OSCR warns new online filing services could be postponed

Governance | Vibeka Mair | 13 Oct 2010

OSCR may be forced to delay its planned IT upgrade and online services due to lack of funds.

The Scottish regulator had planned to introduce new technology allowing for online filing next summer.

However, the cost of the new service, estimated at £200,000-£240,000, takes the public body over the threshold for EU procurement.

Jane Ryder, chief executive of OSCR, said at the regulator's annual meeting: “Having considered the position with government procurement experts and our own legal advisers, the times lines are so extended that we cannot complete the cycle of advertisement, contract award and delivery within this financial year ie by April 2011.

“At this point, it is likely that we cannot make a substantial capital commitment until the outcome of the CSR is known and our budget confirmed. We are likely to have to delay formal commissioning the IT upgrade until the next financial year 2011/12.”

However, Ryder added that an IT upgrade remained one of OSRC’s absolute priorites: “It is more than reasonable expectation that a public body such as OSCR should have an infrastructure which allows our users easy electronic access, as well as introducing efficiencies for OSCR.

"In the scheme of things it is a very modest amount and I will argue that it is eminently affordable for the public purse whatever the economic and political difficulties and changes ahead.

“So I remain very optimistic that we can commission the IT upgrade and introduce online services in the course of 2011/12, even if it is not as early as April as we had originally planned.”

Directory: Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR)
Who's Who: Jane Ryder

Comments

[Cancel] | Reply to:

Name *

Email *

Organisation

Job Title

Comments *

Verification *

* Please read our Community Standards

Close »

Community Standards

The civilsociety.co.uk community and comments board is intended as a platform for informed and civilised debate.

We hope to encourage a broad range of views, however, there are standards that we expect commentators to uphold. We reserve the right to delete or amend any comments that do not adhere to these standards.

We welcome:

Robust but respectful debate
Strongly held opinions
Intelligent relevant discussion
The sharing of relevant experiences
New participants

We will not publish:

Rude, threatening, offensive, obscene or abusive language, or links to such material
Links to commercial organisations or spam postings. The comments board is not an advertising platform
The posting of contact details for yourself or others
Comments intended for malicious purpose or mindless abuse
Comments purporting to be from another person or organisation under false pretences
Gratuitous criticism, commentary or self-promotion
Any material which breaches copyright or privacy laws, or could be considered libellous
The use of the comments board for the pursuit or extension of personal disputes

Be aware:

Views expressed on the comments board are left at users’ discretion and are in no way views held or supported by Civil Society Media
Comments left by others may not be accurate, do not rely on them as fact
You may be misunderstood - sarcasm and humour can easily be taken out of context, try to be clear

Please:

Enjoy the opportunity to express your opinion and respect the right of others to express theirs
Confine your remarks to issues rather than personalities

Together we can keep our community a polite, respectful and intelligent platform for discussion.