Police to benefit from Scottish governments £300m IT framework
The Scottish government has awarded a framework contract valued at up to £300 million for pan-public sector IT managed services.
The Scottish government has awarded a framework contract valued at up to £300 million for pan-public sector IT managed services.
Scottish police and fire authorities will be among the non-departmental public bodies able to take advantage of the deal.
The framework will provide all Scottish public and third sector bodies access to leading IT managed services organisations and the ability to achieve a step increase in value for money and a more streamlined procurement process.
The contract will span three years, with an optional extension of one year, with an estimated value of between £150 million to £300 million over the four years.
The new agreement includes service providers that are capable of meeting a diverse range of services to meet the requirements of public sector bodies including service desk, desktop support, server support, application and website hosting, application and website support, and disaster recovery services. The framework has been designed to enable access to the most competitive prices within the short timescales required to support public sector reform in Scotland.
The range of suppliers includes Maindec Computer Solutions, Amor Business Technology Solutions, BT, Dell, Logica, Fujitsu Services, Atos Origin, Kainos Software, Capita Business Services and Prosource.it.
nIT contracts put in place by the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) are set to save £18 million on IT consumables alone.
Dr David Horne, director of resources at the NPIA, told a home affairs committee that good progress was being made to reach a target, set in the last government spending review, for police services to save £180 million on IT overall.
A new online procurement process being rolled out to forces across the country by the NPIA is expected to save the police service up to £30 million by streamlining the procurement process. The National Police Procurement Hub is an Amazon-style electronic marketplace that provides the police with the ability to buy goods and services from approved contracts.