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Northern Ireland’s government has published information on three major IT projects focused on land, planning and finance.

The Department of Finance’s Land and Property Services is considering the purchase of a new land registration system, which would include registries of deeds, statutory charges, land and ground rent. It expects to publish a contract for this in March 2020.

Through a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union, the department has asked potential suppliers to submit a questionnaire covering the capabilities and costs of the new system by 10 July.

Northern Ireland’s land registration system is separate from that of England and Wales, operated by HM Land Registry, and the Registers of Scotland.

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The department also announced a two-year extension to its £52m Accounting Services Programme deal with BT for the common accounting service used across the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS). The extension to the contract, awarded in 2006 and originally ending in March 2020, will add £11.2m to its cost and has the option of a further year, potentially taking it March 2023.

In May, the department said it was reviewing the existing human resources, payroll and finance services, and planned to engage with potential suppliers in September 2019 with a contract following in February 2020. “This modification is required to ensure business continuity whilst the NICS take forward a programme of work in relation to the current NICS finance function,” it said in the newly-published notice.

Separately, the Department for Infrastructure and Northern Ireland’s 11 councils said they will buy a single planning system, with an expected cost of £16m to £28m. The organisations plan to publish the formal procurement notice for the NI Regional Planning IT system at the end of July.