Police Digital Service (PDS) CEO Ian Bell is no longer a director of the company, two weeks after it emerged two of its employees had been arrested on suspicion of fraud, bribery and misconduct in public office.
A Companies House filing, dated 16 July 2024, confirms Bell’s position as company director was terminated on 11 July, but no further details surrounding his departure are shared in the document.
Computer Weekly contacted PDS, which is the company responsible for overseeing the development and delivery of the National Police Digital Strategy, for comment regarding Bell’s change in directorship status.
At the time of writing, no response has been received.
The Home Office, which funds the work the PDS does, told Computer Weekly in a statement that it is “aware of serious allegations relating to the conduct of two individuals” within PDS, and that it is “supportive” of the steps being taken by the organisation, and that it expects a thorough review of how it operates will follow.
“Work is underway to ensure frontline services are not negatively impacted and that public funds are protected,” it continued.
“As a company limited by guarantee, all decisions relating to PDS operation, including appointments and dismissals of key roles, are the responsibility of its board, and ultimately its members.”
PDS under review
When news of the arrests at PDS broke on 3 July, the PDS told Computer Weekly in a statement that the organisation would be subjecting the suspects in the case to an employee misconduct review, along with a “thorough review” of how PDS itself operates.
The City of London Police, which is conducting the investigation, confirmed to Computer Weekly the suspects remain bailed pending further inquiries.
Details about the origins of the police investigation have since been shared with Computer Weekly by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).
The representative confirmed the NPCC, along with the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), received reports of alleged malpractice concerning individuals working for the PDS earlier this year.
These allegations were passed onto the City of Police for review, which subsequently led to them launching a criminal investigation and arrests being made.
At the time of the arrests, PDS said the “company’s work remains unaffected” by the situation, but concerns were raised to Computer Weekly earlier this week that this might not be the case, following an announcement that the company has postponed its flagship supplier summit.
The Police Digital Summit 2024 was originally planned to run from the 11–13 September 2024, but a statement on the PDS website confirmed it will be rescheduled to take place at a “future date” in 2025. “We have decided to postpone this event with the full agreement of the PDS Board, comprising key representatives from across policing and partner agencies,” the PDS said in a statement.
Board members
PDS board members include representatives from the Home Office, as well as members of the NPCC’s Digital, Data and Technology Co-ordination Committee, various UK Police and Crime Commissioners, and the British Transport Police.
“We understand that the summit is a key platform for engagement with the policing and supplier communities, and it furthers the understanding and take-up of digital solutions for UK policing,” the PDS statement added. “We also recognise the impact that the event’s cancellation will have for many of the PDS’s supplier and partner communities, and acknowledge this may affect your planned marketing and engagement activities.”
In a follow-up statement to Computer Weekly about the news of the event’s postponement, a PDS representative said the date of the event is being pushed back at the request of the PDS board, which wants the organisation’s leadership team to “focus on [its] core business priorities”.
“[These] are delivering for policing, ensuring that victims, officers and staff have the digital, data and technology solutions they need,” it said. “We are actively planning a future date and location for a digital summit in 2025.”
Owen Sayers, an independent security consultant and enterprise architect with over 20 years’ experience in delivering national policing systems, told Computer Weekly that – with the recent change in government – he would not be surprised if Labour embarks on a total reform of how PDS works and what it does.
“Creating the right delivery organisation for police IT services is notoriously difficult, and the average lifetime of such an organisation is typically seven to eight years,” he said.
“In this respect, PDS was already close to the point when we would expect some core reformation, and their own [press communications] suggests this might now occur, although these particular circumstances are of course highly unusual and less than optimal.”
PDS was incorporated in June 2012, and is classified as a private company with no shareholders that is funded by the Home Office and the policing sector.
“A Labour administration might struggle to justify or endorse a profit-making enterprise sitting at the heart of government, creating and applying its own policies for police IT, and marking its own homework,” said Sayers.
“I would not be at all surprised therefore if the new administration sought to reform PDS, and this would provide an excellent opportunity to address other core issues relating to data controllers and supplier contracts in policing,” he added.
As an example of this, Sayers pointed to the work he has been doing, largely through the submission of Freedom of Information requests, to draw attention to the fact that the way policing bodies procure and use cloud technologies is out of alignment with sector-specific data protection laws.
“A new model for policing IT governance should therefore be a priority for the new government, but to meet the flexible needs of policing, it should be arranged on a servant leadership model rather than a centralised power to direct forces, as PDS, with the Home Office’s backing, have enjoyed,” he said.
“It is this level of influence and direction which has led to evidenced widespread illegal data-processing,” said Sayers. “And that cannot be an acceptable future position for our police forces to be in.”
