§ Mr. DevlinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are his proposals for bringing competition to bear on police IS/IT services. [24187]
§ Mr. MacleanIt is the Government's intention that compulsory competitive tendering should be introduced to police white collar support services as part of a rolling programme. Detailed consultation proposals for police information systems/information technology services were issued on 31 March 1995. The Government have now considered the responses received from the police service and other interested bodies.
The Government have decided that police authorities will be subject to the same CCT regime for IS/IT services as other authorities defined under the Local Government Act 1988, except for a number of specific exemptions. There will also be a reduction in the overall competition requirement. The adjustments take account of the specialist a nature of police work, and focus on the a need to protect operational effectiveness and force security.