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36. Department of Constitutional Affairs

• Head of IT: Yvonne Gallagher, eDelivery Group CIO
• Industry: Public sector
• Website: www.dca.gov.uk

As the government department traditionally responsible for the English and Welsh courts, legal aid and justice system, the Department Constitutional Affairs (DCA) had its remit extended last year to also include probation, prisons and prevention of re-offending that was previously the responsibility of the Home Office.

The expanded and renamed Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has also been reorganised, with IT and communications joining other functions, like human resources (HR) and finance, in the corporate management division. Overall, its planned resource budget was estimated to be £4.1 billion. And as declared in its 2007 annual report, it planned to spend £1.6 million next year on IT, compared to £1.4 million projected for 2007/8.

A key part of this IT spending was allocated in 2006 when the DCA signed two major, seven-year outsourcing contracts with Atos Origin and Logica, worth in excess of £500 million.

Last year saw the completion of the transition of the former DCA IT infrastructure networks and desktop services for courts, tribunals, the Office of the Public Guardian and headquarters, moving to a single joined-up network provided by Atos Origin. The transfer of business applications to LogicaCMG is ongoing and is due to be completed this year.

The MoJ stated: “Information technology is increasingly at the centre of the work of the department. It is both vital to the day-to-day running and efficiency of the organisation and a key enabler for change and reform. Delivering the IT to support the successful launch of the new MoJ last May was a significant achievement for the central IT department.”

The department said it is now looking to deliver more ‘joined up’ information services on its modernised IT infrastructure, including implementation of a common architectural governance framework and work to develop a centralised information assurance approach consistent with government security standards and ISO 27001. This will ensure data handling across the department through the sharing of data with other parties, it added.

For more news on Department of Constitutional Affairs, visit www.cio.co.uk

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