Computer deal 'shocks' watchdog

A scheme to computerise magistrates' courts in England and Wales, costing £319m, was a "shocking" waste of money, Parliament's financial watchdog says today.

The project is part of the Government's pledge to speed justice, allowing courts to communicate with each other, the Lord Chancellor's Department, the police and the Probation Service. But a National Audit Office investigation into the rising cost of the private finance deal between the Lord Chancellor's Department and ICL (now Fujitsu Services) uncovered a "catalogue of errors" in providing a link-up for 500 courts.

The chairman of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee, Edward Leigh, described the Libra project as "one of the worst IT projects I have ever seen".

The original 1998 contract was valued at £183m to run until July 2009, but was renegotiated twice.