Update on progress with the Bichard Inquiry and the National IMPACT Programme

Report: 6
Date: 3 February 2006
By: Commissioner

Summary

As requested by Finance Committee in November 2005, this report provides members with an update on progress within the Metropolitan Police service (MPS) of implementing the changes associated with the recommendations of the Bichard Inquiry.

Recent changes to the national IMPACT programme have resulted in this becoming the primary mechanism for implementing the Bichard Inquiry on behalf of the Home Office. Police Forces are required to meet the requirements of the programme, in order to progress the implementation of Bichard’s recommendations.

The IMPACT programme in the MPS comprises of four projects, overseen by Assistant Commissioner Alan Brown as the Senior Responsible Officer for IMPACT and the Service Lead for the Bichard Inquiry.

This report aims to provide an update on progress and where available the financial implications associated with the implementation of the national IMPACT programme.

A. Recommendations

That

1. Members note the update on the IMPACT programme; and
2. Members support the development of the Corporate Data Warehouse to meet the requirements of Bichard and IMPACT.

B. Supporting information

Background

1. In 2005 a business case submission to Finance Committee led to a request for an update on progress within the MPS with the implementation of the Bichard Inquiry.

2. The Bichard Inquiry produced thirty-one recommendations, which have an impact on how police forces store, manage and exchange information. No recommendations were allocated to police services to lead on, although police forces will need to respond to changes implemented by leads including the Home Office and Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO).

3. Recent changes to the national IMPACT programme have resulted in this becoming the primary mechanism for implementing the Bichard Inquiry on behalf of the Home Office. The programme summarises its aim as:

To deliver an effective integrated national, regional and local information-sharing and intelligence capability, which will improve the ability of the police and partner agencies to proactively use information for intelligence purposes to prevent crime, bring offenders to justice, safeguard children and vulnerable persons and further professionalise the investigation process.
(IMPACT Summary Business Case September 2005)

4. The IMPACT programme principally addresses Bichard recommendations 1 and 2, concerning a national IT system, and recommendations 8-11 concerning the Codes of Practice for the Management of Police Information (MoPI). The Programme will require police forces to undertake changes locally to ensure the national direction is fulfilled.

5. The MPS IMPACT programme comprises of four projects whose progress is overseen through a programme board by AC Alan Brown as the Senior Responsible Owner for IMPACT and the Service Lead for the Bichard Inquiry.

The projects are:

Enhanced Interim Police Local Cross Check (EiPLX)

6. Project aim: The project aims to introduce a flagging system for vetting checks and impacts the Central Records Bureau (CRB) and Character Enquiry Centre (CEC) in the MPS.

7. Project Status: Implementation December 2005. Project risks are currently associated with the ability of the MPS CEC to meet the volume of checks within the specified timescales, and the ability of the CRB to upload the volume of data provided by the MPS.

8. Financial Position: A business case to provide MPS data to CRB and improve the business processes within CEC was submitted to the national IMPACT programme. £800 K has been provided to the MPS (via a grant through the MPA) to fund this work.

IMPACT Nominal Index (INI)

9. Project Aim: This project will provide a national index of people who have come to the attention of the police, using data provided by police forces to the EiPLX system.

10. Project Status: One terminal was introduced to two users in Child Abuse Investigation Command to go live on the 3 January 2006. Risks are currently associated with the ability to the CRB to upload MPS data to be accessed via INI searches, and the ability for the MPS to respond to enquiries from other forces with no resource increase within the Service Intelligence Bureau.

11. Financial Position: Due to the lack of pilot and limited information to anticipate the impact of the system on the MPS, implementation has been supported within existing resources. The project board will monitor the use and impact of the system to prepare a business case as required.

Cross Regional Information Sharing Platform (CRISP)

12. Project Aim: Forces have been instructed to provide data in a CRISP like format to IMPACT by March 2006. This is to support access to information across forces through data warehousing facilities.

13. Project Status: To meet the requirement the MPS will need to develop a data warehouse on a corporate scale, and use this facility to support CRISP. The MPS will build this new facility on the back of proven technology (the Integrated Information Platform, IIP) and develop a Corporate Data Warehouse (CDW). The MPS will be unable to meet national timescales for providing data.

14. Financial Position: A business case for £17,018,129 was submitted to November Investment Board and November MPA Finance Committee and supported investment in development of data ware housing. Currently the National IMPACT programme has agreed in principle to provide the MPS with £4.39M in grant form via the MPA to support this project in the first calendar quarter of 2006. Further resources for 2006-2007 will be met through MPS capital and revenue prioritisation within the Directorate of Information (DoI). Funding for 2007 – 2009 will need to be met through the mid term financial planning process. The MPS will continue to seek financial support from the national IMPACT programme where appropriate.

The current plan for CDW is:

Guidance on the Management of Police Information (MoPI)

15. Project Aim: To provide guidance on the management of police information to be implemented across all forces to support information exchange. Information (MoPI) is suggestive of two key areas of impact. The first is an infrastructure through which information can be managed, including an information strategy, processes for information sharing etc. The second relates to police information and the process through which it is gathered. For example record creation, retention and review as part of an intelligence and crime reporting process. The second area impacts on a number of business processes and will require significant change across the MPS.

16. Project Status: On 14 November 2005 the Codes of Practice for the Management of Police Information were enacted by Parliament. Revised drafts of the guidance and standards based on significant feedback from the MPS will be submitted to the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) Council in January 2006. The National Centre for Policing Excellence (NCPE) have requested a capability assessment to be undertaken by forces by April 2006, to support implementation of the threshold standards by April 2007. Current project risks are associated with the resources to develop a capability assessment to describe how the project will be implemented in the MPS.

17. Financial Position: Costs of implementation are currently unknown. The capability assessment will provide options for implementation of the threshold standards.

18. Further Bichard Recommendations that have an imminent impact of police forces concerns recommendation 4 – 8 and the implications for the Police National Computer (PNC) bureau. The Home Office is currently exploring the benefits of courts inputting results. The MPS PNC Project Board, and MPS Intelligence Steering Group continue to review issues associated with PNC, to ensure implications of the Bichard inquiry are assessed holistically alongside Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) review and resource issues associated with the staffing the bureau more generally.

C. Race and equality impact

There are no race and equality issues associated with this report.

D. Financial implications

The current financial implications can be summarised as follows:

• EiPLX - £800K provided by the National IMPACT programme to the MPS via a grant to the MPA)
• INI – Not costed – Currently at the pilot stage
• CRISP / CDW – £17,018,129. £4.39M will be provided by the National IMPACT Programme to the MPS via a grant to the MPA for 2006. 2006/07 will be funded through DoI Captial and Revenue Prioritisation.
• MoPI – Not costed

The Borrowing and Capital Spending Plan submitted for consideration by the Mayor as part of the 2006/07 – 2008/09 Medium Term Financial Plan included reference to the Corporate Data Warehouse (CDW) and the costs outlined in this report. The figures in the capital programme schedules, however, were based on the programme previously approved by the MPA and had not been updated with new proposals.

A review of the Capital Programme is currently being undertaken and a revised programme will be submitted to the Finance Committee on 16 February 2006 for approval. This will include the Corporate Data Warehouse as outlined in this report. It is also confirmed that the revenue capital financing charges arising from the capital expenditure can be contained within the revenue budget currently being proposed by the Mayor.

The MPS will continue to seek support for implementation of the IMPACT projects from the National IMPACT programme via the MPS internal programme.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Nina Cope

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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