IT efficiencies will save the police £1bn by 2015

Police improvement agency NPIA outlines ambitious plans for 2015

The NPIA hopes to use better technology to make drastic cost savings

The National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) believes that improvements to its IT infrastructure and procurement decisions will save the police service at least £1bn by 2015.

The NPIA, formed in 2007 with a remit of improving police efficiency, claims it is on course to save £150m over its 2010/11 fiscal year and outlined ambitions to see every pound spent on the NPIA converted into a minimum £2 saving in the police service.

Chief executive Peter Neyroud outlined a catalogue of savings the NPIA will help the service to achieve this year, including:

• £100m of efficiency savings through business and workforce change processes. This work will contribute to a target of £500m of efficiency gains for the service by 2015.

• £25m cash-saving improvements for the service through better use of technology and procurement, as part of a broader scheme to save £200m on police IT by 2015.

• £10m of savings from helping police forces to share back-office functions, such as finance and HR as part of a plan to save £75m by 2015.

• £20m of national police non-IT procurement savings.

"Our challenge is to do more with less by being more intelligent and efficient in how we deliver policing services,” said Neyroud.

“Collaboration, sharing and central procurement will be the hallmarks of how the NPIA helps the police service to achieve significant savings in the future. "