65 police force innovation bids have been given approval by the Home Office, allowing the successful bids access to a £20 million fund for innovation stimulation.

The fund is designed to incentivise police forces to increase the efficiency of services, with £20 million being available to successful bidders as a precursor to the official launch of the innovation fund later this year.

Funding will be used to provide a range of services including camera technology, mobile data services and public information services.

New police procurement strategy recommended

The approval of 65 bids represents over half of the 115 bids received by the Home Office, with the remaining bids still being assessed.

Policing minister Damian Green, said: “Unfortunately we could not approve (all the bids). In a number of cases there were positive ideas with potential to bring about transformation. But further work was needed to understand and articulate the impact of those changes.”

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