£600m of UK funds promised for offender tracking system

Criminal justice is the big IT winner in the government's £93bn splurge on public services announced in the comprehensive spending review.

The spending round includes £600m for a computerised offender tracking system, which will cut costs and improve the efficiency of the criminal justice system.

Cases are delayed and guilty parties are often unjustly acquitted as a result of clerical errors, according to a white paper on the subject published this week.

It said: "Where the system is not sufficiently joined up, case management is less efficient than it ought to be. If information is not up-to-date and accessible, it can lead to inappropriate decisions about charges and bail. Performance is not measured well enough and accountability is insufficiently clear."

The money will be spent on a secure email system that will enable different elements of the criminal justice system to communicate with each other, scheduled to be switched on in 2003.

It will also fund a web portal that will allow victims and defendants to follow the progress of their case online.