A recent report released by the National Audit Office highlights a challenge that many police forces in the U.K. recognise: growing financial pressure, rising demand, and an urgent need to modernise. While the government’s Police Efficiency and Collaboration Programme aims to deliver up to £354 million in savings between 2025–29, the NAO warns that more than half of those potential savings are at high or medium risk of non-delivery.
The report makes clear that efficiency cannot come from cost-cutting alone. Today, technology must be a key lever in helping forces do more with less. True productivity depends on how effectively forces use technology, data, and people to meet the complex challenges of modern policing.
The Cost of Standing Still
Despite funding increases, the NAO found that 77% of police budgets are tied to staff pay, leaving limited flexibility for forces to invest in resource-multiplying areas like new technologies. Many are still relying on dozens — or even hundreds — of legacy systems, each costly to maintain and difficult to integrate. As the report notes, this fragmented approach has led to “a lack of standardisation across the 43 forces” and has “discouraged the adoption of new technologies.”
Forces understand the urgency. The demands on policing have evolved — from cybercrime and fraud to the growing use of AI by organised crime groups. Yet outdated IT and fragmented data continue to slow progress, limiting insight, collaboration, and public confidence.
Unlocking Productivity Through Modern Platforms
Modernisation isn’t just about upgrading systems; it’s about enabling smarter, more agile policing. The NAO’s recommendations point to a clear path forward: better use of data, greater technology standardisation, and investment in digital skills and automation to free up officers’ time for frontline work.
At Mark43, we see this every day in our work with police forces. Modern, cloud-based platforms provide the flexibility and resilience needed to:
- Share data securely and in real time across forces and partners, breaking down silos that hinder collaboration.
- Deploy new capabilities faster, whether that’s AI-assisted report writing, improved analytics, or digital evidence management.
- Reduce the cost of ownership by replacing fragmented infrastructure with a single, scalable platform.
- Enhance officer and staff experience, allowing them to focus on public safety rather than administrative burden.
A People-First Approach to Modernisation
Technology alone cannot deliver reform. The NAO rightly stresses that modernisation is also about empowering the people who serve our communities. At Mark43, every innovation we deliver — from intuitive user design to advanced analytics — is built to help policing professionals do their best work, faster and more safely.
Looking Ahead
As UK policing enters a decade of transformation, the challenge is not whether to modernise, but how quickly forces can overcome structural and technological barriers to do so. The NAO’s findings are a call to action: now is the moment to invest in connected, data-driven systems that enable smarter, more sustainable policing.
At Mark43, we’re proud to partner with forward-thinking forces leading the way toward a more modern, efficient, and trusted policing environment.
