Information

Request

In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, could the following documents please be provided:

 Funding

• • Is the funding for the scheme still being drawn from the Home Office Police grant for the safety of Women and Girls at night, or has a different funding pot been drawn from?.
  • Has the contact for the provision of ID scanning technology with GB Group PLC been extended, or has the contact been awarded to another entity?
  • Can you provided any budget reports regarding the allocation of all funding for ID scanner technology. Decision making

• • Minutes from meeting with all relevant partners (I.e., Business with the funded ID scanners, local BID’s, West Northamptonshire Council, Home Office) concerning the decision making in renewing the funding for this scheme.
  • Decision record documents regarding any contracts with GB Group PLC for ID scanning technology.
  • Initial decision records from 2022 show that funding was granted for the installation of ID scanner technology in 30 licensed venues. Did the funding extension include all 30 licensed venues from the original rollout? If not, can any written evidence be provided on why this decision was made.

 Evidence of Impact supporting the decision of extension of the scheme.

• • How many times has the data collected by the funded ID scanners been used in police investigation. Can this please include:
    • Type of crime the data has been used to investigate.
    • Whether the data was included in evidence of any successful arrests and or conviction of perpetrators of crime in the area.

 Progress and Delivery

• • Any Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime panel update reports that include information regarding the renewal of funding for ID scanner technology.

Response

Funding

• Is the funding for the scheme still being drawn from the Home Office Police grant for the safety of Women and Girls at night, or has a different funding pot been drawn from?

The original funding for the purchase, installation and licensing of the ID Scanners was from the Home Office’s Safer Streets Scheme (Round 4) but the extension of the provision is being funded internally by Northamptonshire OPFCC. This funding is just for licensing, maintenance and repurposes as the kit has already been purchased. In February 2025, the Home Office announced that Safer Streets funding would end at the end of the 2024/25 financial year.

• Has the contact for the provision of ID scanning technology with GB Group PLC been extended, or has the contact been awarded to another entity?

The contract with GB Group PLC has been extended to ensure that the equipment purchased three years ago can remain in use for a further three years. Without this extension, the equipment would have become obsolete, leaving no viable alternative but to renew the contract.

• Can you provide any budget reports regarding the allocation of all funding for ID scanner technology.

Last spend was £118k (broken down as above). We have then spent another £60,300 (contract attached)

Decision making

 Minutes from meeting with all relevant partners (I.e., Business with the funded ID scanners, local BID’s, West Northamptonshire Council, Home Office) concerning the decision making in renewing the funding for this scheme.

The decision to renew the licensing for the ID Scanners, in order to keep the project active, was an internal decision made by the Commissioner and Crime Reduction Team. Therefore, no minutes exist in relation to the decision making relating to this scheme.

• Decision record documents regarding any contracts with GB Group PLC for ID scanning technology.

I have attached the current contract we have with GB Group PLC. Page 6 (Specification) details the requirements of the renewed contract along with a Decision Record which details the awarding of the funding to GB Group PLC for ID scanning technology.

• Initial decision records from 2022 show that funding was granted for the installation of ID scanner technology in 30 licensed venues. Did the funding extension include all 30 licensed venues from the original rollout? If not, can any written evidence be provided on why this decision was made.

I have attached the grant funding agreement from the Home Office RE Safer Streets Fund Round 4 VAWG project. Page 64 outlines grant fund costings. Page 70 outlines match fund contributions. When the decision was made to renew the licensing contract with GB Group PLC, we reduced the number of ID Scanners from 30 to 25. Two years on from launch, it was established this was the correct number of machines in line with open nighttime economy venues in Northamptonshire.

Evidence of Impact supporting the decision of extension of the scheme.

 How many times has the data collected by the funded ID scanners been used in police investigation. Can this please include:

Type of crime the data has been used to investigate.

The ID scanners were funded as a preventative measure and not an investigation tool. There is currently no live data sharing agreement between the ID Scanners/venues and Northamptonshire Police. The venues are the data controllers and collect data on the machines. There is the capability for venues to share data between machines to identify persons of interest/banned persons, however, whilst the devices are not installed for investigative purposes, we are aware of at least two cases where the system has been used by Northamptonshire Police to retrospectively assist in serious crime allegations.

The Office of the Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner and Northamptonshire Police are two separate legal entities. Information regarding operational policing matters, is the responsibility of Northamptonshire Police, therefore the OPFCC would not hold any of the information you have requested. Northamptonshire Police’s Information Unit may hold some of the information you are seeking. If you have not already done so, then you may wish to write to their Freedom of Information and Data Protection Team, Information Unit, Force Headquarters, Wootton Hall, Northampton, NN4 0JQ / [email protected]

https://www.northants.police.uk/rqo/request/ri/request-information/rip/request-information-police/request-information-about-police/foi-request-form/

Whether the data was included in evidence of any successful arrests and or conviction of perpetrators of crime in the area.

As per the above.

• Progress and Delivery
  • Any Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime panel update reports that include information regarding the renewal of funding for ID scanner technology.

No reports were provided specifically relating to the renewal of funding for ID scanners, however an update was provided in our 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25 annual reports which can be viewed here