North Yorkshire Police Requires Improvement in Multiple Areas

North Yorkshire Police has been rated as either requiring improvement or inadequate in 5 out of 8 areas covered by it's latest inspection.

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Fire and Rescue Service (HMICFRS) has today published the report of its PEEL Inspection of North Yorkshire Police. The PEEL inspection covers the areas of Effectiveness, Efficiency and Legitimacy across a number of sub-headings. The inspection was completed in October 2022.

HMICFRS has confirmed their grading of North Yorkshire Police performance as follows:

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary says the force is inadequate at planning, management and providing value for money.

It requires improvement in responding to the public, investigating crime, protecting vulnerable people and supporting and protecting it's workforce.

The report has been published today, but the Chief Constable - Lisa Winward - received a draft report last October.

Commenting on the report Lisa Winward, Chief Constable, said:

“The publication of the HMICFRS PEEL inspection report shares the findings of an independent and detailed audit of the force and I value and welcome the scrutiny of the inspectors and thank them for their work. The report highlights a number of areas that the force delivers well but also reports on a significant number of areas that require improvement. A number of these relate to the corporate capacity and capability of the organisation linked to workforce planning, governance, performance management, financial planning, and the overall efficiency and effectiveness of our shared enabling services.

“They told us that while the right actions might be taking place on the ground by our people, they were not able to find sufficient evidence of how this was directed and overseen through our governance structure. The Inspectors told us that every single person they spoke to was committed, fully engaged in their work and doing a really good job in difficult circumstances. They told us that our people take pride in being part of North Yorkshire Police and that there is a strong sense of belonging in the force."

Speaking at a recent budget meeting the chief said an Organisational Improvement Plan has already been put in place, which will lead to a major reshaping of the force.

The Chief Constable adds:

“Since we received the hot debrief from HMICFRS in October 2022, we have been working at a pace to address the issues that they have raised so we can focus on our core responsibilities to the public.

“The Organisational Improvement Plan that we have put in place focuses on achieving the standards required to deliver a good service to our communities. The force has been through a significant period of change since our last inspection in 2018, and in particular to our corporate services where our inadequate grading has been identified. We are investing heavily to make these changes.

• The Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner has already approved £1.85M investment into our Force Control Room and we are already seeing the benefits of this investment with an average of 72% of 999 calls being answered within 10 secs in Feb 2023 compared to 46% answered within 10 secs in July 2022.
• We have improved the average time for immediate attendance at urban and rural incidents by over 2.5 minutes from February 2022 (16.8 mins) to February 2023 (14.2 mins).
• We are building up our Safeguarding team with 21 additional posts being added in phase 1 of the programme.
• We have invested in our fleet with 63 new vans being rolled out in the coming months to support our front line officers in servicing calls from the public effectively.
• We have committed £400k to cutting our digital forensics backlog with an ambition to achieve a 50% reduction in the backlog by the end of June 2023. This will ensure that mobile devices will be turned around within much shorter timescales.
•  We have introduced training in diversity and inclusion as well as a new First Line Leader Programme and Middle Manager Programme.

“These are particular examples but right across the force we are working to implement a greater level of leadership oversight and performance management on our processes and systems.

“It is worth adding that the Inspectors also found good examples of innovative police work. They particularly highlighted our work with other organisations to divert young people away from offending and to reduce the vulnerability of people becoming victims of crime; a great example of our early intervention work. They noted that our workforce understands the importance of treating the public with fairness and respect. That the force is undertaking effective investigations and that most investigations are well-supervised. They also report that we are effective in apprehending and managing suspects and offenders to protect the public from harm.

“We are implementing an effective improvement plan that I believe will significantly improve our performance across the whole range of HMICFRS metrics and will deliver an improved service to our communities. As the safest place in the country, I can assure the communities of North Yorkshire and the City of York that we remain absolutely committed to keeping you safe, and feeling safe.”

North Yorkshire's Police, Fire and Crime Commisioner - Zoe Metcalfe - says she is "more than disappointed" with some areas of the report, adding that "It’s unacceptable that North Yorkshire Police requires improvement in multiple areas"

The Commissioner said:

“As Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for York and North Yorkshire it is my statutory responsibility to set strategic priorities on behalf of the public, annual budgets, and hold the Chief Constable to account for the services that North Yorkshire Police (NYP) delivers to keep our communities safe and feeling safe.

“I welcome regular inspections from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), because the reports are an independent and rigorous assessment which I can use to intensify the level of scrutiny required to ensure North Yorkshire Police are aspiring towards becoming an outstanding service.

“I’m pleased to see the latest report recognise the good work that takes place to engage with the public and treat people with fairness and respect. Notably this includes the creative ways in which Neighbourhood Policing Teams engage with communities and how North Yorkshire Police monitors the use of force and stop and search powers well.
 
“The ways in which North Yorkshire Police responds to the public has been criticised but I expect to see immediate change in this area after recently approving an investment of 1.8 million into the Force Control Room. This is expected to transform how quickly 999 and 101 calls are answered and re-instate confidence amongst the public, whilst also ensuring the wider Customer Contact Function is fit for the future and continuing to meet the needs of communities in the longer term. I have been assured this will continue and that I’ll see a drastic improvement by the end of the year.

“Unfortunately, I’m more than disappointed with other findings in the report and I’m sure members of the public will be too. It’s unacceptable that North Yorkshire Police requires improvement in multiple areas, in particular its strategic planning, organisational management and value for money – clearly more needs to be done and is being done as I continue to hold the Chief Constable to account. Our Police Force needs to do significantly better.

“I’m confident that the Chief Constable is overseeing significant transformation work within North Yorkshire Police to improve these outcomes, and that since October 2022 has implemented a trusted organisational improvement plan that can be effective at pace. To reinforce this confidence, HMICFRS have acknowledged that North Yorkshire Police has worked closely with inspection staff, responded well to initial findings and acted quickly to address concerns and areas for improvement.

“As Commissioner my role is clear, to intensify scrutiny activity, challenge the areas that need improving and continue to be the advocate for communities who want their voices heard. I’m bolstering my approach to this in 2023 with a relaunch of my Public Accountability Meetings, during which I will regularly question and request information from North Yorkshire Police in relation to specific areas of the HMICFRS report and hold Chief Officers to account for progress made on behalf of the public. My scrutiny work does not stop at these meetings and will continue in every scrutiny panel, executive board, committee and other frequent interaction I have with police services for assurance the Force is on track with their plans. There is no accepting simply what I am told; I must receive evidence of transformation in all areas for improvement.  

“The Chief Constable has spoken out about the operational concerns and good practice detailed in the report and I will dive deeper into this response during a live broadcast of my Public Accountability on Monday 20 March at 2.30pm.

Documents relating to the meeting can be found on my website from today and I invite the public to watch the session if they can and if not, a recording will be made available. Please visit: https://bit.ly/PAM20March2023

“In addition, I encourage any member of the public to send questions or concerns for us to address during the live meeting. Please email info@northyorkshire-pfcc.gov.uk or to ask a question during the live broadcast, post your question on Twitter using #NYscrutiny

“HMICFRS have expressed Cause for Concern about North Yorkshire Police's internal governance. Essentially, they say that the Chief Constable and her team must have a better system in place for running the internal workings of their organisation. The Force needs to make sure that they are clear what their business needs are from their support services and how they can best be met. I agree with HMI about that.

“Ultimately what I expect to see from North Yorkshire Police is the clear delivery of outcomes in line with the public priorities set out in my Police and Crime Plan, which include enhancing positive culture, working to prevent harm and damage and to deliver the “Right people, Right Support” every time.

“The inspection team identified that North Yorkshire Police staff are proud to serve their communities and I proudly believe that North Yorkshire Police continues to be a dedicated and hard-working public service, however, there needs to be significant progress to address the issues raised in this report and I have set the expectation with the Chief Constable that upon re-inspection in October 2023, I need to see overall gradings moved into the 'good’ category.”