[Last updated 16:00, 17 March 2025]
Council staff have been working round the clock with external contractors to fix a power outage which has impacted on core IT systems and phonelines since Thursday (13 March).
Investigations have now found that the likely cause was a failure within the electrical safety circuit of the high voltage switchgear at the Council’s HQ. This meant that when the power went out, the electricity generated by backup generators couldn’t get back into the system to power anything.
External engineers have said that this is a once in a lifetime event that they have never seen before.
The power outage subsequently impacted the Council’s central data centre, which houses computing and networking equipment for the whole Council.
The serious nature of the unprecedented outage meant that all systems went offline, leading to disruptions to our phonelines and systems while we work to test systems before bringing them safely back online.
Power has been reconnected, enabling some systems to get back online but further repairs and extensive testing is required to ensure a fully stable connection.
This is expected to happen later in the week. A number of external technical experts must be on-site to facilitate the fix, and we have done absolutely everything we can to get this repair brought forward as soon as possible.
That said, a number of our systems are back up and running.
Phone systems are now back up and running, but we are expecting a number of calls, so we would recommend continuing to use the email addresses provided if you have an emergency. These can be viewed here.
The Council’s Chief Executive, Sajeeda Rose, said:
“I’m extremely proud of our teams have acted extremely quickly to step up Business Continuity Plans to ensure continued services to our most vulnerable people, as well as our customers. This has meant teams having to adapt at lightning speed.
“Unexpected disruptions like these test our ability to adapt, and I want to take a moment to acknowledge the incredible resilience, patience, and professionalism colleagues have all shown in response to this unexpected challenge.
“While we are making progress, we appreciate that this situation has been disruptive. We appreciate the public’s continued patience and cooperation. We will keep you updated as much as we can.
“Key updates will be shared on our website and social channels. We do know that a number of systems are down – please don’t try to report these to us, we are aware – and our advice to anyone trying to access Council systems unsuccessfully is to keep a watching eye on our social media channels, where we will share updates.
“A reminder too that you can sign up for updates directly to your inbox.”
Regular updates are being shared on Facebook and X.