State of Policing: The Annual Assessment of Policing in England and Wales 2023

Foreword

This is my second report to the Secretary of State, under section 54(4A) of the Police Act 1996. It contains my independent assessment, as His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary, of the efficiency and effectiveness of policing in England and Wales. It is based on the inspections we carried out between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024.

The police service in England and Wales has faced many recent challenges, but there remains much for it to be proud of. The model of British policing remains fundamentally sound. The power of the police isn’t based on inducing fear, but on securing public co-operation and support. And the vast majority of police officers, staff, special constables and volunteers are wholeheartedly dedicated to serving the public and to doing the right thing. Once again, this year I have been struck by the professionalism that most of them show on a daily basis.

On 6 May 2023, the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III and Queen Camilla was one of the largest policing events in history. The coronation posed considerable challenges in respect of public safety and security. The service rose to the occasion and policed the event with distinction. The police operation involved all UK police forces, and officers from the British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It kept more than 300 guests and hundreds of thousands of people in the crowds safe.

Sometimes, police officers make the ultimate sacrifice while striving to help the public. On 24 August 2023, Sergeant Graham Saville, of Nottinghamshire Police, gave his life in the line of duty while trying to save a distressed man who was on a train track. I send my deepest condolences to his family and colleagues for their loss.

Contributions to my assessment

When compiling this assessment, I wrote to chief constables, police and crime commissioners (PCCs) and their equivalents and other interested parties. I invited them to give their views on the state of policing in England and Wales.

I received more than 100 thorough and insightful responses. Their views and the information they provided have contributed greatly to the evidence in this report. I am very grateful for their reflections.

The main source of evidence for this report comes from our inspections. In the past year we have published 87 reports about police forces. I offer my thanks to HMICFRS staff, who carry out and support these inspections. They are devoted public servants who carry out their duties with the utmost skill and professionalism.

Changes at the inspectorate

In June 2023, HM Inspector Matt Parr CB left the inspectorate after nearly six years’ distinguished service. As the lead for many of our inspections, Matt contributed to improvements in both police forces and fire and rescue services. I express my gratitude to Matt for his years of public service and I wish him every success in the future.

In 2023, we welcomed two new HM Inspectors (HMIs) and an assistant HMI. Between May 2023 and May 2024, Assistant HMI Shantha Dickinson joined the inspectorate on secondment from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service. Shantha provided additional support for our fire and rescue service inspections and contributed to the wider work of the inspectorate. I extend my thanks to Shantha for her service.

In August 2023, HMI Lee Freeman KPM joined the inspectorate from Humberside Police. Lee holds the regional role for ten fire and rescue services, three regional police forces, non-Home Office and overseas forces, and is the senior responsible owner of PEEL and counter-terrorism inspections.

Also in August 2023, HMI Michelle Skeer OBE QPM joined the inspectorate from Cumbria Constabulary. Michelle holds the regional role for 12 fire and rescue services and 11 regional police forces. She is the senior responsible owner of our inspections on protecting vulnerable people.

I extend a warm welcome to Lee and Michelle. The inspectorate will undoubtedly benefit from the wealth of experience they have brought with them.

In March 2024, HMI Wendy Williams CBE left the inspectorate after nine years of dedicated public service. Wendy was the regional HMI for 13 police forces and 11 fire and rescue services. She also led many impactful reports on cross-cutting criminal justice and joint inspections. Her work improved the service that the police and fire and rescue services provide to some of the most vulnerable people in society. I wish her all the best for whatever the future may hold.

Summary

The police are trying to rebuild public trust and confidence

In recent years, trust and confidence in the police have been brought into question by an array of misconduct and criminal acts committed by serving police officers and staff. To make matters worse, there is a general perception among the public that the police aren’t doing a good job at tackling the crimes that affect local communities.

In my report last year, I used some stark language about the low levels of trust and confidence in the police. I make no apologies for this. The police service recognises the scale of the challenges it faces and is acting to rebuild trust and confidence.

Forces have been trying to make sure only the right people can join the police and stay in the police. They have been doing this by improving vetting, rooting out corruption and tackling misconduct. But there is still much that needs to improve and the service must continue to focus on this area.

The evidence is clear that neighbourhood policing is the most effective way to build community confidence. Forces have been using their increased officer numbers from the Police Uplift Programme (PUP) to invest in neighbourhood policing. Through our police efficiency, effectiveness and legitimacy (PEEL) inspections, we are seeing this translate into better performance. We have begun our 2023–2025 round of PEEL inspections. So far, preventing and deterring crime has been the best performing area.

The level of crime in England and Wales continues on a long-term downward trajectory. It should always be recognised that the test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, and not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with it. Lower crime rates should help the public to feel more confident that the police are doing a good job.

But some crime types, such as violence against women and girls, are still highly prevalent in society. Forces are increasingly trying to prioritise tackling violence against women and girls. They have made some improvements, and this year’s introduction of the national operating model for investigating rape and other serious sexual offences should help them to further improve. Both preventing these crimes and bringing offenders to justice

effectively will continue to be a challenge for the police and other agencies for many years to come.

Too many victims of crime are still being let down by the police and wider criminal justice system

Despite crime being on a long-term downward trend, it may not feel that way for many communities – especially in the most deprived areas. It is also no consolation for the millions of people who are victims of crime each year.

Victims want to receive a responsive, thorough and caring service from the police and criminal justice system. Unfortunately, too often, they are left disappointed by the response they receive. In her ‘2022 Victim Survey’, the Victims’ Commissioner found that 71 percent of respondents were dissatisfied with the police response to their crime. Only 10 percent of respondents said they thought the criminal justice system was effective.

The main reasons victims are dissatisfied are clear:

• the police still aren’t getting the basics right;

• outcomes of police investigations don’t always meet victims’ expectations; and

• too often, the criminal justice system isn’t providing access to justice.

The public have some fundamental and reasonable expectations of the police, which I refer to as the basics. These include:

• promptly answering the phone;

• attending incidents within a reasonable timeframe; and

• investigating all reasonable lines of enquiry and keeping victims informed.

Given the high demands the police face, it isn’t always easy to provide these services. But too often, forces aren’t doing as good a job as they should be.

In our last round of PEEL inspections, forces received the worst grades for how well they responded to the public and investigated crime. Since that round of inspections, forces and the Government have listened to us and have tried to make improvements. But despite the increased focus on this area, it isn’t yet materialising into the improvements that are so clearly needed. In this round of PEEL inspections, we continue to see widespread poor performance in both areas.

One of the consequences of this poor performance is that too few criminal investigations are leading to an offender being charged or receiving an out-of-court disposal. Since 2015, the proportion of victim-based offences that are brought to justice has been gradually decreasing. There is also a widespread and unjustifiable variation in performance between police forces. Some forces should be doing a better job at solving crime.

Access to justice is the hallmark of a civilised society, but the criminal justice system isn’t working properly. Too often, justice is difficult to access. Although the number of prosecutions has been declining for many years, there are longer court backlogs and prisons that are fuller than ever. The Government should consider setting up a Royal Commission on criminal justice. Fundamental reform is long overdue.

The police workforce must be set up to succeed

There are more police officers than ever. As at 31 March 2023, the number of full-time equivalent police officers in England and Wales reached an all-time high of 147,430 officers. By 30 September 2023, the figure dropped slightly to 147,098, representing 332 officers fewer than the peak. This has been a welcome investment in policing by the Government, which is helping forces to tackle crime and build public confidence in the police.

Many of these officers are still inexperienced and the full benefit of them joining the service is yet to be felt by forces and communities. In the year ending 31 March 2023, inexperience reached a peak, with 36 percent of officers having fewer than five years of service. The inexperience of these officers, combined with the resources that are required to train and supervise them, is one of the greatest challenges forces continue to face.

Police staff are equally as important as police officers. They perform crucial roles that help to prevent and detect crime. Some of these are public-facing, such as police community support officers, call centre staff and crime scene investigators. Some are less visible, but perform vital roles such as digital forensics investigators, financial experts and analysts.

Chief constables need to be able to hire the number of police officers and staff that they need for their local area. But the Government’s police officer target is stopping them from doing this and is leading to forces having fewer staff than they need. I do acknowledge, however, that the PUP did include some funding to increase numbers of police staff. Yet there are still too many police officers working in roles that could be better or more economically performed by police staff. The target is now hindering efficiency and effectiveness, not helping it. The Government should abolish this target and allow chief constables the freedom to establish the balanced workforce they need.

Most police officers and staff join policing with the intention of positively contributing to society. They work tirelessly throughout their careers to help the public. The right conditions therefore need to be in place to help them to make that contribution.

At the time of writing, too many of them don’t feel valued by the public, the Government or their force. Some have unacceptably high workloads and others aren’t getting the support they need to develop and reach their full potential. This is having a significant adverse effect on morale and too many good people are leaving the service. Forces must do everything they can to better lead and support their officers and staff.

Police finances are an area of increasing concern

There is still more that forces can do to provide a good service to the public with their existing funding. In our PEEL inspections, we have repeatedly found that forces’ performance management and governance arrangements aren’t good enough. This sometimes means they are providing a poor service to the public when they have sufficient funding to provide a good one. Forces also have many opportunities to improve their productivity. Technology in particular offers forces the potential to do more with less.

But the way that the police are funded is an area of increasing concern. The police funding formula is outdated and unfair. Funding should be distributed so that it goes to where it is needed most. But this currently isn’t the case. Most of the funding for the police comes from two main areas: a central government grant and council tax bills.

Since 2013, government grants have been allocated to forces using the same out-of-date police allocation formula. Over the past 13 years, an increasing proportion of police funding is being raised from council tax. But the areas that need the funding most can struggle to raise money through increasing council tax, which increases inequality between forces. The Government should fix the funding formula at the earliest opportunity.

In addition to receiving a fair share of the total funding, forces need to have a reasonable degree of certainty about how much money they will receive over a period of a few years.

This allows them to plan their spending and the services they will provide to meet community needs. It also gives them the best chance of being both financially resilient and effective at preventing and detecting crime. But for many years, forces haven’t always had the medium-term financial certainty they have needed. The Government must do all it can to give forces more stable funding over a period of multiple years.

For many years, the police haven’t received enough funding to help them make large capital investments, such as purchasing or renovating buildings and buying ICT equipment or vehicles. In response, the police aren’t investing in all the assets they need to be efficient and effective. The police estate is ageing, and its ICT systems are often inadequate. Despite this underinvestment, forces are planning to increasingly use their reserves or borrow more money. This may be unsustainable in the long term. The Government should provide forces with regular additional financial support to help them make capital investments.

The inspectorate helps to make communities safer, but we need the right powers and sufficient funding

Our work makes communities safer. Our inspections make a significant difference to how well forces can be held to account, and leads to them making improvements. Many members of the public and most police forces and police and crime commissioners find our inspections to be extremely valuable.

Police forces cannot be allowed to fail; the consequences would be too serious. Therefore, we continue to give support to those forces that aren’t performing to a good enough standard. We do this through our enhanced monitoring process, called Engage. Forces may be placed into Engage when there are concerns about their efficiency, effectiveness or legitimacy that appear to need closer scrutiny. We ask forces to develop an improvement plan, support them through additional inspection and they receive support from stakeholders across the policing sector.

Since my report last year, four forces have made some substantial improvements and been moved back to routine monitoring. These are Cleveland Police, Gloucestershire Constabulary, Staffordshire Police and Wiltshire Police. Unfortunately, I have had to move West Midlands Police and Nottinghamshire Police into Engage because of serious concerns about their performance.

The police need more support to improve than we can give them with our current powers and funding. In my report last year, I recommended the introduction of some additional powers for the inspectors of constabulary. The previous Home Secretary said that legislative change wouldn’t be possible within that Parliament. I remain resolute: these powers are required.

Our budget has become increasingly strained, having remained static at approximately £25 million a year for the past five years. This means the resources available to me have substantially declined in real terms at a time when the need for inspection is greater than ever.

All organisations need to prioritise, but the list of things we may soon be unable to do is growing increasingly unpalatable. And there is so much more that we could do to keep the public safe. I am recommending that the Government increases our budget by £13 million a year at the next spending review. This is a very small amount compared to the approximate £20 billion spent each year on the police and fire and rescue services. This would be a worthy investment to make sure forces improve, and ultimately, make communities safer.

Full Report

https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets-hmicfrs.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/uploads/state-of-policing-2023.pdf