Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2012/07/02/home_office_police_company/
Plans for special police-run ICT firm to firm up this month
Plods to use pork truncheon to beat savings out of market
Posted in Channel, 2nd July 2012 11:00 GMT
Home Office Minister Theresa May is set to finally add some colour to the plans she sketched out last year over the creation of a police ICT company, the department has confirmed.
The way IT is procured and managed by the boys in blue was criticised by May last summer for being "confused, fragmented and expensive" and a firm, led by police chiefs and staffed by techies was due this spring.
The Channel sent a bunch of questions to the Home Office asking why the new private/ public corporation has not yet come to light, and when such plans may actually come to fruition.
"The Home Secretary plans to update Parliament on the creation of the company in July," said the Home Office PR man.
The police IT organisation will negotiate and administer contracts across England and Wales 43 police forces. The plan is to draw on economies of scale to command better pricing on tech.
Last year the Minister revealed there were some 5,000 staffers working on 2,000 ICT systems across 100 server farms in the police service.
"I don't want this to be PITO (Police Information Organisation) mark two or NPIA (National Policing Improvement Agency) mark two, with all the same old mistakes and the same problems repeated," said May.
All 43 forces are mandated to buy commoditised hardware through Sprint ii, a three-year framework due to expire next April. The Home Office previously said it will review this procurement agreement when the new company launches.
Public sector suppliers have voiced interest in how future frameworks will be run in the context of the EU trade laws and the Official Journal of the European Union. ®