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<p>I have asked IPSA to reply.</p><p>The original April 2016 business case for IPSA’s
new IT system, IPSA Online, estimated a cost of £4.641 million. IPSA expected the
programme to be completed in 2017-18. The full costs incurred to ensure IPSA could
go live with IPSA Online at the beginning of the current financial year were £8.253
million.</p><p>The increase in cost was due in part to the unexpected General Election
of June 2017 which diverted IPSA work for up to nine months to supporting MPs who
left or joined parliament, and increased supplier costs. Costs also increased following
a change of suppliers in September 2018 to improve the quality of IT support. Testing
the system took longer than anticipated in order to ensure it was fully secure and
free of technical problems. The increases in cost have been partly mitigated by savings
elsewhere in IPSA’s budget. A full internal audit of the programme is currently taking
place. IPSA will report to the Speaker’s Committee for the IPSA later in the year
on the overall costs and benefits of IPSA Online.</p><p>IPSA is committed to supporting
MPs and their staff during this transition and will make appropriate adjustments to
improve the system as it beds in, while ensuring strong financial control, improvements
in value for money, and high data quality and data security.</p>
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