Greater Manchester Police scraps troubled IT system

Chief Constable Stephen Watson said the part of the system which controls records management will be scrapped

Greater Manchester Police is to replace part of its troubled computer system.

The £60m iOPS system was was installed in July 2019 to replace three systems critical to how the force functions.

But Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary inspectors found it caused a delay in answering 999 calls and "serious" backlogs in dealing with abuse cases.

Chief Constable Stephen Watson said the part of the system which controls records management would be scrapped.

He said it was "clear" the system "was hindering our ability to fulfil essential policing tasks".

"Following a lengthy review process involving a technical appraisal and a rigorously evaluated options appraisal, I am confident that we have reviewed every option available to us," he said.

'Cannot be adapted'

"I have concluded that, while two-thirds of the original iOPs system is working effectively, PoliceWorks cannot be adapted or fixed to fully meet the needs of our organisation.

"We therefore intend to move away from the PoliceWorks system and to replace it with a tried and tested product already in use by other forces, rather than the development of bespoke technology."

The iOPs system was installed in July 2019, after being delayed by 16 months due to several technical problems which were "worse than anticipated" during the transition leading to "reduced force performance".

Officers had to revert to using pen and paper during one system upgrade.

The watchdog report said training issues meant staff had "very little confidence" in a system they did not trust.

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