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IMPACT Programme

The Minister for Policing, Security and Community Safety (Hazel Blears): The IMPACT Programme, a key element of our work to deliver Sir Michael Bichard's recommendations following the murders in Soham, has already delivered some significant benefits to the police service, most notably the IMPACT Nominal Index (INI). For the longer-term, we have a very clear vision of what the programme is planning to deliver.

The programme is now in a strong position to deliver a range of capabilities to the Police Service which will not only meet Sir Michael's recommendations but will transform the service's ability to protect the communities it serves.
 
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IMPACT will deliver a programme of technology-enabled business change for the police service which will:

The delivery of the IMPACT Nominal Index (INI) in December 2005 responded to the second of Sir Michael Bichard's recommendations: police officers can now establish whether any other force in England and Wales may have information on individuals of interest to them. However, the system does not give direct access to the records themselves and the next stage is to develop a national information sharing infrastructure which will make operational information visible to forces across the country, transcending force and system boundaries.

The work will build upon the achievements already delivered by the programme, providing a modular and incremental approach comprising the following stages:

Completion of the development of the CRISP software, as the basis for:

Officers will be able to search for information on specific people, objects, locations and events to inform operational decision-making, or to use the national data as a resource for producing intelligence products prescribed by the National Intelligence Model (NIM). The programme will also link the information contained on the current PNC, and other national systems, to force-level information.

Business processes will be optimised through an associated programme of business change based upon the NIM; the code of practice and associated Guidance on the Management of Police Information (MoPI); and procedures developed within the programme.

This programme of work will be delivered using a managed service based on existing and planned Criminal Justice System (CIS) Exchange shared services
 
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developed by Criminal Justice IT (CJIT). This offers the potential to exploit the new technology being piloted by CJIT and to re-use existing CJS Exchange components.

The use of the CJS Exchange will provide other Criminal Justice organisations with continued access to PNC data, and the delivery channels to populate the central system with data from outside the police service. The IMPACT programme will continue to retain responsibility for delivering the programme with a strong business lead and a sharp focus on driving out the benefits.

In order to realise the potential benefits from the programme, it will be managed alongside other related developments:

and will support the following key stakeholders:

While the police national database is under development, resources have been allocated to enable the police IT organisation to update the hardware platform of the PNC. This will ensure that the PNC remains fit for purpose until the police national database is fully in service.

Immigration Control

The Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Nationality (Mr. Tony McNulty): The Government are committed to maintaining effective immigration controls while at the same time ensuring that genuine passengers are able to pass through our ports with the least possible inconvenience.

The UK will stop accepting South African temporary passports with effect from today. This decision has been taken due to concerns over the effectiveness of the South African passport issuing process and the impact that has on our immigration controls.

Fraudulently obtained South African passports are regularly encountered at UK ports, held by a wide variety of nationalities. The South African temporary passport, which is issued pending the issue of a full South African passport, poses a particular problem as fewer checks are carried out prior to issue. In our opinion the temporary passport does not satisfactorily establish identity or nationality/citizenship or is in compliance with international passport practice. As a consequence there is intelligence to suggest that these passports provide an easy target for those with other nationalities who seek to come to the UK illegally.

This decision will not prevent South African nationals coming to the UK, but it will require them to obtain a full South African passport before coming here.
 
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Transitional arrangements will apply to those who already hold SA temporary passports obtained on or before 19 April: those travellers who purchased tickets prior to 19 April will be able to travel on their temporary passports to the UK before 1 June; those who purchase an airline ticket after the announcement but before 10 May will be able to travel to the UK on their temporary passport, providing they arrive in the UK before 10 May; and those who purchase an airline ticket following the 19 April for travel between 10 and 31 May, can travel to the UK before 1 June provided they have first secured a visa for entry to the UK. This will ensure that anyone with plans to visit the UK will be able to do so or will have time to secure a new full South African passport.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Northern Ireland

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr. Peter Hain): Further to my oral statement to the House yesterday, copies of the joint statement made by the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach in Armagh on 6 April have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses, as have the associated speeches they delivered that day.

The Prime Minister's speech was as follows:


 
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