Kent forced to replace failing child care IT

Kent County Council is set to replace its Integrated Children Systems, which external assessors have concluded will not be capable of providing the integrated records necessary to protect vulnerable children.

Kent’s children services were heavily criticised in the council’s last Ofsted inspection, which highlighted the inadequacies of the county's IT systems.

Children’s records were being stored in three different systems, which were not integrated across a common platform. Staff had also complained about the difficulties of sharing reports and case histories.

In response to the criticism, Kent hired contractors PricewaterhouseCoopers to conduct a root and branch review of its IT systems.

Its findings, presented to council leaders on 18 July, confirmed that the existing Integrated Children System, purchased from IT services group Capita, was “unlikely to meet the transformation requirements [stipulated by Ofsted]".

As a result, the council has opted to scrap the system and is looking for a provider to deliver a replacement to be implemented by the end of 2012. The council estimates that the new system could cost up to £1.5m.

The tender has already been placed in the Official Journal of the European Union, a council spokesman told Computing.

Councils were forced to introduce integrated children systems in 2008 as part of a central government initiative to improve the sharing of information among social care practitioners in the wake of the murder of eight-year old Victoria Climbie in 2000.

Capita said it was aware of the issues at Kent County Council and had offered support and help to resolve these. "Our solution is based on the original ICS requirements laid down by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and has been enhanced further in response to customer feedback," it said in a statement.