Policing and Crime Bill

Amendment 43 is a probing amendment to find out what sort of software the Secretary of State might make compulsory by regulation. I understand that powers are available to ensure the use of hardware, but that current legislation does not allow for software to be similarly prescribed. The subsection would allow the Government to insist on common programmes being used, so has the potential to make considerable savings in the realm of data sharing across different authorities. The principle appears very sensible and entirely in line with reducing unnecessary red tape. Police forces need every encouragement to use sensible computer programmes so that police officers can spend less time at their desks and more time on the beat. Similarly, ensuring that records can be easily accessed by different authorities will help to ensure that offenders are properly identified across the country. The principle we accept. Our concern therefore lies not in the power that the section gives, but in whether it actually could be used. I think that we all agree, perhaps even on the noble Lord’s Benches, that a great many government IT procurement and implementation projects have been a costly disaster. There have now been two reviews on how to reduce the bureaucracy and data burden in policing—the question is whether the Government have the drive to ensure that their recommendations are pushed through. Is the Government’s intention to set up another large database? If so, what steps have they taken to ensure that it does not go the way of the NHS database, for example, and so many others that have had great failure rates? If the Government intend to increase the sharing of data across police authorities—demanded by regulation—how will they ensure that there will not be another disastrous loss of confidential information? I beg to move.