The Police National Computer (PNC) is a database used by law enforcement organisations across the United Kingdom and other Non-Law Enforcement Agencies. Originally developed in the early 1970s, PNC1 went 'live' in 1974 providing UK police forces with online access to the Lost/Stolen vehicle database. The vehicle owners application quickly followed giving the police online access to the names/addresses of every vehicle owner in the UK. The Police National Computer started holding nominal information based on the computerisation of criminal records held by the Metropolitan Police and other police forces in the late 1970s. These CRO records could be accessed online in real-time by all UK police forces via the "Names" applications. The PNC now consists of several databases available 24 hours a day, giving access to information of national and local matters. As of 18 January 2021, Kit Malthouse said that there are 13 million person records, 58.5 million driver records, and 62.6 million vehicle records stored on the PNC. The PNC is currently directly managed by the Home Office. Between 2007 and 2012, it was maintained by the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) which inherited the activities of the now disbanded Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO). History Since its inception in 1974, the PNC has undergone numerous changes that were gradually introduced. The most notable was the introduction of the Phoenix (Police and Home Office Enhanced Names Index) in 1995. This format has been retained to the present day. The PNC is based on a Fujitsu BS2000/OSD SE700 mainframe with recent PNC applications held on UNIX servers. There are around 26,000 directly connected terminals and 25,000 terminals which are connected via local police force computer systems. The mainframe is connected to the end user by a multitude of ways, for high volume users (i.e. other police forces) via secure IP network, for low volume users a secure dial-up link provided by Cable & Wireless. Another connection method is via an X.25 packet-switched network; this method is being phased out. Databases for vehicles and driver licences are copied from the DVLA databases in the early morning (there is no service loss when an update is in progress). The mainframe server is located at the Hendon Data Centre with back-up servers located around the UK. In 2005 the only back-up server was located next to Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal in Buncefield, which was the scene of a major civil emergency