PNC investment
Bichard Inquiry · The Bichard Inquiry Report · Issued 22 June 2004 · Addressed to: Home Office
Government responseHome Office: Accepted (Dec 2004)
DeliveryHome Office says in progress (May 2007)
Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
Investment should be made available by Government to secure the PNC's medium and long-term future, given its importance to intelligence-led policing and to the criminal justice system as a whole. I note that PITO has begun this work.
Bichard Inquiry, The Bichard Inquiry Report · 22 Jun 2004 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
AI-generated evidence summary
The Inquiry recommended government investment to secure the future of the Police National Computer (PNC). The Home Office stated in May 2007 that the PNC had been re-platformed, securing its medium-term future, while its long-term future was not mentioned in the sources (Home Office, May 2007). In September 2021, the National Audit Office found that the replacement National Law Enforcement Data Programme was overdue and had yet to deliver expected services, with total costs rising to £1.1 billion (Gareth Davies, Sep 2021). The auditor also found that the PNC remained based on obsolescent technology, making it expensive to operate and difficult to update (Gareth Davies, Sep 2021).
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 5 Oct 2026.
Report-level response context
Government response
●Home Office · Accepted · 22 Dec 2004
The central information service, currently provided by the PNC, will remain at the heart of police information management and specific improvements are planned in addition to IMPACT. The new Code of Practice setting standards for the quality and timeliness of PNC data input will be in force by January 2005 and arrangements are being made for these standards to be inspected as part of both the Police Performance Assessment Framework (PPAF) and the Baseline Assessments operated by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC). The project to enable the courts to input case results directly onto the PNC has been re-energised around the need for new technical solutions and will be completed before the end of 2006. Detailed information on IT developments is set out in Section 3.
Response document: Bichard Inquiry Recommendations: Progress Report
Delivery
●Home Office says in progress · 22 May 2007
In the meantime, the PNC has been re-platformed securing its medium-term future in line with Recommendation 4.
From: Bichard Inquiry Recommendations: Fourth Progress Report
What other bodies have found
●National Audit Office · 8 Sep 2021
While generally reliable, the PNC is based on obsolescent technology that makes it expensive to operate and difficult to update, with a shortage of staff with the necessary skills
From: The National Law Enforcement Data Programme, Gareth Davies, Comptroller and Auditor General
Earlier findings (1)
●National Audit Office · 8 Sep 2021
Five years after the Department established the NLEDS programme in 2016, the programme is already overdue, has yet to deliver the expected services and the total costs to the Department have increased by 68% to £1.1 billion.
From: The National Law Enforcement Data Programme, Gareth Davies, Comptroller and Auditor General
How this page is built
The recommendation and the government responses are verbatim from primary documents. Delivery statements and other bodies' findings are shown in their own words, each with its source. The summary is written by this site and labelled as such. The Index does not paraphrase sources or characterise intent; it records what has been published.