Police Scotland i6 computer project scrapped

The Â£60m programme has been abandoned. File picture.

The Scottish Police Authority (SPA), Police Scotland and multinational technology firm Accenture have “mutually agreed to end their contract relating to the i6 project”.

Doubts emerged about Accenture’s ability to deliver i6 earlier this year after Police Scotland said it found multiple faults following handover of the project.

Accenture said it had been thoroughly tested but Martin Leven, director of ICT at Police Scotland, told MSPs in February he had “doubts as to the capability of the contractor to deliver this going forward” as they had “very clearly let us down”.

SPA chief executive John Foley said on Friday “the technical solution cannot be delivered within expected timeframes and budget”, and “the decision has therefore been taken to end the contract and reconsider options for securing a sustainable IT solution for policing”.

“The contract has been ended and a mutually-agreed settlement has been signed by all parties,” he said.

“The terms of the agreement are commercially confidential, however we can confirm that the settlement results in no financial detriment to the police budget.

“While we are disappointed that i6 will not be delivered as expected, the SPA believes the decision to end the contract at this time is the right one.

“We would seek to reassure the public and our workforce that the output of i6 was only one element of our overall ICT plans.

“In the last three years we have rolled out a number of national applications to improve and enhance our IT systems, and made significant investment in modernising our desktop estate.

“We have not stood still while awaiting delivery of i6 and we remain committed to delivering a sustainable policing model supported by modern technology.

“As with any programme of this nature or size, an independent review to ensure the SPA and Police Scotland learn lessons from this project will be initiated.

“This will inform our options for a sustainable IT solution going forward and which we would expect to see emerging in the months ahead.

“Work already under way to set out a vision and strategy for policing over the next decade will also heavily inform next steps.”

On February 26, Mr Leven told Holyrood’s Justice Committee: “I have doubts as to the capability of the contractor to deliver this going forward.

“The contractor will need to prove to us, as part of these negotiations, that they are completely capable of delivering this because they have very clearly let us down.

“It is a possibility that they could retrieve our confidence depending on what they come back with.”

Accenture said that i6 passed its internal testing but flaws emerged when Police Scotland tested the programme, the committee heard in February.

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