Home Office spending on IT projects exceeds £6bn

£1.5bn-worth of projects currently underway in addition to National Identity Scheme

The Home Office is a heavy spender on IT

The Home Office is currently undertaking £1.5bn-worth of IT projects in addition to the £4.7bn National Identity Scheme, it was revealed today.

The department is spending £370m on a new immigration casework system due in 2015, £749m on the e-Borders system for tracking travellers into and out of the country, and £330m on building and operating a criminal vetting scheme for the civil service, due later this year.

A further £12.4m is being spent on identity cards for foreign nationals and £41m on a shared services programme.

In addition to the above projects, the Home Office is also the lead department for the cross-government Interception Modernisation Programme, announced by the prime minister in February 2008, which is currently under consultation.

Reports have suggested that a communication database proposed as part of the scheme could cost up to £12bn.