R10 Response Accepted Self-assessed

Information management standards

Recommendation

The Code of Practice must set out the standards to be met in terms of systems (including IT), accountability, training, resources and audit. These standards should be capable of being monitored both within police forces and by HMIC and should fit within the PPAF.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
ACPO Guidance was published in March 2006 alongside the MOPI Code of Practice, establishing detailed standards for information management systems, accountability, training, resources, and audit (Gov.uk progress, 2006). These standards are monitored by HMICFRS through PEEL inspections, as confirmed by the 2015 'Building the Picture' inspection (Gov.uk progress, 2015). No further published evidence has been identified since 2015.
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
This recommendation requires implementation across many organisations. The assessment reflects central policy response, not adoption in individual organisations.
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 inspection
01 Jan 2015

HMIC 'Building the Picture' inspection (2015) specifically examined compliance with information management standards across 14 forces. Standards set by MOPI/ACPO now monitored through HMICFRS PEEL inspections.

Source
Home Office states: Official Report
01 Mar 2006

ACPO Guidance (2006) published alongside MOPI Code of Practice, setting out detailed standards for systems, accountability, training, resources and audit.

Source
Home Office states: Official Report
01 Jul 2005

MOPI Code of Practice (2005) set out standards for systems (including IT), accountability, training, resources and audit. Monitoring built into HMIC inspection framework.

Source
Source
Inquiry Bichard Inquiry
Report The Bichard Inquiry Report 22 Jun 2004
View Source
Responsible Bodies
Home Office Primary
Themes & Tags
Police investigation management Police Intelligence Information Management
Recommendation age 21.8 yrs
Last formal update 4100 days ago