National Police Improvement Agency On Track

The National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) is a new body that will support forces to improve the way they work across many areas of policing.

The NPIA will replace the existing national policing organisations such as the Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO) and Centrex and take on some new work needed to support national policing improvement.

Having a single organisation responsible for co-ordinating this work will ensure that lines of accountability are clear and that duplication of effort is avoided.

One of the agency's key roles will be to support the local implementation of the Government’s ‘mission critical’ policing priorities detailed in the National Community Safety Plan. These include implementation of the Bichard Inquiry recommendations , Neighbourhood Policing and Level 2 Crime.

The NPIA will be operational, subject to legislation, from 1 April 2007 and will support the police in a number of ways.