According to TheRegister.com, police forces in England and Wales are spending a staggering 97% of their £2 billion annual technology budget just maintaining legacy systems. The National Audit Office found that fragmented investment and recent Treasury cuts are holding back adoption of new technologies like live facial recognition and AI. Basically, the Treasury pulled £234 million in planned tech funding starting next financial year, leaving modernization projects in limbo.
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The Broken Funding Model
Here’s the thing about this situation: it’s a perfect storm of bad government procurement. Police departments are stuck maintaining ancient systems because nobody ever budgets for the long-term cost of replacement. And when they do get temporary funding streams, it’s never enough to actually complete transformation projects. So they end up with one foot in the past and one foot in a future that never quite arrives.
The real problem? This isn’t just about money—it’s about strategy. The Home Office admits its approach of multiple, disconnected funding streams makes long-term planning impossible. Police forces can’t commit to major tech upgrades when they’re never sure if the money will still be there next year. It’s like trying to build a house when someone might take away your construction loan halfway through.
Who Actually Wins Here?
Look, when 97% of your budget goes to maintenance, somebody’s making money. Legacy vendors with lock-in contracts are the clear winners in this mess. They get paid year after year to prop up systems that should have been retired a decade ago. Meanwhile, newer tech companies trying to offer modern solutions can’t break in because there’s no consistent funding for innovation.
And let’s be honest—this isn’t just a UK problem. Governments everywhere struggle with tech modernization. But spending 97% on maintenance? That’s practically criminal. What police department could possibly innovate when they’re spending almost every penny just keeping the lights on?
The NAO report makes it clear this goes beyond just money. Police can’t recruit digital talent because who wants to work on outdated systems? They’re stuck with poor data quality because the underlying systems are ancient. It’s a vicious cycle that keeps repeating itself with every new “transformation” program that gets announced then underfunded.
The Real-World Consequences
We’re not just talking about slightly slower computers here. The Police National Database transformation—meant to move critical crime intelligence to the cloud—is over a year behind schedule. It’s been rated a “Red” risk by government watchdogs. That means real investigations could be hampered because the tech can’t keep up.
So what happens next? Probably more of the same. Without a fundamental rethink of how police tech gets funded, we’ll keep seeing these stop-start initiatives that never deliver their promised benefits. The Treasury cuts funding, projects get scaled back, and police go back to maintaining those legacy systems. Rinse and repeat.
Maybe it’s time to ask: if we’re spending £2 billion annually on police technology, shouldn’t we expect something better than systems that barely function? The current approach isn’t just inefficient—it’s actively preventing police from doing their jobs effectively. And that should concern everyone.
