Across the public sector, difficulties around data-sharing present significant barriers to delivering more joined-up services to citizens.

Too often individuals are required to provide the same information to multiple agencies, risking duplication and increased room for error. The inability to join-up different data entries about citizens can also mean that vital signs of risk or vulnerability are missed, sometimes with very serious consequences.

Within policing, outmoded and often incompatible IT systems make sharing intelligence across force borders difficult, while access to data from other agencies such as local health institutions is often entirely impractical. Interactions with individuals suffering from poor mental health, and cases involving the safeguarding of children are increasing, but the inability to access key information from other agencies, such as social services, may lead to forces taking decisions based on a partial picture of the issue at hand. In the second of a series of policy dinners in collaboration with KPMG, attendees explored a number of these issues and their possible solutions.