Chancellor pledges £1 billion for IT

Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown has earmarked an extra £1bn for government IT in the Comprehensive Spending Review.

The biggest increase in public spending in thirty years sees technology at the heart of plans to modernise the public sector and bring service levels in line with European rivals.

Issues singled out for IT budget increases include education, benefits payments, local egovernment, customs and excise and small business services.

The biggest single winner is the criminal justice system - an extra £650 million over three years to streamline case management takes the project's total budget to nearly £1bn.

The Treasury announcement also revealed plans for a cross-departmental IT Joint Budget to administrate the project across agencies as diverse as the police, the courts, the Crown Prosecution Service, and the probation and prison services.

Central to the programme is the development of a single electronic case file accessible across the sector and due to be in place by 2005.

Michael Wills, parliamentary under secretary for criminal justice system IT, told Computing: 'There is tremendous potential for IT to contribute to the reform, modernisation and joining up of the Criminal Justice system.

'The scale of this investment shows just how much emphasis we put on this element of our work and will help support a criminal justice system that is effective in reducing crime and protecting the public.'

The figures released this week do not include the extra £1bn for NHS IT announced in April's Budget.

Boosted commitment to technology investment is positive but efficacy may suffer without a clear strategic framework, says Confederation of British Industry head of ebusiness Jeremy Beale.

'The government is spending a pretty good amount on IT, between £3bn and £5bn excluding the NHS, but it tends to be a bit fragmented and we need an overall strategy.'

Parliamentary lobby group Eurim secretary general Philip Virgo said: 'The main thing is whether the IT industry and the suppliers are actually capable of delivering reliable systems.'