Scotlands Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has awarded a major contract to manage and develop its core IT systems to Capgemini UK plc. The contract, one of the largest ever signed by COPFS, is for an initial five years and is expected to be worth approximately 10-12 million over that period. The systems in scope include the case management system used by COPFS to pursue some 300,000 criminal prosecutions and suspicious deaths per annum.
The contract involves improving the availability, reliability and cost-effectiveness of this existing core IT application at COPFS prior to delivering a totally new system in a transformation programme designed to provide users with a faster and more streamlined service. The COPFS case management system is central to every criminal prosecution mounted in Scotland. It is used by some 500 COPFS lawyers and 1000 administrative staff across their 47 sites. The system exchanges data with external systems to support the Scottish police forces, the courts, victim support groups, defence lawyers, and UK and international security and law enforcement agencies.
Peter Collings, Deputy Chief Executive at COPFS, said: Our IT applications are vital for every step of every prosecution we undertake, and I am therefore delighted that we are now working with Capgemini, with their strong local presence and global expertise. They understand the importance of working in partnership with us to deliver strong support to our front-line staff, and I look forward to a long and successful relationship with them.
Capgemini won the COPFS contract following competitive bids from other leading IT vendors. COPFS says that factors in their choice included Capgeminis strong track record working with clients including the Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council in Scotland and the Metropolitan Police, Home Office and Ministry of Justice in England, its proven commitment to quality assurance, its collaborative working culture, and its competitive and transparent approach.
D.C.