MPs slam department's £50m IT bill

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The Commons Public Accounts Committee revealed that the bill included £8.6 million towards the costs of the bidders for the new contract, £37.6 million in transition costs to new supplier Capgemini, and £5.7 million to former suppliers EDS and Accenture.

The committee said that HMRC's total spending on IT services over the next 10 years is now expected to hit £8.5 billion - almost three times the £3 billion originally predicted.

Committee chairman Edward Leigh said that the transition had been "very costly" to the taxpayer.

"It is hard to find a justification for the department's paying so much, nearly £52 million, towards bidders' costs to encourage competition," the Tory MP said.

"Any department doing this in future must show there is no other cost-effective way of securing competition."