R5 Response Accepted Self-assessed

PNC Code of Practice implementation

Recommendation

The new Code of Practice, made under the Police Reform Act 2002, dealing with the quality and timeliness of PNC data input, should be implemented as soon as possible.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
The Code of Practice on the Management of Police Information (MOPI) was published in July 2005 under section 39A of the Police Act 1996, as inserted by the Police Reform Act 2002 (Gov.uk progress, 2005-07-01). This code covered record creation, review, retention, deletion, and information sharing, superseding existing guidance as recommended. Accompanying guidance on the MOPI Code of Practice was published by ACPO in March 2006, providing practical implementation details for police forces (Gov.uk progress, 2006-03-01).
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 Mar 2006

ACPO published accompanying Guidance on the MOPI Code of Practice, providing detailed practical guidance for police forces on implementing the national standards.

Source
Home Office states: Official Report
01 Jul 2005

Code of Practice on the Management of Police Information (MOPI) published under section 39A of the Police Act 1996 (as inserted by the Police Reform Act 2002). Covered record creation, review, retention, deletion and information sharing. Superseded existing guidance as Bichard required.

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 Vetting Inconsistencies Police Intelligence Pnc
Recommendation age 21.8 yrs
Last formal update 7328 days ago