2.1 This Part of the report examines the Department's progress in developing a new IT system for the magistrates' courts. Attempts in the early 1990s to secure a national standard IT system failed. In 1996 the Department decided to procure a PFI contract and signed a deal with ICL in December 1998. This contract has since been renegotiated twice and the cost of the project has more than doubled, although the range of services has increased.