Thu, 3 Jun 2010

Met under fire for costly HR overhaul

A major overhaul of the Met Police’s HR system, which has taken some four years to complete, has come under fire for being £10m over budget. The system, developed by French IT firm Steria, was to create a self-service computer programme and call centre that would deal with holidays, sick leave, most wages and other personnel issues for the Met’s 52,000 officers and staff.

The original go-live date has been delayed by almost six months because the technology has yet to be developed fully. A Met spokesperson said: ‘It was not possible to be specific on the date, but it will be the second half of this year.’

The Met’s HR director, Martin Tiplady, told HR magazine last year that ‘until we have tested the new technological platform I can’t really sleep’. Peter Smyth of the Metropolitan Police Federation said: ‘It’s disappointing that this project should continue to cost more money at a time when budgets are tight.’