Ministry of Justice slashes IT bill by £110m

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has cut £110m from its IT outsourcing spend by consolidating its suppliers.

Over the past year the MoJ has reduced its number of suppliers from six to two, according to its annual departmental report for 2008/09.

"Over the past year we have focused on increasing the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of IT provision in the justice system, and improving links between business areas," the report says.

The ministry plans to cut its overall tech spend by a further £74m over the next three years.

The report predicts the MoJ's IT spend for 2009/10 will reach £226m - up from 2008/09's £202m - before falling to £194m in 2010/11 and £152m in 2011/12.

The report adds that in 2009/10 the ministry will "increase [its] efficiency further" by "establishing a single IT function for MoJ, bringing together services which have previously been provided by Noms (National Offender Management Service) and OCJR (Office for Criminal Justice Reform) into the corporate performance group".

It adds that the Libra court IT system - which exceeded its initial budget by £300m - is now in place at all magistrates courts, improving the exchange of information between the courts and "criminal justice partners" such as the police and probation service.

But problems with justice system's IT remain: the National Association of Probation Officers recently told silicon.com that ageing offender management systems are making it to difficult to protect the public when prisoners are released into the community.