Police: Performance Indicator Management

Lord Taylor of Holbeach Excerpts

Tuesday 19th March 2013 Grand Committee

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Taylor of Holbeach)]

My Lords, I begin by thanking the noble Earl, Lord Lytton, for tabling this Question.

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[Lord Taylor of Holbeach]

My Lords, I began my few words before the Division by thanking the noble Earl, Lord Lytton, for tabling this debate. It has proved to be really interesting, quite hard-hitting and in many ways quite outspoken, but not any the worse for that. It is good that we have been able to air these issues in such a frank way. It says a lot for this House that we can do so. I hope I will be able to reassure noble Lords that what is on the agenda at the Home Office is what all noble Lords have indicated as being the direction of travel that they believe policing in this country must go in.

A lot of points have been raised. I doubt that I will cover everything but I will write a general commentary on the debate and circulate it to all Peers who have spoken so that everybody can see the responses to those matters to which I do not know the answer or have not had time to provide an answer.

I start from the position of being very proud of our police officers. Every day they put themselves in harm’s way to protect the public. Thanks to their hard work and the reforms that the Government have brought forward in the police service, the police are succeeding in their core mission to cut crime. I do not think there is any dispute about that achievement. They are also coping with a difficult financial situation. All public services—and, indeed, business as a whole—are having to cope with the economic situation and the need for deficit reduction.

Before going into the detail, it might help to place the importance of the integrity of crime recording within a wider context. As noble Lords know, this Government have undertaken a radical programme of police reforms that have placed local crime concerns and priorities at the very heart of policing. Our reforms have put an end to Whitehall interference and bureaucratic accountability and introduced a new era of democratic accountability based on locality. We have scrapped national targets. I think most noble Lords recognise that that has probably been a great stimulus to adopting a more local focus and a more straightforward approach to these issues. We want the police to respond to local concerns. We have given the public better information about crime in their area and we have changed how forces are held to account. As noble Lords will know, the website means that people are now aware of crimes in their community.

In order to empower communities to hold their local forces to account, we must strive for greater transparency. The public must have a clear and accurate picture of the issues that affect their community and what is being done about them. The noble Lord, Lord Condon, with his professional experience in this area, made a very thoughtful speech. I reassure him that we have already announced that we are replacing detections with a wider framework of outcomes, because outcomes matter, removing the incentives to manipulate those figures to meet locally maintained targets.

I say to the noble Baroness, Lady Smith, that informal disposals are included in the crime figures. The crime maps, to which I have already referred, enable people to compare their area with other areas. I think all noble Lords are aware what a great hit this has been. Crime data have never been more transparent to the public. People can see where crimes have been committed, not only in the area in which they live but in the areas in which they shop and work. Therefore, the integrity of crime recording and the overall integrity of the police service are interlinked, particularly in the eyes of the public. Recording crime properly is essential to maintaining public trust in policing and ensuring that victims of crime get the best possible service.

This Government take crime recording very seriously and we are committed to improving transparency and building public trust in the figures. That is why we transferred the publication of crime statistics to the independent Office for National Statistics. The Government also agreed to the establishment of an independent advisory committee to scrutinise the statistics and advise Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary on issues that need further examination. The new committee will examine the statistics and advise on areas that HMIC should be auditing. That is a new development, which will put increasing pressure on accuracy. As the noble Baroness, Lady Smith, knows, the ONS is independent of government and has an independent role in informing government and the electorate of the accuracy of figures.

The HMIC review of crime recording found that the majority of forces perform to a reasonable standard, and the ONS has recognised that the quality of crime recording by the police remains among the best in the world. The noble Lord, Lord Whitty, was anxious about the figures that we have talked about with regard to a fall in crime, and the noble Earl, Lord Lytton, was also concerned that we made sure that the figures were accurate. Crime is down according to both measures that we use; according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales, it is down by 8%, while police-recorded crime is down by 7%; the Office for National Statistics, too, has recognised that crime is falling. UK crime recording is recognised, in an international context, as being among the best in the world, as I have said.

Every police officer has a duty to record crime accurately, which is made clear in the guidance and regulations that cover their conduct. Police officers are required to report colleagues whose behaviour breaches the standards of professional behaviour. I reassure my noble friend Lady Harris of Richmond that when crimes recorded by the police do not reflect local crime experiences, we expect the police and crime commissioners to hold their forces to account on those issues. We continue to work with HMIC to improve the quality of crime recording and build public trust in national crime statistics.

Every organisation has bad apples, and the police are no different. Noble Lords have cited some examples today. But it is important to remember that the vast majority of police officers serve and protect the public with honour, bravery and integrity. Noble Lords have mentioned a few specific cases, such as those in south Wales and Kent. These are all historic examples of where those concerned have been dealt with and lessons have indeed been learnt. I hope that noble Lords understand that the purpose of all investigations and inspections is to help to maintain high standards. Recent reports by Lord Justice Leveson and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary have found no evidence that corruption is endemic in the police. However, with every accusation of corruption or that forces are gaming or manipulating their crime figures, public trust in the police is eroded. So I recognise the seriousness of this issue. The Home Secretary retains powers to commission HMIC to undertake urgent work if there are pressing systemic or serious issues, which, as noble Lords will know, she has recently used in the Savile case. These powers exist and are indeed being used by the Home Secretary.

Policing integrity is at the heart of public trust and confidence in the police. Without it, the police cannot do their job effectively or legitimately. If the public were to lose trust and confidence in the police, they would take years to recover. A significant minority of the public do worry about police corruption, and we must do more to tackle it. When police corruption and misconduct occur, that lets down victims, it lets down the honest majority of police officers, and it undermines public confidence in the police.

We heard from the noble Lord, Lord Maginnis of Drumglass, of his concerns, and I am very happy to talk to him about the cases to which he drew our attention. I hope that he will take advantage of that. Perhaps I may say that the charging responsibility for summary offences such as those to which he referred in his own circumstances rests with the police. However, all these matters can be dealt with through the IPCC, which has the power to investigate. Therefore, opportunities to challenge decisions are in fact available to the noble Lord and to all members of the public.

The Government have achieved considerable reforms of the police. Elected police and crime commissioners are now in place and the police are more accountable to their communities. There is a new College of Policing to professionalise the police and drive up standards, and a strengthened, more independent HMIC, led for the first time by a non-policing figure. However, we must do more to improve standards. That is why last month the Home Secretary announced a comprehensive package of measures to root out corruption and misconduct from the police.

There are a number of issues that I have not been able to address in the time available but I hope that noble Lords will accept that the measures the Government are taking will make the police much more transparent, with clearer rules on how officers should conduct themselves and stronger systems to investigate and punish officers who do wrong. The measures will also ensure that the organisations we ask to police the police, such as the IPCC, are equipped to do the job.

I hope I can say with confidence that this Government can look back with pride on what has been a time of fundamental reform of policing in this country. Thankfully, police corruption and misconduct are rare and we should not let them detract from the success of the honest majority who work so hard to protect us. I thank all noble Lords and I am sorry if I have not covered all the points. I will be writing.