CONCERNS have been raised about the way Sussex Police manages its information - amid fears it could hinder investigations or lead to criminals getting off the hook.

Government watchdog HMIC was called in after concluding that mistakes in managing information helped Jimmy Savile evade justice because forces, including Sussex, failed to connect various allegations made during his lifetime.

In their report published yesterday, inspectors looked at how Sussex and 12 other forces stored and shared information such as crime reports, conviction records and intelligence.

HMIC said information is “vital in the fight against crime” because it helps with “effective investigations, timely arrests and appropriate criminal justice outcomes”.

At the time of their inspection in March 2014, inspectors found Sussex’s strategy for managing information was 16 months out of date and in need of review but there was “no timeline in place for this.”

They found there was “no specific policy to cover the management of information across the force” and that there was no policy statement about how they meet national guidance.

There was “no clear process” for declassifying intelligence records and “inconsistencies” in transferring information from sensitive areas to the force’s new computer system, Niche.

Their report said a new group had been set up within the force to help different departments share information, which was making progress.

However they found that some quarterly meetings of a board set up to plan how information was managed were so poorly attended that they had to be cancelled.

Inspectors raised concerns about how Sussex was sharing information on the Police National Database, adding some fields were not filled in which could mean that, for example, a suspect in a child abuse case might not be immediately identified.

Concerns raised were mirrored among other forces, with the watchdog raising “overall concern” about whether police had sufficient access to up-to-date information.

Deputy chief constable Olivia Pinkney said she welcomed the report.

She added: "Since the inspection we have set up a group, which has oversight and provides vital links between information management, technical development and business change.

"We have enhanced our service to allow for cross system searching of local databases as well as information sharing on the police national database. The management of that information is crucial to us and we ensure our policies and procedures adhere to national practice."