Law site project drags on

The Parliamentary Counsel Office continues to blame contractor Unisys for a two-year delay in the Public Access to Legislation project, despite a select committee report critical of the office's demands.

The office said the Cabinet had approved extra funding for it to finish the project. The goal is not just a free website of legislation, but involves the complete overhaul of the tools the office uses to draft legislation.

Unisys will do the work and house and maintain the system, which is expected to be finished next year.

The office stopped the $8 million project two years ago when Unisys said extra resources were needed.

The justice and electoral select committee said Unisys complained it was required to do work outside the original specifications.

However, chief parliamentary counsel George Tanner last year denied that the project's scope had grown, and Unisys, which gets more than half its revenue from Government agencies, was effectively gagged from defending itself in the media.

Even now, managing director Brett Hodgson would only say "we are very pleased at where we are at".

After a review of the project, the Government authorised the office, the Treasury and the State Services Commission, to negotiate with Unisys terms for finishing the job.

The latest select committee investigation of the office, completed last month, said the delay in completing the system cost more than $4 million for pre-press services provided by Legislation Direct.

It said the office blamed the delay on Unisys' inability to deliver a solution.

"When we suggested that the formatting of draft legislation could be simplified, the office responded that it did not think there could be significant compromise in this area," the select committee said.

"We remain concerned that the Parliamentary Counsel Office may have assumed less flexibility on the part of users than is justified, leading to excessive costs and delay for highly specific requirements."

The office is being reviewed by Michael Walls and Richard Clarke, QC, to determine whether it has sufficient resources to cope with the demand for legislative drafting services. The review is expected to be finished by May.