Written question asked by Eric Illsley (Labour) on Thursday, 13 November 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 17 November 2008. It was answered by Lord Coaker (Labour) on Wednesday, 26 November 2008 on behalf of the Home Office.

Police: Databases

Question: (2) what progress has been made on the IMPACT project for a Police National Intelligence database; and if she will make a statement.

Answer: Significant progress has been made. The negotiations between the National Policing Improvement Agency and potential providers of the Police National Database (PND) have been completed. An invitation to submit a final tender was issued to the three consortia on 14 November. The consortia have until 5 January to finalise and submit their tenders.In parallel with the negotiations, the programme has been producing a full business case, which will be finalised once a decision has been made on which supplier should be awarded the contract.Subject to the necessary approvals of the full business case, and there being no legal challenge by one of the unsuccessful consortia, this should allow a contract to be awarded in March.The programme is also working closely with the police service to ensure that:"the necessary national and local business rules and processes will be in place in time for the deployment of the PND;""forces are ready to implement the PND—for example, they have the necessary IT infrastructure, personnel and other resources in place; and""forces have prepared their data and the mechanisms for loading those data onto the PND."The programme remains on track to commence deployment of the PND in 2010.

Secondary information