"The Home Office is flinging nearly £40 million in taxpayer cash at PA Consulting to get the big-ticket successor to the Police National Computer (PNC) over the finish line. The direct £37.5 million award will run from September 19, 2025, through August 31, 2026 - roughly 11 months - and covers "managed, engineering and support services" for the Law Enforcement Data Service (LEDS) "Person Update" product, which is part of a larger project to replace the creaking PNC."
"The PNC, designated critical national infrastructure, has been running for more than 50 years and remains the backbone of frontline policing. It holds data on about 13 million people, 62.6 million vehicles, and 58.5 million drivers. Its long-planned replacement, LEDS, is a £900 million, 12-year project scheduled to go fully live by March 2026. The Person Product - the database of individuals - is described as sitting on the "critical path" for the decommissioning of the PNC. Any delay risks keeping the legacy system on costly life support well past its planned retirement date."
"Whitehall's own project tracker for 2025 still has LEDS down for an amber delivery rating, noting that while "delivery confidence has improved since 2021... this programme remains large, complex, and high risk." "Whilst March 2026 remains achievable, ongoing planning and funding pressures continue to present material risks," the government report adds, noting that the total cost for the LEDS project is now likely to top a31 billion. "We are actively addressing these through targeted mitigation strategies, with regular oversight by the programme board.""
The Home Office awarded a direct £37.5 million contract to PA Consulting for managed engineering and support services for the LEDS Person Update, spanning September 19, 2025 to August 31, 2026. The procurement used Schedule 5, Paragraph 7 of the Procurement Act 2023 on grounds that switching suppliers would create incompatible services and technical difficulties. The Police National Computer is over 50 years old and holds records on roughly 13 million people, 62.6 million vehicles and 58.5 million drivers. LEDS is a long-running replacement project scheduled to go live in March 2026, with the Person Product on the critical path; delays risk extended legacy system support. The programme currently has an amber delivery rating and costs are likely to exceed £1 billion, with targeted mitigations and programme-board oversight in place.
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