A compensation claim and legal dispute are the latest serious issues surrounding the already-maligned tech upgrade.
Norwich City Council has cast its controversial IT overhaul in even worse light, with the transformation already delayed five times and still no sign of a final completion date.
The English local authority has confirmed it is now pursuing legal action against contractor Civica. The public body believes it is due compensation for for what it sees as a failure to deliver the £1.3million project, which is now several years past due.
The system at the center of the dispute, Civica 360, helps manage workflow across teams dealing with council tax, revenues, business rates and housing. The contract between Norwich City Council and the tech company began in April 2022, with the software expected to go live within months of the agreement being finalised.
A Freedom of Information request has since revealed far-reaching setbacks, with both Civica and council staff battling serious technical issues migrating data. This is despite BBC News reporting the original contract stipulated to transfer 2.5million documents to the new platform.
By late-2024, stability issues had plagued the work, with new issues developing as others were fixed and six major problems identified. A further 70 minor impediments were also ‘pending resolution’. In November Norwich council’s executive paused the project when it became clear an updated 360 with bug fixes would not be ready by an agreed deadline.
Talks continued, but the situation worsened when it became clear the existing, decades-old W2 system would also need to be upgraded in order to complete the migration. Civica has held contracts with Norwich City Council for the past 20 years, including support with W2.
Image: Seb Doe / Unsplash
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