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By Sally Watson, 15 February 2001 13:00

NEWS The Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) system has been continually dogged by delays since the contract was signed with Siemens in 1996. There are now 66,000 visa applications waiting to be decided. As far back as March 1999, the National Audit Office (NAO) criticised the project for being "too ambitious", claiming the complexity of the problem had not been taken into consideration when planning the project. In its report, the NAO recommended "all departments should consider whether a proposed project might be too ambitious to be attempted in one go". Two years later Jack Straw has finally acted on this advice. In a Parliamentary written answer on 6 February, the Home Secretary admitted the project had been withdrawn. "For a number of reasons delivery in the time scale originally anticipated did not occur... The original full casework now seems over-complex and out of touch with current working practices," he wrote. A spokesman for the Home Office insisted the project had not gone wrong but admitted the system was no longer suited to a modern immigration and asylum service. "The decision [to cancel] makes sound commercial sense. Since the contract was signed in 1996, the Immigration Service has seen major changes in legislation and working practice," he claimed. Only six weeks ago Cabinet Office minister Ian McCartney hailed the government's success at improving its IT record. "There is no overnight fix," he said, "but we are seeing significant improvements and progress in the way IT projects are being run." The cancellation raises questions about the flexibility of the system designed by Siemens five years ago. The Home Office said it is still in negotiations with the company about how much of the £77m price tag will be paid. Siemens refused to comment.