UK council digs deeper into capital assets to keep Oracle project afloat

In a budget-busting leap from SAP to Oracle, West Sussex County Council is trebling its raid on capital assets such as buildings to fund its "transformational" ERP project.

The current budget for the authority's long-running project is £27 million, more than ten times the £2.6 million originally budgeted when it started nearly seven years ago.

Last year, The Register reported that the council was using money from selling off capital assets – including a former fire station – to fund the massively expanded budget. Although allowed by central government since 2016, the approach should not be used to relieve ongoing budget pressure, experts have warned.

In documents released to a council committee last week, officials said they expected use of funds from the sell-off to triple in the current financial year compared to a year earlier.

"Following a review of the 2025/26 plan, it is now currently projected that ...