UK Home Office dangles £20m for national gun licence database system
- Reference: 1646998330
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/03/11/home_office_nflms_replacement/
- Source link:
NFLMS is the central police database of every firearm owner and every individual firearm in England and Wales. Whoever wins the contract will have a relatively low profile but critically important system to deliver.
"NFLMS is used by forces teams across England and Wales and these teams conduct approximately 170,000 licence grants, renewals and variations per year," said a [1]notice on procurement website Bidstats.uk.
[2]
It added: "the current NFLMS system has always been a challenge to change and adapt as requirements, technology, legislation and/or policy changes. A key requirement of the new system is that it is flexible, adaptive to change and future refinement."
[3]
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The database came into existence in the mid-2000s as a result of recommendations made after the [5]1997 murders at a primary school in Dunblane . A 2006 pilot project ran into problems, as [6]The Register reported at the time , because of "difficulties in implementing the necessary standardised IT systems across 43 police forces [across England and Wales]."
The budget overran by £1.5m from its original £5m estimate.
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Since then laws, technology and the number of systems plugged into NFLMS have multiplied. The system currently reads and writes to the population-scale Police National Computer database and the Police National Database, among others. (One records people; the other is used for intelligence.)
The creaky old system is well known for its opacity, to the point where at least one consultancy offers a frontend product for it that exports information from NFLMS into a "time saving and efficient" local document handling system.
Weaknesses do exist in the system thanks to very limited functionality allowing integration with modern e-commerce systems for firearm certificate issuing and fee payments. Although some police forces have got their act in gear to enable electronic payments of fees and changes of personal details or information about guns bought and sold, many others will still only accept paper forms and cheques in order to make changes to NFLMS.
[8]National gun database backfires
[9]Yorkshire plods LOSE 9,000 GUNS in rogue BOFH database blunder
[10]UK Home Office: We will register thousands of deactivated firearms with no database
[11]Spending watchdog blames British Home Office for delays to £1bn crime-fighting IT system
Such inefficiencies have consequences. Back in 2013 South Yorkshire Police managed to lose track of 9,000 licensed firearms after a [12]data entry clerk went rogue and stopped accurately updating the system with details from paper forms.
Yorkshire police lose 9,000 guns in rogue BOFH database blunder [13]FROM OUR ARCHIVES
The result is a [14]slow (as shown by the British Association for Shooting and Conservation's police force league table) and bureaucratic licensing system that is not really helped by its archaic central database.
Procurement of a modern replacement is overdue, though the Home Office's [15]track record with large-scale database IT projects is [16]not very promising .
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Interested parties for the NFLMS replacement contract need to get their acts together quickly; the deadline for expressions of interest is 2359 on 14 March. ®
Get our [18]Tech Resources
[1] https://bidstats.uk/tenders/2022/W10/770244645
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/databases&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YiuAOEMDqW5eJAruFN8QAAAAAFc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/databases&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YiuAOEMDqW5eJAruFN8QAAAAAFc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/databases&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YiuAOEMDqW5eJAruFN8QAAAAAFc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.britannica.com/event/Dunblane-school-massacre
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2006/03/07/more_setbacks_for_nflms/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/databases&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YiuAOEMDqW5eJAruFN8QAAAAAFc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2006/03/07/more_setbacks_for_nflms/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2013/07/01/cops_tried_to_gloss_over_database_snafu_that_lost_over_9000_firearms/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2019/11/08/home_office_deactivated_weapons_email_address/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/13/nao_home_office_nleds_report/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2013/07/01/cops_tried_to_gloss_over_database_snafu_that_lost_over_9000_firearms/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2013/07/01/cops_tried_to_gloss_over_database_snafu_that_lost_over_9000_firearms/
[14] https://basc.org.uk/firearms/firearms-licensing-league-table/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/13/nao_home_office_nleds_report/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/26/home_office_slams_pnc_tech/
[17] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/databases&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YiuAOEMDqW5eJAruFN8QAAAAAFc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[18] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Spot on.
You have more chance of Boris not lying for a day than you have of making contact with Leics Firearm Licensing "team" - ie none whatsoever.
I know of several people who simply send a recorded delivery letter to the Leics team to prove they've complied with the law as in at least one instance it took the Leics team over 2 YEARS to acknowledge a firearms transfer notification. That was only after they threatened to prosecute the person transferring the firearm mind you!
Plod are in general a total waste of oxygen IME.
Vendors will have to move fast?
Not be quick on the draw?
Re: Vendors will have to move fast?
Nice one McGraw, now stop horsing around!
Database?
Surely all they need is a spreadsheet!
Re: Database?
This is just the thing that Microsoft Access was invented for!
Re: Database?
They need to get Dido in to manage it. Or is this small and lowly project below her status?
Of course it is. £5 puny million.
Dido doesn't get up in the morning if she can't waste £100 million these days.
Re: Database?
It's below her status and above her capability.
Re: Database?
Which makes Dildo Harding the odds-on favourite to win the contract.
Re: Database?
Surely you mean two spread sheets (for HA)
The spread sheet is the easy bit. Little things like providing audit trails of who was looking to see if their children/parents/neighbours have guns, is a bit harder.
The contract will go to one of the 'usual suspects'
Costs will overrun due to unforeseen problems, the sort of unforeseen problems that would have been foreseen if only the company that gets the contract has done its job properly.
It won't work properly due to unforeseen problems, etc, etc.
Lessons will be learned on how to botch up the next contract. It didn't work last time so won't work next time.
Government contracts = tax payers money for old rope.
Re: The contract will go to one of the 'usual suspects'
Why bother with anything more complex than a SQL Server DB somewhere and a .Net app knocked up a few days by a couple of interns looking to get some experience?
Nope! Let's spend £10m on some over complicated cloud based bollocks that will than need an extra £5m to finish it and a whole new team, 'cos the first team so poorly managed they all start in-fighing during the development stage ( more likely the design stage if they even bother with that bit! ).
You think I'm being flippant, I worked on UK Gov IT projects back in the mid-90s, they were just one big fecking gravy train. Worked in a project that assembled a team of 12 and there were 3 devs, 2 admins and 7 managers! I'm serious, 7/12 people in a team were "managers"/enablers/advisors. I once watched 3 of these so called managers spend a Friday afternoon in the office making paper airplanes AFTER they'd come back from from a 2 hour liquid lunch all paid on expenses 'cos some big-wig civil servant came out to catch up on the project progress, they footed the bill ( or should I say, we all footed the bill through taxes! ).
To think
A Domino R12 server with a dedicated application that would take me three weeks to implement, and can have thousands of clients replicating without trouble and ensure proper access only to those who need it.
I'll just take £1 million, and your thanks.
Re: To think
Sorry your bid has been turned down
1. Too cheap
2. Too quick
3. Too easy
4. Serious lack of opportunities for meetings/jollies at taxpayers expense
5. Not enough cash left in your budget to grease a pig let alone several senior tory MPs
Re: To think
Not to mention a bloody good audit trail
Bids
Interested parties for the NFLMS replacement contract need to get their acts together quickly; the deadline for expressions of interest is 2359 on 14 March.
I wonder which friend-of-a-minister is on their holidays until the 13th.
Re: Bids
2359? That's centuries away!
Re: Bids
It'll still be late.
Tracking
I get that this is for law abiding owners to document what they own so governments can disarm them incase of rebellion and that criminals can look it up to know what house to rob, but what does it do to stop criminals? or are there other uses? oh yes, registration fees/taxes to fund government tax programs, never mind.
Re: Tracking
It doesn't do much to directly make a dent in crime since criminals tend to use unregistered illegal guns. Licensed gun owners are typically very responsible people, have been screened, and secure guns against theft. It can be used to run people convicted of other crimes through it to see if there is a match and if so consider revoking their license and seizing firearms (e.g. if someone is convicted for spousal abuse).
Re: Tracking
This is not a public database so the only criminals accessing it will be those working for the police. Possibly also the Home Office and various security services.
Does it stop criminals? Well, we could compare gun violence in the UK to countries that don't have a national firearms register. The UK has no shortage of naughty people but firearms just aren't standard EDC for the law non-abiding here.
Five working days!?
So they've already chosen which Tory donor is getting the contract.
How much????
20 million quid for what is a pretty straight forward database application that someone familiar with this type of thing could probably knock up on a couple of months?
How could anyone spend more than a few 10s of thousands on this - even if they tried REALLY hard? Who the f***k comes up with these ridiculous budgets?
Re: How much????
Home Office logo 'redesign' a few years back: £20,000 for a curved line.
opportunity for manglement
...key requirement of the new system is that it is flexible, adaptive to change and future refinement
Which can be translated to:
We don't know what we want, but once we see it then it will be subject to management review.
Why bother at all ?
Just move over to the much better system we have in the US of A - don't bother keeping any record at all, just buy whatever guns you want at WalMart and if the government wants to know if you own them, open fire !
Re: Why bother at all ?
We have far less gun crime here because of the laws that make owning them do difficult.
You can keep your 'right to bear arms'. If you can legally own a .50cal sniper rifle then there is only one use for that apart from hunting Elephants which you don't have in the wild in the USA, and that is to kill people or rather obliterate them with a .50 cal round.
A place where is is assumed that you have a gun and will use it even in a traffic stop is not somewhere I want to live.... Oh wait... I did live in Dallas for 5 years in the 1990's and was so glad to leave. I was the only person on my block who didn't own at least two guns. A rifle and a Shotgun were the norm.
Whilst this will undoubtedly benefit all, improvement needs to be made of the Firearms Licensing Teams as well. They're frequently poor or the issue with incorrect records.