A report from the Auditor General for Scotland says there were significant failings in control and oversight for the new PASS system, which aims to improve processing of disclosure checks. In 2015 the Scottish government approved a budget of £34 million. The project cost has now risen to an estimated £78m.

The system only just met a deadline for roll-out in September this year. It has yet to deliver full transformation and still requires manual work by temporary staff.

The Auditor General said over-optimistic assumptions were compounded by lack of financial reporting and governance of the project.

Caroline Gardner, Auditor General for Scotland, said: “I have reported on the failures of many ICT projects in recent years and set out clear principles public bodies should follow. There are lessons to be learned from Disclosure Scotland’s experience with the PASS system. While the rollout in September was a significant milestone, there have been real weaknesses in control and oversight of the project.

“The system was delivered late, over budget, and with less functionality than had been originally intended. There remains more work to be done before its full ambition, and wider transformation, is realised.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Liam McArthur MSP said: “This is yet another IT calamity under the SNP, to be added to the likes of the failed i6 policing project, NHS 24 and the CAP system that caused turmoil for farmers.

“While this system is now just about up and running, at significant extra cost and time, too many other public agencies are still relying on dysfunctional IT, including the national force.

“The SNP government now needs to demonstrate how it is sharing the learning from these failures so that more projects don’t suffer similar fates.”