By Vivienne Russell | 17 August 2011
Welsh ministers should monitor how much is spent through its Merlin contract, which provides IT services for the government and Assembly, auditors have said.
A Wales Audit Office report published today concludes that overall value for money from the ten‑year contract is uncertain. While core IT services are being delivered effectively after a difficult start, IT-enabled business change projects have been implemented with varying degrees of success.
Costs have also risen since the contract was agreed in 2004, with those for core IT services increasing from £9m in 2004/05 to £14m in 2010/11, and those for projects from £10m to £32m over the same period.
The increase in spending has been attributed to significant changes to the organisation of government in Wales, including the legal separation of the National Assembly for Wales from the Welsh Government, and mergers into the Welsh Government of various sponsored bodies.
The report recommends that the government monitors the resources being spent through the contract to understand what is driving expenditure. It should also develop a system to measure the financial and non-financial benefits of IT projects and collate this information into an annual report.
Welsh auditor general Huw Vaughan Thomas said: ‘It is encouraging to see that the quality of services being delivered under the Merlin contract has improved over time. But the Welsh Government needs to strengthen its monitoring of expenditure and the value for money of services being delivered under the contract, and to apply the lessons learnt from this contract in procuring and managing its future IT services.’
