The court will shave £175,000 off its IT budget per year by switching case management systems and breaking away from a troubled contract negotiated by the ministry.

The Supreme Court expects to cut its IT spending to £55,000 per year, one-quarter of the current running costs, by breaking away from a troubled contract negotiated by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

From early next year the court will bring the management of its IT in-house and develop a new case management system.

Technology company Kelway will provide IT hardware, Microsoft will design and build a new case records system and provide office software, and Virgin will provide Wi-Fi. The initial investment in the project will be £250,000.

Under the previous £230,000 per year contract, which began in 2009 and was originally implemented by the MoJ, outsourcing firm Atos provided all hardware and software for the court, with IT company Logica sub-contracted to set up the case records system.

A spokesman said the court was using the opportunity of the contract expiring to introduce a wider range of providers. This will lead to a number of service enhancements, he added.

‘These will include a more user-friendly case management system for parties and improved case information on our website. The capital investment will be part-funded by the MoJ and Microsoft, reducing the court’s expenditure on the project to around £130,000,’ he said.

The MoJ's contract with Atos, its lead IT supplier, ends in 2016.