Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which police forces in England and Wales have procured and adopted new technologies and efficiency tools including artificial intelligence; and if she will provide an update on the progress of the adoption of artificial intelligence efficiency tools in the remaining forces.

Decisions on the procurement and adoption of new technologies, including artificial intelligence, are operational matters for Chief Constables, who are responsible for determining how best to equip their forces in line with local priorities and legal and ethical obligations.

The Home Office does not centrally hold or publish a comprehensive list of which individual forces have procured specific tools, and updates on adoption are similarly determined and held at force level. However, the Home Office remains closely engaged with all 43 police forces in England and Wales to support the responsible use of new technologies.

To support a consistent and coordinated approach across policing, the Government has established PoliceAI, the new National Centre for AI in Policing. As set out in the Police Reform White Paper, this is backed by £115 million of investment over the next three years and will support forces to safely test, procure and implement AI tools, while providing greater transparency through a public register of deployments.