A dedicated government unit to improve performance across
policing and make our streets safer will be announced by the Home
Secretary this week.
In a speech at the annual conference hosted by the National
Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) and Association for Police and
Crime Commissioners on Tuesday, will outline the new unit as
part of a roadmap for major reform that will create a new
partnership between the Home Office and police.
To ensure communities can have confidence in their local police
force, the unit will harness national data to monitor performance
and direct improvements, building on the existing work of the
College of Policing, policing inspectorate (HMICFRS), NPCC and
Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs).
For the first time in over a decade, a dedicated Home Office unit
will be introduced to directly monitor police performance,
including in high-priority areas such as tackling violence
against women and girls, knife crime and improving neighbourhood
policing.
Officer time spent on the frontline will be monitored as part of
the intelligence drive, drawing on local police data. Police
response times will also be standardised and measured, a key
issue for the public that is currently not consistently monitored
and managed. Through the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, the
government is committed to ensuring officers are spending more
time being visible and accessible in our communities, and
minimising administrative tasks.
The Home Office will use police-recorded data on child sexual
abuse to help forces understand and tackle the hidden harms in
their areas. This will support forces in identifying how they can
do more to build victim confidence, draw offending out of the
shadows and bring perpetrators to justice.
There will also be a focus on police standards, with data on
misconduct, vetting and disciplinary procedures collected,
monitored and acted on to ensure forces are rooting out those who
are not fit to serve and help restore the public's trust in their
local officers.
With a more comprehensive picture of how policing is delivering
for its communities, the Home Secretary will take a more hands-on
approach to driving improvements, working with policing partners
to ensure that the appropriate support, and where necessary,
direct intervention is being identified and delivered.
The new performance unit will complement the current system, with
PCCs taking on a renewed focus on strengthening local policing
and preventing crime in their areas.
In her speech, the Home Secretary is expected to
say:
This is a critical juncture for the future of policing. And if as
a country we are to remain equipped to fight the fast-changing
challenges of today and tomorrow, then we know policing must
evolve.
We have a huge opportunity ahead of us to reset the relationship
between government and the police, to regain the trust and
support of the people we all serve and to reinvigorate the best
of British policing.
Strong and consistent performance is critical to commanding
public confidence. I truly believe that working together we can
mobilise behind this mission – and deliver a fairer, safer
country for all.
The Home Secretary is expected to set out her vision for
policing, and how this focus on data and performance is just part
of an ambitious programme to bring the founding principles of
policing by consent and preventing crime to the 21st
Century.
The need for reform has the backing of police leaders, with the
government committed to working with them to bring the change
needed to reconnect policing with the communities they
serve. It builds on a government manifesto commitment to
give the policing inspectorate (HMICFRS) greater powers to
intervene in failing forces and on the important work that they,
the College of Policing and PCCs are doing to boost standards and
drive improvement.
