Councils & Police Forces Hit By Global Microsoft Outage

A global Microsoft outage is causing disruption to council and police services across Leicestershire and Northamptonshire.

Harborough District Council says technical problems with its systems mean staff are currently unable to deal with queries relating to council tax and benefits.

The authority has also lost access to email, meaning residents may experience delays in receiving replies.

However, its contact centre remains available by telephone and the council’s website is still operating.

Both North Northamptonshire Council and West Northamptonshire Council say some systems are currently unavailable, which could mean it takes longer than usual to process requests.

It is working with its suppliers to resolve the issues as quickly as possible.

Northamptonshire Police has also been affected, confirming it currently has no access to Outlook emails.

Anyone needing to report a crime or contact the force is being advised to call 101, while 999 should always be used in an emergency, such as a crime in progress or where someone’s life is at risk.

Leicestershire Police says some online form submissions may also be affected.

Meanwhile, Leicestershire County Council says it is aware of the global IT problems and is assessing the impact on its services.

It says it is not currently aware of any significant knock-on effects, although replies to emails are likely to take longer than usual.

The organisations have apologised for any inconvenience and are working to resolve the disruption.