R2 Response Accepted Self-assessed

PLX system introduction

Recommendation

The PLX system, which flags that intelligence is held about someone by particular police forces, should be introduced in England and Wales by 2005.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
The IMPACT Nominal Index (INI) was deployed to child abuse investigation units by December 2005, and the Police National Database (PND) was subsequently launched in June 2011 to achieve full cross-force intelligence sharing (Gov.uk progress, 2007, 2011). This replaced the more limited INI system, but the full implementation of a national system was significantly delayed beyond the 2005 target. No further published evidence has been identified since 2011.
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-2.5-flash on 18 Mar 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk, hansard.parliament.uk, www.legislation.gov.uk
Jurisdiction
UK-wide
Response
Accepted
Accepted Home Office
22 Jun 2004

The 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.

Read Full Response
Note: Government responded with a single statement accepting all 31 recommendations. Individual per-recommendation responses were not published separately.
Progress Timeline
Home Office states: Official Report
01 Jun 2011

Police National Database (PND) launched. Full cross-force intelligence sharing finally achieved, replacing the limited IMPACT Nominal Index that had been deployed only to child abuse investigation units since December 2005.

Source
Home Office Parliamentary Answer
07 Feb 2007

Parliamentary debate confirmed INI had processed over 106,000 enquiries (approx. 80% relating to child protection). Full cross-force intelligence sharing not yet achieved. IMPACT programme costs had risen significantly.

Source
Home Office states: Official Report
01 Dec 2005

PLX cross-referencing system implemented as the IMPACT Nominal Index (INI), deployed to child abuse investigation units. Over 106,000 enquiries by early 2007 (approximately 80% relating to child protection). Not available for all police work by the 2005 target date.

Source
Source
Inquiry Bichard Inquiry
Report The Bichard Inquiry Report 22 Jun 2004
View Source
Responsible Bodies
Home Office Primary
Themes & Tags
Police tech abuse response Police Intelligence IT Systems
Recommendation age 21.8 yrs
Last formal update 5410 days ago