Single Online Home | Reflection and the Impact of COVID-19

An insight provided through ‘Policing Insight’ by Simon Cole QPM who became the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) Senior Responsible Officer for Digital Public Contact (DPC) in 2016, when things were different, and the internet was apparent but social media not ubiquitous.

Moving online

“We knew people would want to be able to report crimes online in just the same way as calling the police or speaking with an officer or staff member” To meet this demand, police identified the lack of uniformity and consistency across policing websites. In turn, meaning that the public were receiving a range of quality and services available from their local force. Moving into a forever evolving digital world, we are moving away from calling 101 and reporting a crime. Police forces want people to report crime and use other policing services, so police need to be where the public will be – which is online.

Due to this, a platform was put in place for all Home Office police forces that provides a consistent and higher quality offering which provides a genuine channel of choice for the public to use to make contact with the police.

“We have tried to lift the tide for all forces, but in a way that those forces ahead of the curve would be able to see a future benefit for them and for policing nationally. In getting this right we are helping forces to deal effectively with the growing demand from the public for access to digital services from the police, just as they would expect when they access their bank account or shop online”. 

Single Online Home (SOH)

A national, digital front counter service offering people a high quality and consistent range of policing services (more than 40 in total), such as online crime reporting, applying for a firearm’s licence or requesting information about past domestic violence cases (under Clare’s Law). 

It is important to recognise the role of the Home Office, Police and Crime Commissioners and forces (particularly the Met as host Force) in supporting this vision and then driving it forward together. Without the support of all involved SOH would not have happened. 

Up until April 2020, Sussex Police kindly hosted the delivery of the service through the Digital Policing Portfolio (DPP). The DPP has worked to the key aim of transforming the police’s relationship with the public by introducing new digital ways of interacting with policing. To date, the interest from forces for the service has been staggering with more than 42 forces (including British Transport Police (BTP), a non-HO force) signing a statement of intent to join the service. “It’s a unique endeavour, with unique challenges and a collaborative effort with each force involved. One of these was a requirement for all Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners to sign a Section 22 Collaboration Agreement which supports the governance arrangements for SOH and puts in place the legal and financial framework for us to act within”. 

From just three forces piloting the service in the summer of 2018 (the Met, Hampshire Constabulary and Thames Valley Police), SOH has grown rapidly. The service is currently available to more than 33m people (more than half of the population of England and Wales) from 20 forces- these range from covering major cities like London, Manchester and Liverpool, through to the heart of England and rural areas in the Southern counties. In the last year, a further five services have been added to SOH. These include ‘Your Area’, a crime mapping tool enabling people to find the latest crime information in their locality and to learn what their force is doing to tackle local issues as well as licensing and online payment services for registering a firearm (‘Firearms Licensing’). 

With £15m funding confirmed from the Home Office for this financial year, we are continuing to grow the use of SOH and its service offer to the public. Five forces are currently in the process of joining the service (City of London and the four Welsh Forces). In addition, BTP is also set to embark on their journey to SOH. Efforts are underway to deliver new services and look at how SOH will link with forces systems, such as for records management, to improve back office capability.