I used to work for Accenture and my experience with this big contracts is that everything is nailed down at the negotation stage and then as soon as you start the scope changes constantly and leads to massive over runs and a product that doesn't work. Basically when any new poloitician comes in they want to stamp there mark on the project and change the scope to what they think it should be, they lose their job the next one comes in and does the same then there is a general election and the entire government get in on the act.

They should leave alone and let the actual departments set the scope not some inexperienced pseudo elected lacky who has no idea about the problem they are trying to solve

Joke alert because all goverment IT contracts are a joke