WIREDGOV

Before we step into a new year, we want to take a moment to celebrate everything we have achieved together through the 2025 Justice and Emergency Services Programme.

Over the past 12 months, we have delivered key initiatives, strengthened partnerships, and driven meaningful improvements across the sector. Here are some of the highlights of what we have accomplished together…

• 28 working groups/forum meetings
• 22 events
• 1 flagship event
• 2 new working groups/forum
• 1 Impact day
• 1 new MoU
• 3 reports

January

We kicked off the year with an exciting lineup of activities for our JES community, including the launch of our new Interoperability in Justice and Public Safety Forum, where we hosted the very first session, sparking fresh ideas and a lively discussion.  

Data quality and data sharing was a key focus this month, particularly within the Fire Innovation Forum, where we hosted a session focused on data and welcomed NFCC representatives Steve Beakhust, Gillian Fyfe and Steve Taylor.

Key takeaways:

• Fire and rescue face data gaps
• Data analytics can improve real-time decision-making.
• Cross-sector collaboration and stronger industry partnerships are essential.
• Digital skills are increasingly important for operations.

We also hosted a market engagement session on the new national Fire and Rescue Data Platform, and supported the Home Office with a market engagement on the National ANPR Capability.

February

This month brought exciting news with the government confirming funding for the New National Centre for Public Protection, designed to combat Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and Child Sexual Abuse (CSA). The centre sets out an ambitious agenda to strengthen protection and prevention, a topic that sits at the heart of our JES programme, supported by our VAWG and RASSO working group. If you want to know more about our work in this space, visit our VAWG and RASSO Hub.

March

...saw the team hosting a briefing on Digital Forensics in Police investigations. The session touched on the progress of the Digital Forensics Programme, the current funding challenges, data sharing and collaboration across forces, and much more…

We heard from:

• Mark Greenhalgh, Detective Chief Superintendent and Head of Business Change, Digital Forensics Programme
• Richard Meffen, Head of Forensics Portfolio, Police Digital Service

We also kicked off our Fraud and Economic Crime portfolio with an interactive roundtable, exploring how a cross-programme approach can tackle fraud and economic crime more effectively. The strategy brings together key areas including policing and law enforcement, financial services, digital identity, telecommunications, and digital regulation. If you missed the session but want to catch up on the discussion, you can find more details here.

Click here for the full press release