SCC receives pardon over police procurement claims

West Midlands Police Authority issues retraction over "incorrect" comments made about SCC in annual report

West Midlands Police Authority (WMPA) has retracted a series of disparaging comments it made in the summer about sourcing IT from integrator SCC, ChannelWeb can exclusively reveal.

Since March, it has been mandated that every police force in England and Wales must procure commodity hardware and software from SCC via Sprint II.

WMPA's comments were published last July in the West Midlands Police Annual Procurement Report 2010-11. In the report, the authority said it had "ongoing concerns" about the high costs associated with procuring IT through the Sprint II framework and SCC.

These concerns were based on the outcome of benchmarking tests carried out by WMPA. It claimed the tests showed SCC's Sprint II pricing is higher than that offered elsewhere.

However, WMPA has now issued an "urgent retraction" stating that the remarks were incorrect and should never have been published.

The retraction reads: "West Midlands Police Authority has been made aware that the statement relating to Sprint II and Specialist Computer Centres (SCC) in paragraphs 22 and 23 of the Chief Constable's Annual Procurement Report are incorrect and were included by the report author in error.

"West Midlands Police has therefore advised the Authority that the two paragraphs should be retracted from the report [and] the Authority has accepted this request."

Speaking to ChannelWeb, a representative from SCC said the firm feels vindicated by the retraction.

"SCC welcomes the full retraction by West Midlands Police Authority and will continue to work with the NPIA to deliver significant cashable and efficient savings for Forces," said the representative.