Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Bedfordshire Police consulted her Department on appointing Palantir for a pilot scheme trialling AI technology.

The Government is committed to ensuring that law enforcement has the resources it needs to tackle crime effectively. AI presents an opportunity to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of policing and law enforcement – from automating back-office tasks freeing up time for officers to be on the front line and live language translation enabling better interactions with those unable to speak English, through to applications like facial recognition and CCTV analysis, helping police to catch more criminals and speed up investigations to bring offenders to justice.

Bedfordshire Police consulted the Home Office on appointing Palantir for a pilot scheme trialling AI technology, and this was agreed. While it remains the responsibility of individual police forces to comply with the ‘Covenant for Using AI in Policing’, the Home Office received assurances that Bedfordshire Police are meeting these requirements.