Bichard systems progress slowly

Home Office says intelligence sharing is on track, but police raise concerns

The police intelligence system described as a ‘national priority’ after the Soham murders in 2002 will not be in place until 2010.

The Bichard Inquiry into the employment of Soham murderer Ian Huntley in a school, despite a string of earlier sexual allegations, recommended the development of a national system for sharing intelligence data between local police forces.

A progress report published by the Home Office this week says the Impact programme designed to address Bichard’s recommendations is on track.

But an interim system created to search local databases will only start rolling out to child abuse units in December, and Impact will not be fully delivered for another five years.

The provisional measures are a long way from Bichard’s proposals and 2010 is far too long to wait, says Rick Naylor, president of the Superintendents’ Association in England and Wales.

‘Police forces have yet to see anything about what Impact is, what it will deliver and when it will be with us,’ said Naylor.

‘The greatest fear is that this is the next in a long line of IT projects which are talked about but we never see. I don’t know if this is in line with every dot and comma of what Bichard wrote, but it is not in line with what he meant when he described a national intelligence system as a matter of urgency.’

Butler Group analyst Mike Davis blames a lack of focus for the slow progress of the initiative, saying Bichard was adamant in his recommendations and it was a public inquiry with ministerial support for implementation.

‘There is certainly a question about when this is going to be implemented,’ said Davis.

‘The longer it takes, the greater the risk to children’s lives.’