National IT system for police intelligence
A national IT system for England and Wales to support police intelligence should be introduced as a matter of urgency. The Home Office should take the lead and report by December 2004 with clear targets for implementation.
Response
Accepted
Response
AcceptedThe Home Secretary made a statement to Parliament on 22 June 2004, the day the Bichard Inquiry Report was published, accepting all 31 recommendations in full. The government stated it was "in principle, accepting Sir Michael's main recommendations and will act on them immediately." Implementation led to the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 and the creation of the Independent Safeguarding Authority (now the Disclosure and Barring Service). By February 2007, 21 of the 31 recommendations had been fully or substantially completed. See Hansard, 22 June 2004.
Progress Timeline
PND 1.5 transformation programme approved to replace obsolete PND technology. PND is reaching end-of-life; the original system that Bichard envisioned as a permanent national solution now requires replacement.
HMIC 'Building the Picture' inspection found continuing gaps in police information management across forces. Despite PND launch in 2011, not all forces were fully aligned with national standards.
Police National Database (PND) launched, seven years after the December 2004 target. Achieved the full cross-force intelligence sharing that Bichard envisioned, replacing the limited IMPACT Nominal Index.
Parliamentary debate on Bichard implementation. Government confirmed 21 of 31 recommendations fully or substantially completed. IMPACT programme costs had risen from £163M to £367M. INI system response times of 20 minutes for searches making national scaling problematic.
IMPACT Nominal Index (INI) deployed to child abuse investigation units. Not available for other police work. Part of IMPACT programme to deliver a national police intelligence IT system.