Sex-offender computer system hits delay

Moves to help police track sex offenders across the country have been delayed because of computer problems, prompting claims that public safety could be endangered as a result.

The Bichard Inquiry into the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman by a school caretaker, Ian Huntley, called for a change to how detectives swap information about criminals.

Ministers had hoped to begin rolling out a national computer system this year that would enable police to get instant details of criminal offences committed by a person working with children or vulnerable adults. But the Home Office has cancelled the launch after software failed in tests. It was the latest in a series of government information technology projects to be plagued by problems.

Nick Herbert, the shadow Police minister, said: "This further delay potentially increases the risk to the public. Three years after the Bichard Inquiry we're barely any closer to the implementation of a national database.

"The Government has been interfering in the minutiae of the police service, but when it is required to give a strategic lead it has failed. As a result, a pattern is developing of ministers scaling back important initiatives."

The inquiry, headed by Sir Michael Bichard, was set up after it emerged that Huntley had obtained a job in Cambridgeshire despite previous accusations of rape, indecent assault and underage sex being made against him in Humberside.

His 31 recommendations included a call, described as a "matter of urgency", for a national computer system for police forces to share intelligence.

The Government accepted his conclusions, which also included the creation of a registration scheme for people working with children and a clear code of practice for police record-keeping. Progress on implementing them has been mixed, despite an estimated £65m already spent.

The Home Office announced plans to set up the Police National Database, bringing together information on offenders held both nationally and locally, by 2010. It had intended creating an interim data-sharing system by this summer which would pave the way to the database.

But the department has abandoned the plan after it found the software on which the system would depend was struggling to cope. Tests found that search times were unacceptably slow because of the large quantities of data being stored. The setback is bound to raise questions about whether the 2010 target for the national database can be achieved.

The decision was announced in a written statement to MPs last week by Tony McNulty, the Police minister. But he said: "Twenty-one of Sir Michael's 31 recommendations have now been substantially delivered and we continue to press ahead with the more technically complex issues which remain outstanding."

The Home Office said police would still be able to access a computer system that registers whether an individual has been "flagged up" by another force.

If they wanted further details they would have to approach the force directly, rather than receiving them immediately from the database. A spokeswoman said: "Children and vulnerable adults are better protected than ever before."

Meanwhile, a database of gun owners has still not been created, 11 years after the Dunblane massacre, and is facing further delays. The National Firearms Licensing Management System was intended to link into the police national computer by next month. But that has been postponed for another two months as some forces struggle with "data cleansing".