§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to privatise the police national computer; if he will list those bodies with whom he has recently discussed this topic; and what assessment he has made of(a) the advantages and (b) the disadvantages of privatising the computer.
§ Mr. MacleanThere are no plans for the privatisation of the police national computer— PNC2—which is housed at the Hendon data centre. But the Government continue to believe that it will in the longer term be beneficial to market test the operation of the police national computer service, with a view to contracting out its delivery while maintaining the ownership, control, and use of the records it contains in the hands of the police service. For the reasons given in my reply to a question by my right hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge (Mr. Shersby) on 8 February at columns254–55, the current market test of the Hendon data centre will not proceed to competitive tendering at present. The position will be reviewed in about 18 months' time, when the requirement for the third generation computer—PNC3—which will eventually replace the current installation, becomes clearer.
186WRecent discussions on these matters have been held with the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Association of Chief Police Officers (Scotland), and the local authority associations under the aegis of the tripartite Police Information Services Board, which is the management board for the police national computer; and further discussions with the Hendon data centre trade union side have been arranged.