Agenda item

Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson, OBE to provide an update on issues including the PEEL inspection.

The Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC), Naji Darwish, compared the findings of the 2024 Police Effectiveness, Efficiency and Legitimacy (PEEL) inspection to the previous inspection in 2021 and outlined ways in which the OPCC was supporting Wiltshire Police to make further improvements. Points included:

·       His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) monitored 10 different areas of service across the 43 police forces in England and Wales. The PEEL process, their regular inspection of forces, was a vital part of governance and oversight.

·       A HMICFRS liaison officer monitored Wiltshire Police between inspections and regularly attended meetings. During the recent inspection, HMICFRS interviewed officers of all ranks and dip sampled cases.

·       The 2021 inspection has identified several serious issues and had put Wiltshire Police into the ENGAGE process, which they came out of in June 2024.

·       It was pleasing to note that Wiltshire Police had been rated as good at preventing crime and managing offenders in the 2024 inspection.

·       It was important to identify areas in which Wiltshire Police had done really well. The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) had attended the first graduation ceremony of the We Rise Programme in September, a leadership programme aimed at investing in underrepresented groups within Wiltshire Police. Many of the new graduates were able to share their experiences at the event.

·       Although the innovative practice implemented since 2021 had been praised, and Wiltshire Police was found to have improved in all areas, the PCC believed that there was still much work to do.

·       The 2024 HMICFRS inspection identified that further action was required in a number of areas, most of which related to data quality and the timeliness of the recording of crime in line with Home Office requirements.

·       Other areas identified for improvement included, giving more confidence to officers in using stop and search powers, speeding up response times to calls and improving the oversight of investigations.

·       The OPCC and Chief Constable Catherine Roper accepted the findings of the HMICFRS PEEL report. They were pleased that the fundamental elements of policing, such as direction and leadership, had improved since 2021 but were keen to achieve greater consistency of delivery.

·       All of the findings from the 2024 inspection would be incorporated into governance and monitoring processes by Wiltshire Police and the OPCC.

·       HMICFRS welcomed the transparency from Wiltshire Police about the areas in which they needed to improve. The Chief Executive was pleased that HMICFRS had not found any areas in need of improvement that had not already been identified by Wiltshire Police, as he saw it as an indication of the improved leadership throughout the force.

·       There were still a number of long-term challenges, such as improving the use of data, the response times from the Crime and Communications Centre (CCC) and ensuring that victims were kept updated about the progress of their investigations. Continued improvement in culture and behaviour would be key to continue improvements throughout the force.

During the discussion, the following points were made:

·       The Panel thanked the Chief Executive for his update and welcomed the improvements made since the PEEL inspection in 2021.

·       When further details were sought about how changes to performance would be delivered, the Chief Executive explained that a culture of accountability was key. Great improvements had been made, but it was important to continue to spread this throughout the workforce. Clarity of tasking, appropriate governance and effective performance management mechanisms, were particularly important as Wiltshire Police had a relatively inexperienced workforce. Tiers of leadership management training were now in place, with help available for those new to management positions, such as first-time sergeants. Chief Constable Roper would be able to provide further detail when she attended the Panel’s next meeting.

·       In response to queries about the key challenges facing the CCC and the system wide impact that they had on response times, the Chief Executive emphasised that resourcing was an important factor. He noted that the CCC was fully staffed for the first time in five or six years. Whilst matching staffing levels to demand was important, the full benefits would take time to emerge as the newer staff gained the necessary experience. He also highlighted that new ‘queue buster’ technology was being introduced and pilot studies were underway to enable automatic data transfer between screens. Members of the public would be able to hang up and receive a call back, so they were not kept waiting on the line for extended periods.

·       Consideration was being given to how transfer times with the call operator could be improved and, longer term, a review would be undertaken to establish whether Wiltshire had the best available call system on the market.

·       The Panel offered to help if there was anything the two local authorities could do to assist with improving call times.

·       When pressed about whether the Chief Executive thought that the combination of being fully staffed and the new technology purchased would put the Crime Reporting and Incident Bureau (CRIB) in the top quarter of performance for forces nationally, he explained that the OPCC and Wiltshire Police would review performance over the next three months to monitor the impact of the changes. Although he noted that improvements were being made in call response times, he explained that, following this review period, further conversations would take place with the Chief Constable about the resources required to make significant improvements. Furthermore, the OPCC would continue to work with Wiltshire Police to ensure that demand was being managed in the best way, for example ensuring that queries went to the right people as well as to better understand the impact of diverting staff from CRIB from non-emergency to 999 calls during busy periods.

·       When asked about whether the Chief Constable had set a timeline for call response targets to be reached, it was noted that the aim was for continual improvement. The Chief Constable would be able to provide further detail about the revised processes at the Panel’s November meeting.

·       It was suggested by a member of the Panel that it might be worth setting up a general query ‘phone line to relive pressure on the 101 service. The Chief Executive said that he would consider the suggestion during discussions about to divert demand away from the CCC. They would also review what information needed to be on Wiltshire Police’s website to see if that could help to manage call numbers and allow the public to access information more quickly.

·       The Chief Executive highlighted that the PEEL inspection had shown in 2021 that improving call times was not purely about financial resources but was also about processes and how resources were being used.

·       The Panel noted that they wanted to see improvements in response to call times, especially as the precept had been increased in recent years.

·       The 2021 PEEL inspection had identified issues with how the Threat, Harm, Risk, Vulnerability and Engagement (THRIVE) Model was being followed to support victims, but the 2024 inspection had found that a more rigorous process was in place.

·       When asked about what Wiltshire Police were doing to improve the investigation of crime, an area identified as requiring improvement in the 2024 PEEL inspection, the Chief Executive spoke about the importance of supervision and consistency throughout investigations. He noted that the quality of investigation had improved over the past 18 months, as evidenced by the Formal Action Taken (FAT) rate increasing to be the third or fourth best in the country. He highlighted that the FAT rate for crimes against women and girls was very disappointing, but this was the situation nationally and Wiltshire compared well to similar forces. A national strategy had been developed to help tackle this issue.

·       Wiltshire Police had its highest number of police officers since 2011.

·       The Panel reported that they liked email contacts for individual officers to be made publicly available, in addition to group email accounts, to improve accountability and openness.

·       A substitute/deputy member of the Panel highlighted that she would like to see police stations made more accessible to the public, explaining that she had been unable to get hold of anyone at Gable Cross Police Station during the daytime. The Chief Executive observed that recent decades had seen a trend where fewer people were accessing services directly through police stations, but he recognised that it was important to maintain the appropriate balance between online, ‘phone and in-person reporting options. He offered to take details after the meeting.

·       Given the pressures on the 101 service, assurances were sought that Wiltshire Police had the appropriate reporting mechanisms in place to deal with the recent rise in hate crime. In reply, the Chief Executive stressed the importance of the call abandonment rate and ensuring that calls established the right threat assessment to understand the vulnerability of victims. Lots of analysis was being undertaken to understand what was happening after calls were abandoned, such as whether the caller ‘phoned back and whether they tried to call 999 after initially calling 101. He also recognised that hate crimes could have an impact not just on individual victims, but on wider communities and their confidence in the police. This issue had been discussed at a performance board with the Chief Constable following the recent disturbances in other parts of the country.

·       When asked about what lessons Wiltshire Police were taking from good and outstanding forces to help improve call response times and abandonment rates, the Chief Executive reported that Wiltshire Police made regular visits to other forces. He noted that most forces were able to invest more in their CCCs than in Wiltshire, as Wiltshire was one of the lowest funded forces per capita in the country. Discussions would be held with the Chief Constable about how best to finely balance the available resources.

·       Some of the more longstanding members of the Panel explained that they had had concerns about performance of CCC over many years and said they would welcome a faster rate of improvement.    

·       The Panel requested that a report was bought to their next meeting comparing the financial investment in the CCC per capita with all of the other forces in the country. They also requested that they were given the OPCC and Chief Constable’s views about how much additional funding would be required to put Wiltshire’s call response times in the fastest quartile of forces nationally.

·       The Chairman argued that the CCC should be the top priority area for investment as it was the first interaction between the public and the police. He felt that if the CCC was not operating effectively then the entire system would not be operating properly, so extra resources should be put in even if it meant reducing spending in other areas. 

·       Some members of the Panel had been given feedback from their local parishes saying that, although they recognised that significant progress had been made, they were keen for data from Auto Speed Watch and Speed Indicator Devices to be utilised more effectively.

·       The Panel requested that a report was bought to their next meeting about the work being done alongside local communities to coordinate speeding data, as well as the next steps that could be taken to utilise it.