by Tony CollinsNational IT case management system for magistrates'
courts in England and Wales suspended indefinitely
The roll-out of a £319m PFI project aimed at speeding up the
criminal justice system h as been postponed indefinitely amid
spiralling costs and serious technical problems.
The Libra project - managed by ICL - had been described by the
government as a "key" ministerial initiative. With documents
exchanged by post, hand or fax; it has previously taken up to three
weeks for courts to obtain information from police databases.
The core of the PFI project - a case management system - was due to
begin its roll-out next month. The Lord Chancellor's department,
however, has postponed it indefinitely.
The cost of the contract has increased by £136m, since it was
signed in 1998. The Lord Chancellor's office did not reveal why the
roll-out had been put on hold and said only that the project was
taking longer than expected.
The problems with the Libra project - one of the biggest government
IT projects - follow a report from a Labour-backed think-tank, the
Institute for Public Policy Research, which questioned the
effectiveness of some PFI projects.
It is the third time in the past nine years that an attempt to
install a national courts IT system has run into serious trouble.
Two previous contracts with private sector suppliers were
terminated in 1992 and 1996.
The Libra project has been part of a wider initiative called
Integrating Business and Information Systems (IBIS), overseen by a
ministerial group including, initially, the home secretary.
The project has two main components. The first - an office
automation system based on Microsoft Office - is already being
rolled out to about 400 magistrates' courts.
The case management component was due to begin a roll-out next
month. It will allow the courts to prepare and handle cases
electronically and pass information to other agencies in the
criminal justice system, such as the police and probation
officers.
But the roll-out of Libra's technical infrastructure - office
automation - to magistrates' courts in England and Wales has led to
criticism from end-users that the new system slows down their work
and has led to a reduction in the number of PCs and printers
available. Users have to access their legacy systems through
"emulation" software in the new Libra system.
Some managers in magistrates' courts are threatening to boycott the
technology said Rosie Eagleson, general secretary of the
Association of Magisterial Officers.
"People are concerned," she said. "In some cases the new technology
has had the opposite effect to that intended: users have lost
functionality and flexibility."
Computer Weekly has also learned that, without any announcement to
Parliament, ICL and the Lord Chancellor's department renegotiated
the Libra PFI contract after it was awarded. This gave ICL an extra
four years of guaranteed revenue on top of the eight years
originally agreed.
On at least two occasions the Lord Chancellor's department has
sought and won approval to increase the departmental expenditure
limit, partly to allow for the increased costs of Libra.
The overall project costs are now £319m against the original figure
announced to Parliament of £183m.
Computer Weekly also understands that a further £26m has been
allocated for internal costs. In 1998 the Lord Chancellor's
department had told all Magistrates' Courts Committees "acceptance
of the service is planned for no later than July 2001".
Government IT projects' history of failure
Libra is the
latest in a series of PFI computer projects to run into serious
trouble or be abandoned. Other projects include a caseworking
system for the Immigration and Nationality Directorate; new systems
for issuing passports; the replacement National Insurance Recording
System and the Benefits Agency "Pathway" system.
In 1998 Texas-based EDS withdrew from the bidding for Libra after
expressing concern to the Lord Chancellor's department about
aspects of the tendering process.
EDS claimed that it would have delivered pilot Libra system by
December 2000 and for only about £120m. ICL was left as the only
bidder.
tony.collins@rbi.co.uk