South Wales Police’s custody services require further
improvement, having shown limited progress in some areas since
its last inspection, a report has found.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue
Services (HMICFRS) and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found
that South Wales Police has clear governance arrangements for the
provision of custody.
However, HMICFRS and CQC said that oversight of these
arrangements is not robust enough and that there has been little
improvement since the force’s previous inspection.
The inspectorates have four main causes of concern, which are:
- senior leaders in the force don’t oversee custody services
well enough to make sure that appropriate outcomes for detainees
are achieved;
- the governance and oversight of the use of force in custody
isn’t good enough. South Wales Police can’t show that when force
is used in custody it is necessary, justified and proportionate;
- the force isn’t always meeting the requirements of the Police
and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and its codes of practice when
carrying out reviews of detention. These are often of a poor
standard and not conducted in the best interests of the detainee;
and
- the approach to meeting detainee physical and mental health
needs isn’t good enough. This includes the healthcare contract
not allowing for healthcare practitioners to be embedded in all
the custody suites, and that arrangements for referring detainees
with suspected mental health conditions to mental health nurses
aren’t appropriate.
His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Wendy Williams
said:
“Anyone detained in custody should be kept safe from harm and
treated fairly.
“South Wales Police has a clear governance arrangement for its
provision of custody services. Frontline officers have a good
understanding of vulnerability and consider this when deciding
whether an arrest is appropriate, and custody staff are patient,
reassuring and treat detainees with respect.
“However, in some areas progress has been limited and there
remain several areas of concern. This includes the governance and
oversight of the use of force in custody, as well as senior
leaders failing to oversee custody services well enough to ensure
that appropriate outcomes are achieved for detainees.
“The force responded positively to our inspection findings,
quickly starting work to improve the service provided to
detainees in custody.
“We will be working closely with South Wales Police and
monitoring its progress against our new recommendations.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- Report on an inspection visit to police custody suites in
South Wales Police will be published on theHMICFRS website at
00:01 Friday 13 October 2023.
