DWYFOR Meirionnydd MP Liz Saville Roberts has called for the police force to take a more responsible approach to budgeting following an £853,000 overspend on a new IT supplier.

The call comes after North Wales Police, who were meant to save £700,000 after choosing a new IT supplier on April Fool’s Day, has instea­d suffered over £800,000 overspend.

The fiasco follows the recent revelation that the force paid £560,000 for a mobile phone service that was never used.

The Police and Crime Commissioner’s chief finance officer, Kate Jackson, told the North Wales Police and Crime Panel in Conwy that £700,000 was supposed to have been saved each year by a handover to a new IT contractor, but the IT and communications budget now had a “larger than anticipated” overspend.

She said: “We chose our IT supplier on 1 April, which was supposed to save us around £700,000 per annum.

“Even after taking into account the well-publicised refund from the mobile phone provider, the IT and communications budget still shows a significant overspend.

“We had expected some additional cost during the handover period but not on this scale.

“There is work ongoing to reduce the overspend this year and rectify the situation for future years.”

Ms Jackson told the panel that it was an in-house IT department and that it was beliebed that by bringing it all into one contract, rather than having seven or eight different contracts, it would save money.

She added: “That was my understanding, that it would save money, but the bills are coming in and they are not saving money and actually costing more.

“Discussions are going on with the contractor to see where the extra has come about and where we can get money back. We have identified there is a problem and we are trying to deal with it. It’s a lot of money.”

Following the meeting, North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Winston Roddick said: “I have instructed the force to look into this matter to find out why it is costing more than we were led to believe by the provider.

“The force is due to report back to me in the New Year.”

Mrs Saville Roberts said a more responsible approach needs to be taken by the force when it comes to budgeting.

She said: “This is a worrying amount of waste, particularly during a time when front-line police staff are facing job cuts.

“North Wales alone is set to lose 57 PCSOs over the next three years.”

“We need urgent clarity on how much is expected to be recovered by the contractor and by when this work is due to be completed.

“A more responsible approach to budgeting must be adopted during a time of tightening belts.

“The Police and Crime Commissioner should have ensured this overspend was resolved earlier­.”