asked Her Majesty's Government:

Given the history of problems faced when completing large-scale information technology projects, what consideration has been given to using off-the-shelf solutions to the problems raised in the Bichard inquiry. [HL256]

The IMPACT programme has made use of an existing application in the Criminal Records Bureau (i-PLX) in developing the IMPACT nominal index. For the next stage in the technology development the programme is building upon the Cross-Regional Information-Sharing Project (CRISP), which was already under development by a consortium of police forces. The Police National Database will be subject to a competitive procurement during which potential suppliers will be able to propose the use of off-the-shelf solutions where these meet the requirements.