Contract awarded for Police National Database

The National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) has awarded the contract – worth £75.6 million over a seven-year period – for the design, build, delivery and operation of the Police National Database (PND) to a consortium led by Logica, following a rigorous competitive procurement process. 
The PND will for the first time enable the police service in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and other government organisations that support public protection, to electronically share, access and search existing local intelligence and operational information nationally. The PND is scheduled to be operational in 2010.
Chief Constable Peter Neyroud, chief executive of the NPIA, said: “This is a significant milestone for the agency, for policing and, ultimately, for the public.
“Currently, police forces are unable to search or access intelligence or other information that is held on another force’s local systems. The PND will enable this by making available, nationally, copies of locally-held information on suspects and criminals.
“This will help to make the public safer by improving the ability of the service to share operational information, helping the police to stay one step ahead of the criminals.”
The lack of information sharing between police forces was found to be a contributing factor in the Soham murders in 2002.
Sir Michael Bichard’s first and, in his own words, “most important” recommendation arising from his subsequent inquiry into the Soham murders was for the introduction of “a national IT system for England and Wales to support police intelligence”.
The development and delivery of the PND, a highly secure information-sharing system, will address this, providing forces with immediate access to up-to-date information from across the service.
Mr Neyroud said the delivery of the PND is not simply about the delivery of the IT.
“Delivering the PND is about business change enabled by IT and is a complex process, ensuring not just that the right IT capabilities are delivered, but also that the data is ready and the necessary business changes are in place,” he said.
This requires time and careful planning if the service is to realise the benefits available from the PND. Consequently, this will be managed in stages. The initial phase, scheduled to be rolled out in 2010, will bring together copies of data from five operational areas of policing; custody, crime, intelligence, child abuse and domestic abuse into one central system, and will support the following areas of policing:
•Protecting children and vulnerable adults, by being better able to understand the risk they are facing, and by more thorough vetting of people in positions of responsibility and trust.
•Understanding the threat posed by terrorism of whatever nature, and helping to reduce the risk of terrorist activity.
•Disrupting and preventing major, serious and organised crime.
Logica will act as the prime contractor leading the applications development, management and service provision of the PND. Logica will also draw upon its extensive expertise in secure systems design and information security to mitigate solution and service risks.
Logica’s partners in the development of the PND include Northgate Information Solutions (NIS) and SunGard Public Sector (SPS), working with Logica on the application development and business change services aspect. Cable and Wireless (C&W) will provide the hosting and communications services for the overall solution.
Commenting on the contract award, Joe Hemming, chief executive, Logica UK, said: “We are delighted to have been chosen to develop and support such an important programme. This is the first stage in a larger implementation over the coming years. Logica has a proven track record in providing similar business and IT solutions to those required by the PND. We look forward to working with the NPIA and helping to meet the objectives of transforming the way in which police share intelligence to ultimately build safer communities.”
Logica’s