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Thematic Inspection
1. The thematic inspection (Getting IT Right) on the specification and deployment of information technology systems in the Scottish police service was published during the year, making use of the internet as a medium of circulation, and made a number of recommendations. The report covered not only the 8 Scottish forces but also the central service establishments of the Scottish Crime Squad, SCRO and the Scottish Police College. Among the issues raised were:
2. During the thematic inspection individual comments were made to each force or organisation visited. By the time the report was formally published, a little later than originally planned, many of the points had been developed by forces. Progress will be monitored by HMIC during the regular inspection process.
3. Collaboration between forces (in a number of functional ways) remains important and a key conduit to discussion and agreement has been the Scottish Police Information Systems/Information Technology (IS/IT) Strategy.
Scottish Police Information Systems/Information Technology (IS/IT) Strategy (SPIS)
4. In recent years the forces have responded to technological change by agreeing a more unified approach to IS/IT issues. Since 1993 SPIS has been developed and agreed by all chief constables as the standard approach to the development of new IT systems in Scotland. In the last year a committee structure to manage the implementation of the strategy has been established by ACPOS, comprising an:
5. The first meeting of the IS/IT co-ordinating committee took place early in 1998. Since then chief constables have approved the statement of intent which documents support for SPIS and crucially that from the end of 1998 signatories to the agreement undertake not to procure IS/IT without first consulting the IS/IT co-ordinating committee. HMIC welcomes the agreement as a means of ensuring consistency and best value in future developments.
6. The IS/IT Co-ordinating Committee continues to work towards identifying priorities. The following individual systems are being developed:
7. Support for SPIS reflects co-operation between ACPOS and other bodies over the development of IT within the Scottish criminal justice system.
PNC Compliance Audit
8. PNC Compliance Audits of all Scottish forces are outsourced to HMIC (England and Wales), and take place prior to the primary inspection of each force. This is a valued part of the inspection process and provides confirmation of adequate internal PNC auditing arrangements within forces and highlights good practice. In general the standards are good, with interest and accountability being shown at chief officer level. Given the importance of the subject area such leadership is a vital component.
Y2K Thematic Inspection
9. As part of the Government's programme of independent review HMIC commenced a thematic inspection of Scottish forces' preparedness for Year 2000. At the time of writing this report it was ongoing. The inspection addresses the full range of activities involved in the provision of a police service over the millennium. The inspection is being carried out according to the criteria established by Action 2000 (the Government's lead body) with a particular focus on the critical systems agreed nationally between forces and the responsible body.
Public Safety Radio Communications Project
10. The Public Safety Radio Communications Project (PSRCP) is a Public Finance Initiative (PFI) led by the Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO) and is designed to provide digital trunked radio services to United Kingdom police forces and other "sharer" organisations. The project definition phase contract was awarded to a British Telecom led consortium - Quadrant. It is anticipated that it would be 2004-05 before the system would be rolled out to Scottish forces.
11. Considerations to apply will include technical capabilities, VFM issues and the question of affordability. Irrespective of any decision, which is imminently awaited, to pursue PSRCP or not there is a need to replace current radio systems which have operational limitations. Meanwhile inspections continue to reveal forces adopting a standstill care and maintenance approach to radio systems which is sensible in the light of the proposed changes.
Integration of Scottish Criminal Justice Information Systems (ISCJIS)
12. Co-operation between different agencies involved in the Scottish criminal justice system is hugely important in pursuing efficiency and effectiveness. The Scottish Executive led project, ISCJIS, applies particularly to the advantages to be gained by working towards an integrated IS/IT strategy. Pilot sites are due to begin in the latter part of 1999.
13. "Getting IT Right" recognised the importance of the Scottish police service undertaking a study to determine the common standards which need to be defined to facilitate the inter change of information between the police and other stakeholders. The report acknowledged the invaluable work taking place through the ISCJIS project board but there was a need for the SPIS development team to be more closely involved with the process. As part of the developing ISCJIS programme, pilot work on a groundbreaking Legal Information Network for Scotland (LINETS) is underway and to go live within selected sites in early 2000. It will contain legal information from the Statute Law Database (maintained by the Statutory Publications Office) and several agencies within the Scottish criminal justice community, with each providing relevant national information to the benefit of all involved and accessible from a single source.
HMIC
14. It was reported last year that the Matrix of Force Indicators, which provides statistical information to inform and support the inspection process, had been succeeded by an in-house application devised and implemented by the Scottish Office Business Support Unit. This area of the Inspectorate process will be re-visited as part of the review (see Introductory Remarks paragraph 2). With a possible move towards a more risk based assessment to inform the focus of inspections, reliance on the timeliness and accuracy of data becomes increasingly important. By working with forces HMIC will seek to minimise the bureaucracy of gathering the relevant information.
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