Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to ensure the safety, security and reliability of technology (a) during and (b) following the upgrade of the Police National Computer; what processes have been followed to ensure value for money from money spent from the public purse on adopting a new computer system for the police; and if she will make a statement.

The Police National Computer (PNC) hardware and software support contracts have been extended through to March 2026 to ensure the continued safety, security, and reliability of this nationally critical operational policing data service.

The upgrade of the PNC mainframe computer hardware completed in August 2022. 19 of 21 recommendations resulting from the Lord Hogan-Howe review into the ongoing support and protection of the PNC service have been closed with the remaining 2 recommendations anticipated to be closed in the coming weeks.

The replacement of the PNC with a new and modern Law Enforcement Data Service (LEDS) has commenced with some services already live and being used by policing. The replacement is planned to complete in 2025, allowing PNC to be retired in advance of its formal end of life.

LEDS is delivered via a diverse supply chain including a combination of civil service and contingent labour, Home Office central contracts and 3^rd party contract mechanisms each of which are fully underpinned by formal commercial governance supported by the both the Home Office Commercial Directorate and by the Cabinet Office, ensuring fair and open competitive tendering processes.