Criminal Justice IT bill hits £2bn

Funding for the government's criminal justice IT programme is to get an £800m boost, putting the total investment at £2bn.

In its strategic plan for criminal justice from 2004 to 2008, the government has outlined how it plans to use leading edge technology to transform the detection of crime and management of offenders. One of the key planks will be a national intelligence system for all police forces – as recommended in the recent Bichard Report into the Soham murder investigation.

The new strategic report out this week claims the new technology will affect all aspects of criminal justice, with the use of digital fingerprinting, DNA testing, automatic number-plate recognition, video ID parades, intelligence analysis and a case-management system.

But criminal justice IT plans have hit problems in the past few years, with money wasted on failed systems, and the report is open about the challenges still faced, with information having to be re-keyed into different systems as it travels between individual agencies, and a lack of access to email and internet systems

"We are, however, starting from a very low base," the report said. "For example, until recently, prosecutors did not have access to computers, and basic processes in the courts, such as listing cases for trial, are still paper-based. There is a lack of modern IT infrastructure and systems. And where systems exist, they cannot talk to one another. This results in inefficiency and ineffectiveness."

Home Secretary David Blunkett unveiled the report as part of wider criminal justice reforms announced earlier this week.

He said in a statement: "We will continue to use every hi-tech tool at our disposal to bear down on the most persistent offenders.

The full document, Cutting Crime, Delivering Justice, can be found here.