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06 May 2016 | Updated 01 January 1970

Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire police forces have decided to deliver shared services as part of IT transformation project with Advanced.

Part of a drive to reform service delivery, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire police forces expect to have the operation going live in April 2017 to support a plan to share 50% of all services by next year.
The forces are currently using individual disparate systems and are embarking on the IT transformation project with the aim of streamlining back-office systems and achieving efficiency savings across force boundaries. Mobile and self-service access will be improved by enabling all 8,000 staff across the three organisations to obtain information from the system.

The alliance is deploying the eFinancials financial management suite, Collaborative Planning budgeting and forecasting options and mobile approvals tool Advanced Air Approvals as well as HR and payroll technology from Midland HR and duty management software from Northgate.

Shared functions

The three separate forces have been collaborating since 2011 in a number of areas including armed and road policing, major crime investigation and scientific services. They are now looking to share back-office functions with a best-of-breed integrated system for HR, finance, payroll and duty management along with frontline services. The project is also expected to enable the three forces to eventually adopt a single, shared finance department.
The eFinancials suite includes the eProcurement module, invoice management and cloud invoicing modules to automate and simplify procurement and invoice processing. Bedfordshire Police was already using eFinancials but the system will now be shared across the three counties for accounting processes.

It is claimed that Collaborative Planning will enable the forces to gain greater control of budgeting and generate further cost savings by replacing spreadsheet-based processes with an automated system. It will also give them a consolidated view of data across the three organisations while retaining the ability for each force to separate its own data. Air Approvals integrates with eFinancials and enables transactional functions to be delivered from a mobile device.
Advanced’s software was procured using the Crown Commercial Service agreement (framework number RM1042), and was selected from a shortlist of five suppliers due in part to its integration and self-service capabilities.
“Police forces, like all public sector organisations, are under pressure to be more resourceful, so having efficient back-office functions with single ICT systems along with the mobile self-service element ensures that we maintain a strong frontline presence and give confidence to the communities we serve,” explained Alec Wood, Chief Constable, Cambridgeshire, the lead force on behalf of the three forces for this project.

Picture: Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire police forces are pooling IT resources with the help of Advanced

Article written by Robin Snow | Published 06 May 2016