DM-23 Response Accepted AI-assessed

Retain documents in digitised form

Recommendation

It is recommended that, whenever a major incident remains under investigation or inquiry, documents should be retained in digitised form, subject to appropriate security measures and made available to those who subsequently and justifiably require access to them.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
According to the Home Office's response in June 2023, the Home Office accepted this recommendation in June 2023, stating that an unspecified "Code" is built on principles of transparency and that chief officers must ensure transparency regarding information held and how it is processed. The government response also noted that systems should make it easy to understand what information the force holds. As of June 2023, this recommendation was "In Progress," and no further specific published evidence regarding the retention of documents in digitised form for major incidents has been identified since then.
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-2.5-flash on 19 Mar 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk, www.legislation.gov.uk, hansard.parliament.uk
This recommendation requires implementation across many organisations. The assessment reflects central policy response, not adoption in individual organisations.
Jurisdiction
England
Section Reference
Volume 1
Response
Accepted
Accepted Home Office
22 Jun 2023

One of the principles around which the Code is built is transparency, which includes a statement that 'Chief officers must ensure that, where appropriate, their force is transparent with the public about the nature and type of records and information they hold, and how and why their information is being processed'. In terms of accessibility the Code states 'Chief officers should ensure that systems are in place that make it easy to understand what information the force holds. The information should be stored in a way that ensures its efficient retrieval'. Certain police records are archived for their historical value and enduring public interest, for example those involved in major investigations such as a murder. Chief officers should ensure their force has systems and processes in place to identify records that meet the criteria for permanent preservation.

Read Full Response
Source
Inquiry Daniel Morgan Panel
Report The Report of the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel 15 Jun 2021
View Source
Responsible Bodies
Home Office Primary
Themes & Tags
Police investigation management Corporate data issues Public sector digital capacity Records Management Digitisation Access
Recommendation age 4.8 yrs
Last formal update 1006 days ago