Recommendation 3

Working effectively with the police is critical to the delivery of NLEDS and other technology programmes, but it is not yet clear that the Department’s new approach will resolve longstanding challenges in delivering national programmes for local forces. We recognise that the challenge of managing relationships with 45 operationally independent police forces to deliver a national programme is 6 The National Law Enforcement Data Programme a significant one, but the Department and police have long been aware of this. Contrary to good practice in other bodies such as the NHS, the Department failed to establish a joint vision with police until two years into the programme. As costs increased and the programme failed to deliver any meaningful capability in its first four years, police users lost confidence in the Home Office’s ability to deliver NLEDS and other technology programmes, to the point where the police’s most senior officers wrote to the Permanent Secretary to raise their concerns. The Department has now belatedly changed its approach to working with the police and is aiming to establish a partnership approach rather than a customer-supplier arrangement. The Department recognises that police forces may require additional funding to adopt the NLEDS system and will need to address this in the forthcoming Spending Review. Recommendation: The Department needs to carefully monitor its new partnership approach to ensure it enables joint and timely decision-making with the police. The Department should write to the Committee in six months with an update on the new working relationship and whether further changes will be required.