Police: MPs blast 'staggering' cost of £1billion computer system which is five years out of date

MPs have accused the Home Office of wasting “vital time and scarce funding” amid delays in upgrading key police computer systems.

After five years, the Government department “has not delivered any expected services to the police”, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said.

It comes after Whitehall’s spending watchdog the National Audit Office (NAO) earlier this year warned the delays could be putting security and the safety of the public at risk.

At the time, it urged the Home Office to urgently replace out-of-date technology before it becomes obsolete, saying setbacks in introducing the National Law Enforcement Data Service (NLEDS) to replace two police IT systems – the Police National Computer (PNC) and the Police National Database (PND) – could pose problems for officers needing to access vital information.

The PAC report, published on Wednesday, said the Home Office had “wasted both vital time and scarce funding without making any meaningful progress” in replacing the PNC and the PND.

It concluded that it is not clear how the department can “deliver the full capability required” within the next five years and issued a series of recommendations for improvement.

The problems continue what the committee has described as the Home Office’s “miserable record of exorbitantly expensive digital programmes that fail to deliver” on their objectives or for the taxpayer.

Chairman Meg Hillier said: “The Home Office has a number of large, complex, costly digital and technology projects to deliver. All are critical to security and yet we see perpetual failure and an inability to learn lessons on basic project management.

“It is hard to see what steps the Home Office is taking to resolve these huge problems and whether it has any inkling that they will work.

“Personal and national security are arguably the most fundamental duties of a government to its citizens. And the Home Office is falling down on these major projects with little urgency or planning for how to deliver them.

“Our frontline police rely on these systems to do their job. The Home Office must be clear about the route ahead or confidence of the UK’s Police forces in the Home Office will sink even lower.”

The systems are heavily relied on by the police and considered part of the UK’s critical infrastructure, but the technology needs updating soon.

The PNC is described as the most important national policing information system in the UK.

Since 1974 it has been the main database of criminal records and is used by officers across the country as well as other law enforcement organisations. In 2019-20 the police searched or updated the PNC 133 million times.

The PND is a national intelligence-sharing system launched in 2011. It makes more than four billion pieces of information available to police forces and other bodies.

In 2016 the Home Office set out to develop new technology by 2020. But the NAO said the total cost to the Government department has risen by 68% to £1.1 billion.

The plans changed when it became apparent the original project would be late, difficult and costly to roll out and maintain, and would not meet the needs of the police.

The programme is now not expected to be fully up and running with an equivalent to the current PNC until 2025-26.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The Law Enforcement Data Service will replace the Police National Computer and deliver a modern IT system more effective at catching criminals whilst making substantial savings for police and taxpayers.

“It is not true to say no progress has been made – the new technology has already helped police to successfully identify people pulled over at the roadside more quickly, for example, saving officers over 42,500 hours to date.

“The programme is now on a stronger footing following a fundamental reset and, while we recognise there is more work to do, we are working collaboratively with policing partners to deliver it in a phased approach.”