State of Policing: England and Wales

Baroness May of Maidenhead Excerpts

Thursday 25th February 2016 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mrs Theresa May)]

Yesterday, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary laid before Parliament his annual assessment of policing in England and Wales in accordance with Section 54 of the Police Act 1996. Copies are available at: www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmic and in the Vote Office.

Today, HMIC has updated its website with the judgments from the 2015 Police Efficiency, Effectiveness and Legitimacy (PEEL) inspections. This is the first full PEEL assessment that has been published and it forms a key element of HMIC’s role in shining a light on police performance and informing the public about performance across a broad range of policing activities. The information is available at: www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmic.

I am very pleased to see that more than half of forces have been judged as “good” or “outstanding” across all three key areas. Those forces that have received an “outstanding” judgment should be congratulated for the service they provide to the communities they serve.

I am, however, disappointed to see that so many forces are judged to “require improvement” for at least one of the key areas. Police and Crime Commissioners must hold Chief Constables to account for delivering high quality policing that meets the needs of communities. Those communities will expect action to address the areas for improvement identified by the inspectorate and will, I am sure, be looking for strong improvement over the coming year.

[HCWS554]