Hosted police and council IT systems have been crippled
by the oil depot fire at Buncefield.
Outsourcer Northgate had its site near the disaster area partly
destroyed by the explosions that erupted at the weekend, and the
resulting fire and smoke has also taken its toll on the company’s
offices.
The Police National Computer disaster recovery system was hit,
forcing the Police Information Technology organisation to enact
contingency measures.
In addition, at least three London councils, whose systems are
hosted by Northgate, have also seen their council processes
stalled, including council tax payments, payroll and council
websites.
The councils affected are Wandsworth, Hackney and Haringey. The
Police IT Organisation has put contingency plans into place to cope
with damage to the system, although it insists police operations
have not been affected.
Northgate said fixtures and fittings at the site were destroyed
and back-up systems at the offices became inoperable.
Haringey’s website was taken out of action and its council tax
and benefits system crashed. Wandsworth saw its housing benefits,
council tax and housing repairs systems go down and Hackney, the
least affected of all the councils, was unable to print staff
payslips.
All three authorities said contingency plans have been put into
place.