The National Outsourcing Association (NOA) has told the London Assembly it is unfair to assume that the Metropolitan Police Service is liable to commit a “high-profile outsourcing failure”, Police Professional has reported.

The UK police news site quoted Kerry Hallard, CEO of the NOA, on her reaction to the London Assembly Budget and Performance Committee’s claim that the Met is likely to follow in the footsteps of the Ministry of Justice and get caught up in an outsourcing scandal with the private sector.

She told Police Professional: “Only outsourcing failures make for big headlines, yet the vast majority of public sector outsourcing is an undeniable success. The Met Police are experts in what they do – that’s policing. Outsourcing will allow the Met to focus on core tasks rather than IT and back-office services, which will be handled instead by third-party specialists.”

Ms Hallard also drew attention to the fact that, while the Committee’s “To Protect and Save” report briefly touches on the ongoing outsourcing relationship shared by Cleveland Police and Sopra Steria, it neglects to mention many of the positives outcomes Cleveland’s police force has experienced as a result: a 25 per cent reduction in cost, 31 more officers on the frontline and greatly enhanced technological abilities. The Met Police recently signed its own ten-year contract with Shared Services Connected Limited, a company majority-owned by Sopra Steria.

Kerry Hallard added: “I’m sure that the Met and other police departments around the country will be hoping to emulate Cleveland’s accomplishments.”

However, the NOA CEO did agree with the London Assembly’s recommendation that the Met should improve its commercial expertise, along with many other outsourcing contract managers working in the public sector. She said as much when she addressed the Assembly back in June.

The NOA offers specialised training to these personnel through its Public Sector Skills Academy, precisely so that they can upskill commercially and negotiate more competitively with their private sector counterparts.

For weekly news updates, subscribe to our email newsletter.

Related: How the UK’s police will cut down its £1 billion-a-year IT costs