THE Wee County's children, adult and justice services are currently relying on a 26-year-old system that “poses a considerable risk” to the council. 

Only one expert is responsible for the support and maintenance of the entire system, and councillors were told there’s a real risk that if the system can’t be maintained, the services will “have to move to manual systems”. 

“There’s a really significant risk in terms of service delivery,” Lorraine Sanda, the strategic director for people, said. 

Councillors have known for some time that the outdated system is in urgent need of replacement, but on Thursday the council decided that the replacement could not be delayed any further. 

Elected member unanimously agreed to invest £324,246 from the council’s Transformation Fund “to move forward and progress” the procurement of a replacement Social Work IT system. 

Ellen Forson, council leader, said: “This is a significant amount of money for the council to commit and I’d like to note that it’s not procuring the system itself – this is just the cost to identify a system that meets our needs.

“[This investment] is a necessity, but it’s still a difficult decision to make.” 

Ms Sanda’s council report explained that the £324,000 will be used to bring in a “full team” of experts to move the project towards a stage where Clackmannanshire can prepare a full business case for a new, replacement system. 

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Going forward, that business case will be brought back to council for consideration, but councillors were told the total cost of the system replacement is “ likely to be in excess of £2.5 million”. 

“Most local authorities have taken three to four years to progress from scoping to procurement, and typically a further three years or more of implementation,” the report said.

“Based on feedback and intelligence, the costs of implementing and maintaining a new system are considerable – likely to be in excess of £2.5million.” 

Councillors were critical of the investment, but ultimately approved the £324,000 request as a matter of necessity. 

“It’s a significant amount of money, but I think the risk is also significant,” Cllr Janine Rennie said. 

“I think it’s absolutely vital that we have systems fit for purpose. Although it’s a lot of money, I think it’s too substantial a risk not to move forward with this.” 

Cllr Kathleen Mary Martin added: “Our intent to [replace the social work IT system] has been around for many years now, and it’s always been set aside as other priorities have raised their heads.

"We can’t afford not to do it. It could have huge implications for the public."