IT Roll-Out Crisis Grips Local Housing Market

Six months after an IT roll-out by Arcus Global, Bracknell Forest Council's land searches froze for almost four months, halting house sales and forcing buyers to rely on emergency indemnity insurance.

At a full council meeting on 15 July, Patrick Smith (Lib Dem) pressed Cabinet member Guy Gillbe for when the backlog will be cleared and asked for an update on the promised investigation.

Cllr Gillbe said the fault was data configuration in the Land Charges module, which stopped the council issuing search responses between 26 January and 21 May 2026.

As of 7 July, 1,031 personal search responses had been issued, with 57 outstanding. Full searches resumed on 17 June: 82 completed and 330 still to do. He said there's no firm timetable because each full search needs cross-department consultation, though dropping the legacy-system cross-check could speed things up.

An IT audit covering procurement through to implementation has been commissioned; its findings will go to the council's Audit and Governance Committee.

Patrick Smith said he welcomed the progress but wants the public to see what went wrong. He said:

"I do feel... that the significant disruption produced by this issue to residents calls for a more public level of accountability. Can the council member advise how he will ensure that the outcomes of that audit will be communicated in a format accessible to the affected residents.

Cllr Gillbe said he couldn't make a commitment because IT implementation fell under the portfolio of a different cabinet member. He said: "I would encourage the publication of a summary of that review in a publicly accessible format,"

Ted O'Neill, Local Democracy Reporter