 29 major IT projects being delivered by Northern Ireland’s central government departments (and their arms-length bodies) between April 2022 and March 2025.
The total cost of the portfolio is estimated at £5.2 billion, with over two-thirds of these costs relating to the Department of Health (£2.47 billion across eight projects) and the Department of Finance (£1.12 billion across six projects).
Of the projects covered in the report, the vast majority (24 out of 29) aim to replace existing business critical legacy systems operating well beyond their intended life. In almost all cases, the legacy contract has been extended multiple times, with an average contract extension of around eight years and the longest extension around 18 years.
The report notes that there can be valid reasons for extending contracts, but that in many cases these extensions were not a strategically planned choice but rather made out of a necessity to maintain continuity of service. Extensions come at a cost, including missed opportunities to improve efficiency, functionality and performance, as well as risks of service disruption or vulnerability to cyber attacks. Additionally, there are significant financial costs – the report looks in detail at five projects which each experienced delays or issues, with subsequent contract extension costs totaling in excess of £573 million.
Key factors contributing to the delays at the project initiation stages of these projects included a lack of clarity on the scope and the intended outcomes and benefits of new systems, as well a lack of appropriately skilled staff. This resulted in the complexity of projects not being fully understood, leading to unrealistic delivery time and cost estimates. Today’s report recommends the development of a NI Civil Service-wide strategy to build the capacity and capability to successfully deliver major IT projects. There is currently no NI Civil Service-wide IT strategy in place- the most recent strategy ended in 2021, was not fully implemented and has not yet been evaluated.
The report also notes that, once approved, major IT projects take close to six and half years to be procured, designed, implemented and become business-as-usual across the NICS. It recommends that public sector bodies undertake urgent cross-sector planning to identify legacy systems in order to prioritise investment decision and maintain or replace systems well in advance of the current contract expiring.
Commenting on the report’s findings, Dorinnia Carville said that “The successful design, implementation and delivery of IT projects presents an opportunity to improve and transform public services. However, extending contracts on legacy systems risks a gap growing between the system’s functionality and the needs of citizens, businesses and communities. It represents very poor value for money and a missed opportunity to have more modern and efficient systems in place earlier.
Major IT projects are recognised as being complex, but this is all the more reason why the NI public sector needs to adopt a much more strategic approach. This means planning and working collectively to maximise potential synergies in IT solutions, to better understand shared risks and to ensure best use of skills and resources. Fundamentally, the public sector needs to approach these IT projects in terms of how they change the way services are delivered, ensuring clarity on the improvements to be achieved and how these benefits will be measured and monitored.”
Read the full report in our publications section