Scottish police lack proper ICT support

27 Oct 10
The shared services centre set up to make Scotland’s eight police forces more efficient is failing to provide adequate ICT support, auditors warned today.

By Lucy Phillips

28 October 2010

The shared services centre set up to make Scotland’s eight police forces more efficient is failing to provide adequate ICT support, auditors warned today.

A report by Audit Scotland found that the Scottish Police Services Authority was unable to meet increasing demand from police forces for information and communication technology support services. Difficulties ranged from day-to-day support to helping implement local and national strategies.

The SPSA maintains about 2,700 more printers, scanners and monitors for the police than in 2008 when it first took control of ICT services. But auditors said the authority’s budget had not risen in line with the increased demand and an additional 200 staff would be needed to meet all the needs.   

The SSPA had overseen improvements in criminal justice services, forensics services and training programmes since its creation in 2007, Audit Scotland found. Efficiencies came despite early problems, including lack of information to plan service delivery, limited support from stakeholders and a series of changes to senior staff.   

Altogether, the SPSA saved £5.3bn in the past three years, in line with its targets. 

Scotland’s auditor general Bob Black said: ‘The SPSA had a difficult beginning and lessons can be learned from this experience when developing shared services in the future. The SPSA has made improvements in some areas but it faces significant challenges if it is to deliver high-quality services with less money. It needs to act quickly to address these challenges.’       

The SPSA also provides support services to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

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