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UK government 'loses' $1.7 billion in data transfer fiasco |
Around
$1.7 billion of unpaid VAT did not appear on a U.K. Revenue and Customs
debt case management system because of a failure to transfer data from
the main VAT computer system. Edward Leigh, chair of the powerful
Commons public accounts committee, told MPs: "We found that not all
information on VAT debt recorded on the main VAT computer system had
been transferred to the so-called trader register. That may appear to
be an obscure point, but it meant that some $1.7 billion of debt failed
to appear on the debt case management system. That is hardly a
first-rate example of financial management by a department that should
be at the forefront of such matters."
Leigh cited evidence
given to the committee earlier this month by Ian Taylor, a past
president of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply who is
now director of the center for procurement performance at the
Department for Education and Skills. Taylor had told the PAC "that
in his view, public sector people are every bit as skilled as those in
the private sector, but the information systems in the public sector
are so bad that no private sector firm could afford to put up with
them. They would simply go out of business. They do not provide the
data that public sector leaders need to manage effectively or to
develop robust strategies for delivery."
 News source: ComputerWorld
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