1. Visit itweek.co.uk/News/11329438 to see the string of news stories related to Project Libra. Identify some of the sources of the problems the project faces.
Well first and foremost, the above link does not even work so that right away tells me that there’s nothing good about this right off top. So the link I actually went to: http://intosaiitaudit.org/intoit_articles/18p12top13.pdf tells me the general consensus of everything I need to know about this failed project right away with the headlining quote of “The Libra project is one of the worst IT projects I have ever seen. It may also be the shoddiest PFI project ever.” This came from Edward Leigh, chairman of the UK Public Accounts Committee during which the company was during an audit report on the project.
So seeing that I had to do my own research to find some of the articles in the news about this particular failed project, I went onto google and came up with several links to pages concerning this disaster of a project with the aforementioned link being one of them. http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/1822944/libra-project-goes-gbp134m-budget This link shows that the project negogiations with the original company had fallen through and had to be renegogiated with an additional 8.5 million, plus the original 134 million to ICL now Fujitsu Services. “…ICL - now Fujitsu Services - was left with responsibility for just the infrastructure part of the project, with separate contracts to be awarded for the software and systems integration work. After re-negotiations last summer, the infrastructure is costing £232m over 8.5 years. The software and systems integration contracts are expected to cost £86m, bringing the total cost to £318m over 8.5 years…” http://www.bloorresearch.com/analysis/libra-project-set-to-fail/ This next link is showing that the company that was originally hired for the project itself is doing nothing but ripping off the taxpayers, as quoted at the end of the article. “…However, it now seems that Fujitsu will not be delivering the main application that was to form the core of this project. Instead, negotiations are taking place that will take bits of the existing legacy systems and hook them together instead. Fujitsu will be paid for the basic desktop systems that they have already installed…to this the credibility drop that will be felt for the PFI processes and there is no way to take a positive outlook on this news. Who is going to support PFI in the future if Fujitsu is allowed to rip off the taxpayers in this way…”

2. If you were to decide whether to terminate this project, what would your decision be? Justify your position.
As far as the termination of the project is concerned, there is no argument. First and foremost, a project should never take a time span of twenty years to complete. Secondly, with the fact that the United Kingdom as a whole spent nearly, or probably more, a billion dollars funding this project is way more than enough.
Now here’s the only reason why this project should be revised, instead of terminated, is because of what it is actually for. The project itself is a combination of office infrastructure and new casework system which will link the magistrates’ courts and make the process of dealing with criminal cases much more effectively. However, if that one element is removed, this entire project has been nothing but a waste of time, effort, and resources. Terminate it.

http://intosaiitaudit.org/intoit_articles/18p12top13.pdf http://www.bloorresearch.com/analysis/libra-project-set-to-fail/ http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/1822944/libra-project-goes-gbp134m-budget