Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of allotting targeted funding to allow for the efficient and quick analysis of (a) mobile phones and (b) computers in investigations.

The Government has provided a total police funding settlement of up to £16.9 billion in 2022/23, an increase of up to £1.1 billion when compared to 2021/22.

Decisions about the allocation of police resources locally, are a matter for Chief Constables and directly elected local policing bodies (including Police and Crime Commissioners, Mayors exercising with PCC functions and the London Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime).

Where we have identified a specific need for targeted investment, such as through the Digital Forensics Programme, the Home Office is providing funding to allow for the efficient and quick analysis of digital devices. For example, as part of commitments made under the Rape Review we provided £5m in 2021/22 to support policing to acquire technology that will enable police forces to extract data more swiftly from mobile devices belonging to rape victims, with further investment to bolster these capabilities agreed for this financial year.