Somerville joins PITO

The Home Office and Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO) are pleased to announce the appointment of Michael Somerville as independent member to the PITO Board.

The PITO Board consists of an independent Chair and representatives from the police forces, police authorities and the Home Office, including Scottish counterparts. As one of two independent members, Michael will provide an external perspective on the delivery of ICT to the police.

Michael is a qualified Chartered Accountant and former Private Clients and International IT Director for private banking, stockbroking, investment/wealth management and international entities for Barclays Bank. He is also a former IT Director for Strategy and Planning for Barclays Capital. His career is rooted in strategic reviews of the implementation of systems and organisational restructures, and in establishing strong financial control disciplines. He has managed other large scale strategic processing transformations for multinationals.

Michael said of his appointment: “This is an exciting challenge and I hope to bring a fresh angle to executive decision-making at PITO. I look forward to being a part of the valuable support system it provides to the police and criminal justice services.”

Chris Earnshaw, Chairman of the PITO Board, said: “I am delighted to welcome Michael to the PITO board. His experience and independent perspective will be invaluable not only in ensuring that we are able to deliver critically important solutions for the police service but also make changes to support the transition to the proposed National Policing Improvement Agency.”