IT costs for Scotland’s devolved benefits agency are projected to soar by another £26m.

The latest “technology” forecast is nearly £280m – a huge rise compared to earlier estimates. Scottish Labour MSP Paul O’Kane said “These spiralling costs are draining money that should be going into people’s pockets.

“The chaos surrounding the cost and delivery of this IT programme typifies the Scottish Government’s botched handling of social security.

“We need a fairer and more humane social security system – and the SNP must sort out the IT infrastructure to deliver it.”

A deal struck after the independence referendum led to a suite of benefits getting devolved to Holyrood. These included lifeline payments for disabled people, carers, parents and the elderly.

But the cost of setting up separate systems has proved complex and Whitehall continues to deliver some benefits under the control of Social Security Scotland. Official figures from 2020 showed that £212m was forecasted to be spent on implementing new technology.

The Record revealed in July the updated figure had increased to £251m, leading to criticism of the SNP-led Government. The latest figure, contained in February’s business case, now gives an estimate of £277.4m.

Want to see more SNP fails? – Health Matters