Asset Recovery IT (ARIT)
HO's Asset Recovery IT (ARIT) alpha assessment report
Asset Recovery IT (ARIT)
| Assessment date | 27/07/2026 |
| Assessment stage | Alpha |
| Service provider | Police Digital Service |
| Result | Green |
Service description
JARD is the central case management and data recording tool used to support asset recovery cases across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. However, JARD is 20+ years old, has become outdated and presents significant limitations. The system cannot support integration with other law enforcement systems, relies on high levels of manual data entry, has poor user experience, experiences frequent outages, and no longer aligns with government cloud-first and digital strategy principles. As a result, JARD is now considered a barrier to progress, with serious implications for data quality, efficiency, and the overall success of asset recovery efforts. Missed opportunities for recovering criminal assets and ensuring justice are directly attributable to the system’s limitations.
The Asset Recovery IT (ARIT) service will serve as a centralised platform for recording, managing, and reporting asset recovery cases across UK policing, government and law enforcement agencies. It will be built to meet modern security, data, and interoperability standards. This new system will support the entire lifecycle of asset recovery under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) 2002. The ARIT service will be designed to address the limitations of the outdated JARD system by providing a cloud-native, integrated case management solution.
Service users
ARIT users are from 183 organisations, split into the following areas:
• Financial investigators – such as police and HMRC
• Prosecution staff – such as the CPS
• Enforcement Authority staff – such as the courts services
• System administrators
Things the service team has done well:
● It was good to see how the team have joined up with communities in Government andreally taken on board the feedback they got – we are sure this will help them deliver outcomes and reduce risk.
1. Understand users and their needs
Decision
The service was rated green for point 1 of the Standard.
2. Solve a whole problem for users
Decision
The service was rated green for point 2 of the Standard.
3. Provide a joined-up experience across all channels
Decision
The service was rated green for point 3 of the Standard.
Optional advice:
• Continue developing the service blueprint and maintaining alignment to identify gaps in understanding, to inform where targeted research will be needed, whilst maintaining expected private beta user research activity.
• Clarify the purpose of the ‘Your voice sessions’, whether they are a form of show and tell, upskilling for users and stakeholders, or used for ad hoc research, this will ensure robust user engagement.
4. Make the service simple to use
Decision
The service was rated green for point 4 of the Standard at the initial alpha assessment.
5. Make sure everyone can use the service
Decision
The service was rated green for point 5 of the Standard.
Optional advice:
• Don’t rely fully on the how-to videos, they should not be the primary support method and must be accessible, inclusive, and well-maintained if used. There may be issues with e.g. Welsh translation and the ability to access audio content in front-line environments
• Written guidance needs to be tested and maintained as the primary training materials by a dedicated content designer
• Test how users find and use the in-house support through Police Digital Service Desk and whether the two escalation points sufficiently address users who require an assisted digital route
6. Have a multidisciplinary team
Decision
The service was rated green for point 6 of the Standard.
Optional advice:
• Consider recruiting a full time content designer and performance analyst
7. Use agile ways of working
Decision
The service was rated green for point 7 of the Standard.
8. Iterate and improve frequently
Decision
The service was rated green for point 8 of the Standard.
9. Create a secure service which protects users’ privacy
Decision
The service was rated green for point 9 of the Standard at the initial alpha assessment.
10. Define what success looks like and publish performance data
Decision
The service was rated green for point 10 of the Standard at the initial alpha assessment.
Optional advice:
• What the team has so far is appropriate for the alpha stage, but will need to be expanded for beta, a performance analyst will help identify issues with the service that will benefit from user research to inform design iterations.
11. Choose the right tools and technology
Decision
The service was rated green for point 11 of the Standard at the initial alpha assessment.
12. Make new source code open
Decision
The service was rated green for point 12 of the Standard at the initial alpha assessment.
Optional advice:
• The team should provide evidence of contributing back to open source projects, such as sharing improvements to libraries or best practices, even if the core code cannot be made public.
13. Use and contribute to open standards, common components and patterns
Decision
The service was rated green for point 13 of the Standard at the initial alpha assessment.
Optional advice:
• The team could share templates, accessibility improvements, or other non-sensitive materials with the wider community.
14. Operate a reliable service
Decision
The service was rated green for point 14 of the Standard at the initial alpha assessment.
Optional advice:
• Team should continue to explore ways to de-risk delivery and not assume all risks around the ‘big bang’ approach are resolved
• Team could benefit from joining CrossGov Slack and similar forums to share and learn from migration best practices
Next Steps
This service can now move into a private beta phase, subject to GDS spend approval.
To get the service ready to launch on GOV.UK the team needs to:
● get a GOV.UK service domain name
● work with the GOV.UK content team on any changes required to GOV.UK content