NAO calls for better crown court IT
The National Audit Office has called for improvements to two crucial crown court computer systems
In a review of the administration of crown courts, published on 6 March 2009, the NAO says the 20 year-old Crest case management system is no longer supported by its manufacturer and is subsequently vulnerable. In addition, the Xhibit system for real time information on the progress of trials is unreliable.
Crest, a non-Windows database system, was developed and introduced between 1989-92. Despite its old infrastructure and vulnerability it is still being used by about 2,500 staff, and it does not allow crown courts to automatically receive data on new cases. The transfer of cases from magistrates courts to crown courts involves photocopying, faxing and posting documents.
According to the report, crown courts spend about nine minutes per case rekeying data from magistrates' files, the total cost of which is estimated at over £300,000 a year.
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