Recommendation 4

The police must continue to rely on the PNC for another five years, despite the risks to its availability. The PNC is the most important law enforcement technology system in the UK, and it is vital that it is constantly available to police and other users. Given its age, the current system is remarkably reliable. However, the PNC experienced a significant data loss in January 2021 and the knowledge of how it works has become harder for the Department to maintain. It is difficult and expensive to recruit people with skills and experience in the ageing technology used by the PNC. The team that maintains the PNC is under-resourced and several staff are nearing retirement, which means it is difficult for the team to run the PNC and also support programmes like NLEDS. The Department currently plans to run this piece of critical national infrastructure without full manufacturer support for the database after 2024, meaning it will not have that support for at least a year, though the Department plans to provide in-house support instead. Recommendation: Alongside its Treasury Minute response, the Department should set out for the Committee how it will guarantee that police will be able to access the PNC service until NLEDS is ready. This should include a full assessment of the risks of continuing to run the PNC and contingency plans for failure. This plan should include a review point at which the decision to replace the PNC’s operating system can be taken promptly.