Analysis
Advertorial: Can multi-agency data sharing transform crime prevention?: Insights from our recent webinar
Earlier this month, Capita, in partnership with Police Oracle, hosted a webinar focused on the practical challenges and opportunities of multi-agency data sharing (MADS) in crime prevention and safeguarding. The session featured experienced professionals with backgrounds in policing and data solutions, who discussed how collaborative data sharing can help government agencies deliver better outcomes for vulnerable individuals and communities.
Why multi-agency data sharing matters
Dave Tonks, Capita’s Lead for Policing and Justice, ex-Police Scotland, opened the session by highlighting the real-world impact of siloed data. Drawing on his experience with Police Scotland, he explained, “We often see challenges within local organisations because data sits in silos, and solution teams don’t always have the tools they need to make the most of shared information. Our aim is to help partners overcome these barriers and unlock the benefits of collaboration.”
A short introductory video illustrated how vulnerable individuals can fall through the cracks when government agencies lack a joined-up view of risk factors. It showed how connecting data from multiple sources can reveal crucial links earlier, enabling faster, evidence-based interventions that protect the public and improve life chances.
Defining MADS: Collaboration, automation and safeguarding
Professor Stan Gilmour, KPM FRSA, Business Consultant for Justice & Policing at Capita, and ex-Thames Valley Police officer, provided a working definition of multi-agency data sharing: “It’s the arrangements by which multiple agencies collaborate to establish a capability to share relevant information as data automatically and digitally.” He emphasised the importance of moving from reactive, manual information sharing, often triggered only after harm has occurred, to proactive, automated sharing that enables early intervention.
Gilmour highlighted the importance of learning from past cases: “Every public inquiry and safeguarding review I’ve read points to missed opportunities for sharing information. Some cases are well known, others happen quietly every day, and they will continue unless we turn lessons into action.”
Drivers and barriers: Enabling progress
Despite strong policy, legislative, and productivity drivers, technical solutions for routine, proactive data sharing have lagged behind. The speakers highlighted several persistent barriers:
- Siloed systems: Data is held in isolated systems, making it difficult to create a unified view of risk and vulnerability.
- Reactive processes: Information is typically shared only after harm is identified, limiting opportunities for prevention.
- Leadership and governance: Effective collaboration requires strong leadership, clear governance, and robust data protection agreements.
- Technology and trust: While technology is available, it is often underutilised, and trust between agencies can be hindered by complex data protection requirements.
- Benefits-driven approach: Organisations often focus on data protection deficits rather than the benefits of sharing, missing opportunities to drive prevention rather than simply respond to harm.
The speakers acknowledged the complexity of the environment and emphasised how Capita can support and enable public sector partners to overcome these challenges.
Capita’s approach: Partnership and innovation
Dave Tonks described Capita’s journey, including a Home Office commission to accelerate multi-agency data sharing (MADS) capability development. Capita’s experience in enabling data fusion, such as integrating data from 41 legacy systems for Police Scotland, has informed their approach.
The current pilot, developed with one of the UK police forces, uses agile, iterative principles to build a demonstrator that links police, education and social services data. The solution leverages cloud technology (Microsoft Azure), open standards and a common data model to create a single, trusted source of information. Key features include:
- Automated data collection and curation: Data is mirrored from source systems, minimised to relevant fields, and securely staged.
- Advanced matching and linking: Algorithms match individuals and families across datasets, creating cluster IDs for accurate identification.
- Role-based access and audit: Granular access controls and audit capabilities ensure security and compliance.
- Power BI visualisations: Initial dashboards enable agencies to profile risk, track interventions, and measure impact.
Chris Mooney, Capita’s AI & Data Solutions consultant, emphasised that while agencies do share information, it is predominantly manual, which may impact efficiency and introduce single points of risk. “Partners do share information – it’s about making that process, that value chain, more efficient,” he said. Modern cloud technology and infrastructure-as-code approaches make repeatable, scalable deployments possible, reducing duplication and improving outcomes for vulnerable individuals.
Key insights and takeaways
- Proactive prevention: MADS enables earlier interventions, shifting practice from reactive to preventive and improving outcomes for those at risk.
- Collaboration is key: Success depends on aligning people, processes, and technology, supported by strong leadership and governance.
- Scalability and flexibility: Capita’s solution is designed to be adaptable to different agency needs, with modular components and standardised deployment.
- Data quality and stewardship: Advanced matching rules and audit capabilities support data quality and stewardship, with opportunities to feed improvements back to source systems.
- Compliance and security: Data sharing agreements, synchronised retention policies, and robust security classifications (e.g., Official Sensitive) ensure legal and ethical compliance.
Looking ahead: From reflection to action
The webinar concluded with a call to action for public sector leaders. The case for better data sharing is compelling, not just operationally, but morally and politically. As Professor Gilmour put it, “We need to get much, much better at multi-agency sharing, being more proactive in providing support to these people, families, children and communities that are most affected.”
Investment in secure, ethical, and scalable systems is needed to make collaboration the default, not the exception. What’s required now is not just better tools, but shared action, so that information moves faster than risk, and agencies can intervene before harm occurs.
Capita invites interested organisations to explore opportunities for collaboration, confident that effective partnership working between public and commercial sectors can deliver safer communities, more resilient services and better outcomes for those most at risk.
If you would like to learn more about Capita’s MADS solution, you can contact directly at bettergovernment@capita.com or visit dedicated MADS webpage.
Webinar recording
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Category: Advertorial
It sounds like an excellent programme of work – but why put it on Azure?
It is well documented – strangely enough through disclosures from Police Scotland – that Microsoft Cloud routinely distributes data or allows access to data from up to 105 countries – including China, Macau SAR and Hong Kong SAR.
It also uses over 70 countries with no DPA Pt3 adequacy, and the terms of service from Microsoft do not comply with any Part 3 provisions.
The ICO suggestion that Forces might substitute controls such as SCC’s from GDPR is fatuous and has no sound basis in law.
You could have a great solution here but sitting it on Azure means it can never be legal for Forces to use. They – and Capita as processor – will be ripe for compensation claim should anyone seek to do so.
Re-platform it to a 100% UK provider and you would do a lot to address that.
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