Police IT body to be scrapped in government reform

The Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO) is to be replaced with a new central agency that will be responsible both for national projects and management of the £750m annual local IT spend by the UK's 43 police forces.

The decision follows an in-depth independent review of PITO's performance, which concluded that despite some successes the organisation has "largely failed" to meet the needs of the police since it was set up in 1998.

The report, which has been presented to the Home Office this week, said: "Around 80 per cent of the police expenditure on IT is within forces. PITO has been unable to influence this to any significant degree. Thus beyond the large projects, the success of which has to say the least been mixed, PITO's contribution to police ICT has been marginal."

Under the proposals PITO's police IT responsibilities will transfer to a new Police National ICT Group (PNICTG) headed by a CIO who will report into a board made up of representatives of the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Association of Police Authorities. The PNICTG would form part of the broader National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA), which is due to come into force during 2007.

The PNICTG will be tasked with making police IT more efficient and effective by providing better management and co-ordination of national and local police IT, which is currently dispersed across 3,700 IT workers in 43 police forces

"The fundamental requirement is for a central capability for delivering both the national dimension of police ICT and ensuring greater effectiveness and efficiency at force level. There is an existing consensus that 43 separate IT departments is unsustainable; a consensual and evolutionary strategy that leads to their rationalisation is required," the report said.

A separate public sector body is also being proposed to act as a custodian for the police information databases, such as the Police National Computer, in recognition of the explosion of information held nationally on these systems across the police and criminal justice system.

Phillip Webb, head of PITO, welcomed the publication of the report findings and said in a statement that the organisation will be examining the issues raised in the coming months.

"In the meantime, PITO has a considerable work programme that the police service is relying on us to deliver. While that is our immediate focus, we will also play a full and active part with the Home Office and other partners to improve the provision of police ICT and to shape the development of the NPIA," he said.