Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) are key decision-makers on digital, data and technology (DDaT) investment and need to be well briefed to make informed judgements about funding capabilities that could have a significant impact on operational efficiency and effectiveness locally as well as nationally.
The Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) supports PCCs to engage with national governance structures, including by consolidating, analysing and providing information ahead of meetings. These structures include oversight boards and coordinating committees, but the APCC has limited resource that is being stretched beyond capacity as the number of boards increases.
The APCC approached the Accelerated Capability Environment (ACE) to understand how it and PCCs can best engage with other policing partners to review and scrutinise all emerging requirements as well as agree and oversee investments.
This model also needs to ensure PCCs can assure delivery of innovative, affordable and effective DDaT capabilities that meet operational needs.
ACE, working with a rainbow team of nine suppliers, started by mapping current arrangements for APCC and PCC engagement in the national DDaT landscape, bringing to life complex relationships to understand pain points as well as requirements. This then informed the underlying principles of a future strategic engagement model designed to be more effective and efficient and make better use of PCC time.
This model, which considers statutory responsibilities, governance arrangements, delegations and resourcing, includes three additional roles to support interaction with national data and digital governance structures such as the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Digital, Data and Technology Coordination Committee (DDaTCC).
A range of proof-of-concept tools, including an assurance framework, assurance assessment tool, information matrix and mock information reports, were also developed to enable the model.
Next steps include refining the proposed model in consultation with PCCs.
