The National Audit Office (NAO) has recommended an urgent evaluation of the Gateway project review process after the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) pressed ahead with an ailing IT system despite receiving three red-light warnings of problems.
An NAO report published yesterday (Wednesday) says potential problems with the IT system underpinning subsidy payments to farmers were highlighted in Gateway reviews but not acted upon, resulting in late or incorrect payments of more than £1bn.
The Gateway process, run by Whitehall buying agency the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), monitors projects and rates them red, amber or green according to progress and risks.
The Delays in Administering the 2005 Single Payment Scheme in England report, recommends that the OGC: ‘Review, before the end of 2006, how “red” reviews, and multiple “red” reviews, are dealt with in future in terms of guidance to the senior responsible owner and bringing them to the attention of the Permanent Secretary.’
The OGC has seen the report, but declined to comment.
Problems with the IT system for the Single Payment Scheme caused major delays in paying farmers. By the end of March this year, the RPA had only managed to pay 15 per cent, or £225m, of the £1.5bn due to farmers.
The NAO says to keep to a tight timetable the agency implemented key aspects of the IT system ‘without adequate assurance that every component was fully compatible with the rest of the system and supporting business processes, and did not have time to test the system as a whole before it began making payments.’
Auditor general Sir John Bourn warns the problems may not be fixed in time for this year’s claims. ‘Foremost among the Agency’s priorities must be to determine if the administrative and computer systems for processing claims are really up to the job.’
Public Accounts Committee chairman Edward Leigh said: ‘By not fully testing its IT system, underestimating the amount of work involved and not having the information to track the progress of each claim, the Agency was setting itself up for a fall.’
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