Prison IT system halted on cost

A prison IT system has been halted and is under review following concerns about its cost, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has announced.

The £224 million Custody-National Offender Management Information System (c-nomis) computer system was supposed to track hundreds of thousands of offenders through the prison and probation system. It has been trialled in three Isle of Wight prisons, the Guardian newspaper said, and was set to be rolled out to another 15 next month.

A report in The Times newspaper said the project had already cost £155 million, but was short some £33 million. Cancelling the programme would trigger a £50 million fine from supplier EDS, the newspaper reported.

Justice Minister David Hanson said in statement: "Following consideration by the National Offender Management Board, I have requested a rapid review of the NOMIS programme to be carried out with immediate effect. This review will consider the affordability of the overall programme and will report in the autumn with recommendations for a revised programme."

"While we are reviewing the programme, I have instituted a moratorium on further development work," his statement continued. "The revised programme will maintain the commitment to ensure that offender managers have access to offender records within custody and the community, and to replace unstable, at-risk IT systems across the Probation and Prison Services."

Media reports quoted Conservative shadow justice secretary Nick Herbert as saying that this case was above and beyond standard government IT failures.

"This isn't just the usual story of government incompetence in managing ID projects and waste," he was quoted as saying. "It is further evidence that ministers have no coherent strategy to rehabilitate offenders and protect the public."

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