PNC Code of Practice implementation
Bichard Inquiry · The Bichard Inquiry Report · Issued 22 June 2004 · Addressed to: Home Office
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
The new Code of Practice, made under the Police Reform Act 2002, dealing with the quality and timeliness of PNC data input, should be implemented as soon as possible.
Bichard Inquiry, The Bichard Inquiry Report · 22 Jun 2004 Source PDF →
Response — verbatim from government
●Home Office
The Home Secretary made a statement to Parliament on 22 June 2004, the day the Bichard Inquiry Report was published, accepting all 31 recommendations in full. The government stated it was "in principle, accepting Sir Michael's main recommendations and will act on them immediately." Implementation led to the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 and the creation of the Independent Safeguarding Authority (now the Disclosure and Barring Service). By February 2007, 21 of the 31 recommendations had been fully or substantially completed. See Hansard, 22 June 2004.
Home Office · 22 Jun 2004 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 1 Mar 2006 · Home Office ACPO published accompanying Guidance on the MOPI Code of Practice, providing detailed practical guidance for police forces on implementing the national standards. Source →
- 1 Jul 2005 · Home Office Code of Practice on the Management of Police Information (MOPI) published under section 39A of the Police Act 1996 (as inserted by the Police Reform Act 2002). Covered record creation, review, retention, deletion and information sharing. Superseded existing guidance as Bichard required. Source →
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.