11293 report 19 - CAIN - University of Ulster

Remaining Areas of concernThe Police Service is moving cautiously towards creation of a Chief Information Officer (CIO)post. PITO advises that this step is vital to good governance and that they should proceedexpeditiously. Deliberations are focused on a role description appropriate to the unique needs ofthe Police Service with accompanying criteria for the requisite skills and experience. Pendingresolution, the role of CIO is shared by the ACC Operational Support Department and the headof ICS. The contribution of an independent validator has proven beneficial to effective oversight ofthis highly complex and costly project. With the effective conclusion of the arrangement withPITO, the Policing Board should move quickly to confirm a new contract with NPIA.ICS conducted a benchmarking survey in 2006 using the ACPO Information ManagementBenchmarking Toolkit, the purpose being to assess and benchmark ICS to improve its services,provide input to Best Value and HMIC inspections, and to act as an enabler for the IS strategy. Theresults identified strengths and areas for improvement in crucial areas of performance, informing avariety of issues for attention, key among them an update of the communications strategy. Resultsfrom the survey make it patently clear that improvements in both user and internal branchcommunication are critical to performance improvement.The business benefits section of the newbusiness plan underlines the responsibility of senior responsible owners to deliver plan benefits. Itis vital that sponsorship for change and benefits realisation is provided by the leadership of theoperational units.User participation in planning is also critical to ultimate success. The communication strategyadopted in 2006 describes a multi-faceted communications plan for the user community, providingfor feedback evaluation & measurement. In July of 2006 the Policing Board became involved inplans to allocate responsibility and funding between ICS and the Police Training College for thedelivery of legacy system training and IS strategy end user training. The matter was resolved byallocating responsibility to the Police College for recruit and in-service training, while ICS willretain responsibility for training in new applications, usually within the context of total systemscosts. The efficacy of this solution will bear watching.In February of 2007 it became public knowledge that due to impending budget reductions byGovernment that funding amounting to £64.5m to finance the Police Service IS strategy previouslyapproved by Treasury and regarded as ring-fenced was in jeopardy, placing implementation of thestrategy at risk. Among the projects under review are the mobile data and call management. Ofmajor concern is a possible delay to call management, a key strand of the IS strategy and vital todelivering policing with the community. The current call management process of the Police Serviceis far below standard, both in systems efficiency and impact on the public, a weakness identified byHMIC in 2005. The necessary requirements for providing a successful customer-focused serviceinclude definitive call grading procedures, management of public expectations, and adequatetraining for staff in the consolidated call handling centres.114