Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which UK police forces and law‑enforcement bodies have (a) procured and (b) used (i) surveillance, (ii) digital forensics and (iii) facial‑recognition technologies supplied by overseas companies since 2020.

The Home Office does not collect information on the nationality of companies supplying technology to UK police forces and law enforcement bodies. The procurement of technologies is a matter for individual organisations, having considered the legal, ethical and security requirements.

In doing so, procurement decisions by police forces and law enforcement bodies must comply with UK procurement law, including the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, Procurement Act 2023, and relevant National Cyber Security Centre guidance on supply chain risk. They are also expected to follow the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice issued under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. Additionally, the Live Facial Recognition Commercial Framework produced by BlueLight Commercial is available to support police forces making procurement decisions before they issue contracts.

To ensure national consistency and public confidence, the Police Reform White Paper set out our intention to have one national procurement system under the National Police Service.