Lincolnshire Police to outsource IT with G4S

Lincolnshire Police has agreed to outsource its IT operations as part of a £200 million deal with G4S.

The contract is the widest ranging in the UK police force and will last for 10 years.

As part of the agreement, G4S will overtake the operation of various systems including ICT and Lincolnshire Police believes the deal will bring total savings of more than £28 million as well as freeing up resources for frontline policing.

Barry Young, chairman of the Lincolnshire Police Authority, said: "Over the period of the contract this new approach will make significant savings, whilst also providing investment in key areas like IT infrastructure.

"The subsequent streamlining of processes will free up officer time to concentrate on operational policing."

The Lincolnshire police force has been told by the government that it must deliver budget cuts of around £20.8 million within the next four years and this contract, it is hoped, will help it to achieve some of that goal.

As well as ICT, G4S will look after HR services, R learning and development, assets and facilities management, including fleet management, finance and procurement and support services.

Crime management, central ticket office and the collisions unit data will also be managed as part of G4S’ responsibilities.

However, the police force stressed that management level officers will continue to be employed in the control room while sergeants will still monitor the custody units (cells).

The outsourced services offered by G4S can also be used by other forces in the local area, it was claimed.

But Sarah Burnett, research director of public sector business process outsourcing (BPO) at Nelson Hall, said that the take-up of shared services offerings has not been strong to date.

"So far, for those who hope for shared services, they haven't really materialised. But with more pressure on budgets, that situation may well change,” she said.

Sunderland City Council is another public body which recently announced plans to outsource some its operations.