A review has been commissioned into a failed IT system that cost Thames Valley Police £14.4m to help develop.

Launched in 2016, the Equip programme was joint attempt by Thames Valley, Sussex and Surrey police forces – working with consultancy KPMG – to develop shared ‘back office’ systems.

The Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire force pulled the plug on the system, in which it had invested more than £14m over four years, at the end of 2020.

Speaking to the BBC, Thames Valley police and crime commissioner Matthew Barber said he thought it was a ‘bad deal’.

"I've commissioned a review into not just the processes around that particular IT programme but also the governance and oversight so that I make sure as the new PCC I've got a grip of those large projects going forward,” he added.

"As far as the actual IT solution, at the moment we've got systems that work and I'm not going to embark on some new expensive project until I know exactly what we need to get out of it."

His predecessor in the crime commissioner job, Anthony Stansfeld, said last year that he was ‘totally dissatisfied’ with the programme’s progress.

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