Home Office extends CGI Police National Database deal for three years

The Home Office has extended its contract with CGI for the Police National Database (PND) for a further three years.

The original contract for the PND was awarded to Logica back in 2009 for a seven-year term. Canadian firm CGI bought Logica in 2012 for about £1.7bn, taking on all of its existing contracts.

The PND formed part of the Impact programme, which was recommended by the 2004 Bichard Inquiry into the intelligence failures that contributed to Soham killer Ian Huntley being allowed to take a job as a school caretaker before murdering two school girls in 2002.

Its aim was to finally allow police forces to electronically share, access and search existing local intelligence and operational information nationally, integrating data from custody, crime, intelligence, child abuse and domestic abuse into one central system. CGI claims that currently, the PND processes over three billion searchable records, with over four million searches performed each year by officers licensed to access the database.

The database has added several features to its capabilities in recent years including visualisation software, automatic alerts and an improved search capability.

Under the terms of the contract extension, CGI will be tasked with "disaggregating" relationships with other suppliers involved in the delivery of the PND. CGI said that this meant that the Home Office would be able to directly manage relationships with hardware and software providers that are part of the programme. In addition, the PND will be transitioned to the Crown Hosting Services.

Steve Thorn, SVP of the UK public sector at CGI, said that the PND has taken the existing information police officers had been using, but made it more accessible, ensuring officers could "bring together disparate pieces of information into a meaningful pattern".

The initial PND contract was worth £75m. Financial terms of the contract extension have not been disclosed.