Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has assessed the Project Nectar pilot's compliance with the National Police Chiefs' Council's Covenant for Using Artificial Intelligence in Policing regarding the principle of Maximum Transparency by Default.

The Home Office has not assessed the Project Nectar pilot’s compliance with the Covenant for Using Artificial Intelligence in Policing.

PoliceAI is responsible for supporting the responsible adoption of AI across policing in England and Wales, including the testing and evaluation of AI tools. All Chief Constables have signed up to the principles of responsible AI use set out in the Covenant for Using Artificial Intelligence in Policing, and the Home Office expects forces to comply with these principles, including maximum transparency by default.

The government is committed to transparency on police use of AI, and PoliceAI will publish and maintain a public-facing AI registry, which is being developed in partnership with academics. This will include details on the steps taken by the force to deploy the AI responsibly, including ethical assessment and accountability arrangements. The registry is currently being piloted with a limited number of forces, and Bedfordshire Police is participating as a pilot force. A version of the of the public registry is expected to be published by the end of 2026, with all forces able to make disclosures for public viewing by the end of the financial year. We expect AI deployments to be disclosed through the registry, subject to appropriate exemptions.