New Bill will harness ‘power of data’ to cut bureaucracy for police officers

The Home Office says the Data Use and Access Bill will unlock the “secure and effective use of data for the public interest”, without adding pressures to the country’s finances.

“The Bill will unlock the power of data to relieve frontline workers in the NHS and police forces across the country from bureaucracy and enable them to better serve the public,” it said.

This will enable police officers to focus on tackling crime rather than being bogged down by admin.

The Bill, introduced to Parliament on Wednesday (October 23) will unlock the secure and effective use of data for the public interest, without adding pressures to the country’s finances.

Delivered by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, it has three core objectives: growing the economy, improving UK public services, and making people’s lives easier.

The measures will be underpinned by a revamped Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK’s independent authority responsible for regulating data protection and privacy laws, with a new structure and powers of enforcement – ensuring people’s personal data will be protected to high standards.

Police officers will benefit from measures that will remove unnecessary manual logging requirements whenever accessing personal data to work on a case, for example every time an officer needs to look up a suspect or person of interest on the police database, freeing up to 1.5 million hours of valuable police time for our officers, so that they can be on the streets fighting crime rather than being bogged down by admin.

The Home Office says this will help save around £42.8 million in taxpayers’ money every year.

Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire, Dame Diana Johnson said: “It is vital police officers are able to dedicate their time to protecting the public on the beat, not in the office.

“Freeing-up this valuable resource will see more officers out on our streets, making a real difference in fighting and solving crime.

“As part of our mission to make streets safer, this government will bring back neighbourhood policing, ensuring thousands of additional police and community officers are out patrolling our towns and communities.”

The Home Office said “vital safeguards” will remain in place under the Bill to track and monitor how personal data is used, giving peace of mind to victims of crime.

The Bill will also boost the UK’s approach to tackling online harms through a power to create a researcher data access regime.

This will support researchers in accessing data held by online platforms so they can conduct robust and independent research into online safety trends. The move will boost transparency and evidence on the scale of online harms and the measures which are effective in tackling them.

Information Commissioner John Edwards said: “We welcome the introduction of the Data Use and Access Bill in the House of Lords and look forward to seeing it progress through parliament to Royal Assent.

“This is an important piece of legislation which will allow my office to continue to operate as a trusted, fair and independent regulator and provide certainty for all organisations as they innovate and promote the UK economy.”