Although, where I live (in a well-off EU country dominated by socio-liberal politics) I've never heard of a governmental organisation developing their own code

Although, where I live (in a well-off EU country dominated by socio-liberal politics) I've never heard of a governmental organisation developing their own code (outside of the defence department). When there is a need for a system, there is a public procurement process wherein contractors submit bids, and the "best" bid wins. ("best" by some criteria, usually price)