At a meeting of the London Assembly budget and performance committee, members and guests were invited to congregate and discuss whether the Met should opt to outsource more of its back office services.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan Howe has called for savings of £800 million to be found by 2020. The force has already decided to outsource HR, finance and procurement, but is now also considering whether to outsource command and control, and transport services.

A number of speakers were called upon to share their points of view. Kerry Hallard, CEO of the National Outsourcing Association, used Cleveland’s police force as an example of how public sector outsourcing can be done correctly:

“Cleveland Police outsourced its command and control centre – and its overall objective was to take 40 officers from behind their desks and put them back on the street. It wasn’t just about how quickly it could get the phone answered or about money. It’s about the softer things as well.”

John Tizard, former director of the Centre for Public Service Partnerships added: “The first thing to do is to know exactly what things are currently costing, what providers would be able to deliver and what you would expect.

“You need to be absolutely clear about what you need to achieve from outsourcing – quality, resilience and price.”

For weekly news updates, subscribe to our email newsletter.

Related: Metropolitan Police Outsources 700 IT Roles to Save $800m