Home Office fund to make hefty investments in national projects
The government is to invest upwards of £100m over the next 18 months in projects designed to help the police make better use of technology.
The money will be drawn from the Home Office’s Police Transformation Fund. Some £70m will be invested during the 2018/19 year across four existing national programmes.
The first of these is the National Enabling Programme, which aims to implement a unified national IT system that allows forces to work with one another more cohesively.
The Specialist Capabilities Programme, which aims to help forces share resources in certain key areas – including armed police and the policing of roads – will also receive funding this year.
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The third project that will receive government cash this year is the Digital Policing Portfolio. This scheme aims to deliver a national online platform where citizens can report minor incidents.
The Transforming Forensics programme, which aims to use digital tools and biometrics to improve policing’s use of forensic evidence, will also receive backing this year.
In addition to these four national initiatives, a further 15 projects have secured cumulative funding of £42.7m to be handed out over the course of the 2018/19 and 2019/20 years.
Minister for policing and the fire service Nick Hurd said: “Criminals don’t stand still, and neither should our police forces. We’re determined to support police leaders in creating a modern, agile and responsive police service. The Police Transformation Fund is delivering real change in policing, and this new funding will continue to help forces improve efficiency and tackle threats like serious and organised crime.”
During the first two years of the fund – 2016/17 and 2017/18 – the fund awarded a total of £223m across 98 individual programmes. During this year and next, the government intends to focus on investing in national programmes that target serious or organised crime.
