MP Chris Green called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to step in after Greater Manchester Police's (GMP) failing IT system left officers working on pen and paper.

The Bolton West and Atherton Conservative representative spoke at Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons today, Wednesday, after GMP declared a "critical incident" about its iOPS system.

And Mr Johnson said he has asked for an independent review of the system's operation to be carried out.

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Mr Green said: “In Greater Manchester, frontline police officers are now often having to resort to using a pen and paper, rather than their failing iOPS computer system.

"This is putting the safety of police officers at risk and undermining their ability to protect residents and vulnerable children.

“Will my right honourable friend, the Prime Minister, intervene to resolve this problem?”

In response, the Prime Minister said: “My honourable friend is, I’m afraid, entirely right and we know there are concerns about this system.

“That’s why I’ve asked our right honourable friend, the Police and Crime Minister to ask Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of constabulary for an independent review of the operation of the system and we will make sure my honourable friend is kept informed.”

GMP has responded to the Parliamentary debate.

A spokesman for the force said: "Last November we welcomed Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) in to carry out an independent review of GMP’s computer system iOPS.

"The review was a snapshot of how GMP was imbedding iOPS at that time.

"We await the publication of the report and any recommendations.

"We have continued to listen to feedback from our officers and have been putting in place patches and upgrades to improve the system to meet the needs of frontline officers over the past six months.

"Our upgrade to a more advanced version of iOPS last week caused a temporary performance issue that was resolved by working with suppliers to rectify the issue.

"Officers and staff are now beginning to see the benefits of this latest upgrade and work is underway to fine-tune the new version to best suit the needs of all users.

"GMP remains absolutely committed to serving and protecting the people of Greater Manchester."