Recommendation SP31: Response officer access to case information technology
From The Southport Inquiry Report: Phase 1, published 13 April 2026.
Recommendation
1. Lancashire Constabulary should ensure response officers have access to effective technology providing clear, essential case information.
2. The National Police Chiefs’ Council, College of Policing and Home Office should review whether current policing information systems, particularly the limitations on cross‑force access, are suitable for modern policing needs.
In brief (written by this site)
In July 2026, HM Government stated that the Home Office had completed the recommended review of policing information systems (Home Office response, Jul 2026). It reported that the legacy Police National Computer is due to be switched off this financial year, while completion of the Law Enforcement Data Service and initial delivery of the National Data Integration and Exploitation Service are expected by the end of 2026/27 (Home Office response, Jul 2026). The record holds no update since the government's response of July 2026 (Home Office response, Jul 2026).
Sources
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 Home Office is the lead department for central government and has completed the recommended review. Progress and next steps:
- The Home Office, jointly with the National Police Chiefs' Council and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, regularly assesses the adequacy of policing IT systems, in particular how they impact frontline policing's ability to access the data they require to be effective. As a result, we have a clear understanding of the gaps and have prioritised activity to maximise the improvements we can make with the investment available.
- To improve access to cross-force data the Home Office is actively replacing legacy IT systems, such as the Police National Computer (PNC). which is 50 years old. Additionally, in the White Paper From local to national: a new model for policing, the Home Office announced that it would work with policing to develop a new National Data Integration and Exploitation Service (NDIES) to better integrate data across forces and improve access to policing data.
- The Law Enforcement Data Service (LEDS) is the new national data platform replacing the PNC. LEDS will provide real-time, joined-up access to national and local policing data. PNC is due to be switched off this financial year.
- LEDS completion is expected by the end of 2026/27, and NDIES will have commenced delivery by the end of 2026/27.
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's response to Phase 1 (CP 1623, 2 July 2026) agreed with all 67 recommendations in one sentence, and names only 39 of them individually. Where a recommendation is not named, the response shown is the passage the response gives for the group it belongs to (the recommendations for organisations outside central government, or the recommendations to policing bodies), which is not a response to that recommendation alone; the response does not list the members of any group. The 10 recommendations for Phase 2 of the Inquiry to consider show no response: the response introduces them (paragraph 20) but answers none of them. The government accepts the recommendations that are for central government to deliver. Where a recommendation is for an organisation outside central government, the government's agreement is not that organisation's acceptance.
Delivery
No statement on delivery from Lancashire Constabulary has been found in the sources searched (last checked 2 July 2026). This is separate from the response above.
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- Home Office
Response