LETTER OF THE DAY: Let's hope the £30m police IT budget is worth it

Interesting reading in the news about the long delayed and over-budget new communication system for police 999 calls is requiring an extra £3m, of which Hampshire's contribution will be £1.5m, bringing the overall spend to £30m and is still overcoming significant technical challenges (Delayed police 999 IT work costs extra £3m; Two forces spending £30m on software, Feb 9).
By The Newsroom
Published 15th Feb 2018, 00:01 BST
Picture: ShutterstockPicture: Shutterstock
Picture: Shutterstock

I can remember attending a seminar at Fratton Park organised by the previous police commissioner.

I’m assuming that this is the same IT communication system between the forces that he was talking about which was going to save ratepayers and his Hampshire police budget millions of pounds and free up more officers for frontline duties.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

When I asked for a breakdown of the figures and how many staff would be affected by this change, they were not available, yet the story of these intentions were in the local news.

I gave his assistant my email details and he said he would get back to me. This never happened.

We were also told at that meeting that the old bus HQ in Highland Road would not be sold off.

It looks at the moment there hasn’t been a lot of savings so let’s hope the planned spring start comes to fruition and that this £30m spend on this IT project doesn’t turn out to be another nightmare.

The Fire Brigade HQ, and the Police HQ built at Chandler’s Ford that were not used come to mind.

John Cass

Twyford Avenue, Portsmouth