Recommendation R9: Key principles of information management
From The Bichard Inquiry Report, published 22 June 2004.
Recommendation
The Code of Practice must clearly set out the key principles of good information management (capture, review, retention, deletion and sharing), having regard to policing purposes, the rights of the individual and the law.
In brief (written by this site)
The Home Office stated in May 2006 that this recommendation had been implemented (Home Office, May 2006). Previously, in a December 2004 progress report, the department accepted the recommendation and noted that a working group agreed the Code of Practice needed to cover high-level principles relating to the capture, review, retention, deletion and sharing of police information (Home Office response, Dec 2004).
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 26 Sep 2026. The record below is the sources' own words.
Government response
The Working Group took the view that the Code itself needed to cover high-level principles relevant to information management, and that, as set out in Recommendation 9, this should include provisions relating to the capture, review, retention, deletion and sharing of police information.
Blanket government agreement does not establish acceptance or delivery by each addressee. Some response passages cover groups of recommendations.
Scope of the government response
The Government accepted all 31 recommendations collectively: the Home Secretary's written statement of 11 January 2005 records that "All 31 recommendations were accepted by the Government when the Inquiry reported in June 2004". No document states an acceptance decision for any single recommendation. The response shown against each recommendation is the Home Office's answer to it in the first progress report, sent to Sir Michael Bichard on 22 December 2004 and placed in the Library of the House on 11 January 2005. The Government then reported against the recommendations three more times, in November 2005, May 2006 and May 2007; the updates shown are taken from those reports.
Delivery
Home Office says completed (25 May 2006)
Recommendations 8–11 implemented.
From: Bichard Inquiry Recommendations: Third Progress Report
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- Home Office
Response, delivery statement