Police chief caught up in tech deal controversy

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The chief of the Metropolitan Police Ian Blair is facing inquiry calls after a police IT contract was awarded to his friend.

The £150,000 contract was awarded in 2002 to Impact Plus, which is run by Blair’s friend Andy Miller, to implement the C3i computer project, which manages emergency calls. Miller’s firm has reportedly won a total of £3 million in deals from the Met Police between 2002 and 2008.

The Metroplitan Police Authority’s (MPA) chairman of corporate governance Lord Harris said in the Telegraph newspaper that it was a serious situation. "It is certainly rather foolish. Normal practice would be for anyone in the commissioner's position of having declared an interest to have stepped aside from the process,” he was quoted as saying.

"I am sure the MPA will want to review all of the internal paperwork held in the Metropolitan Police on this matter to satisfy itself of the probity or otherwise of these arrangements."

Blair has said that he did not take part in the bidding process and in no way interfered with the awarding of the contract. "I was open and straightforward in informing both the MPS and MPA about my friendship with Andy Miller prior to any contract being awarded. I strongly reject any suggestion that I have behaved inappropriately in any way and consider I have acted with absolute probity in these matters," he said in a statement.

The controversy comes at a bad time for Blair, who has recently been facing accusations of racial discrimination and pressure surrounding an upcoming meeting regarding the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes three years ago.

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