His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) have published its police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy (PEEL) inspection of North Yorkshire Police.
The report looks at 9 areas, and categorises.
- Outstanding
- None
- Good
- Leadership and force management
- Developing a diverse, inclusive workforce
- Police powers and public treatment
- Preventing and deterring crime
- Safeguarding children and adults
- Managing fraud
- Adequate
- Responding to the public
- Investigating crime
- Requires improvement
- Providing a safe custody environment
- Inadequate
- None
The HMICFRS Inspector makes clear comment around the custody provision, however comments received from North Yorkshire Police, The North Yorkshire Mayor, or Deputy fail to mention the “Requires Improvement” issue.
The report itself makes mentions of measures that are being implemented to improve custody, but it is something that should be commented on by those that manage or oversee the police force.
There are significant areas of improvement.
Scott Bisset, Deputy Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police, said:
We welcome all the findings of HMICFRS in its PEEL Report into North Yorkshire Police. Achieving six very solid good gradings demonstrates the excellent progress we are making in our ambition to be an outstanding force, which provides the best service to victims and communities across the City of York and North Yorkshire. This is a true reflection of the hard work and commitment to public service of all those working at North Yorkshire Police.
The report represents independent findings which show that North Yorkshire Police has continued to improve over the last three years. We have demonstrated a focus on prevention, with a 9.5 per cent reduction in crime over the last two years. We are arresting more criminals more quickly, are third in the country for charging suspects and detect more crime than two years ago. This work is contributing to the lowest overall crime rate per head of population across England and Wales and North Yorkshire Police also has one of the highest public confidence ratings.
Our average answer time for 999 calls has reduced from seven seconds to four seconds in the last two years.
The average wait time for a member of the public who calls us with a non-emergency call has decreased from four minutes and 41 seconds to three minutes in the last two years – but we still have a firm focus on improving our response to 101 calls.
As much as we recognise the progress, we still have work to do. North Yorkshire Police is not complacent.
Specific areas for improvement have been identified in the report and we will continue to work hard, including with our partners, to address the important areas identified. As the report states, we have already taken robust steps to address any recommended areas for improvement and the focus continues.
Michelle Skeer OBE QPM, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary and of Fire & Rescue Service, said in her HM Inspector’s summary:
I am pleased with the performance of North Yorkshire Police in keeping people safe, reducing crime and giving victims an effective service. The force has made improvements since our last inspection, particularly in its leadership and support for the workforce.
But I have concerns about how the force is managing its custody areas.
The force has good governance in place. It has clear strategic plans informed by accurate information and a detailed performance framework.
Its funding is within the typical range for forces in England and Wales. The chief officer team is now stable, and the chief officers give regular briefings. This is positive for its performance and culture in the future.
The force level of long-term sickness is higher than the typical range for forces in England and Wales.
We were pleased to see that the force was working to improve workforce well-being. Officers and staff told us they felt well supported by their immediate supervisors.
The force is providing officers and staff with the right training
to carry out their roles.The force has effective oversight and scrutiny of stop and search. It is working to improve disproportionality as this is higher than the average for forces in England
and Wales.The force is making changes to its recording of use of force. This is so that officers can record their justification for use of force in more detail.
Neighbourhood policing teams identify and address community problems to prevent crime and reduce antisocial behaviour. The force has well-established neighbourhood policing teams. The number of neighbourhood officers it has is within the typical range
for forces in England and Wales.Its work with schools and other organisations to deter children and young people from knife crime is promising practice.
Since our last inspection, the force has invested in its control room. It has improved how quickly it answers emergency calls. But it needs to reduce the number of non-emergency calls that callers abandon because of the delay in answering them.
It is working to improve how it manages and supervises incidents that don’t need an emergency or priority response.
The force has reviewed its approach to investigating crime. It is implementing the recommendations from this review. These changes should make sure it properly allocates, plans and supervises investigations, so that victims get the service they deserve.
It also needs to make sure victim needs are assessed, those entitled to enhanced services are identified and victim contracts are agreed.
Since our 2023–25 PEEL inspection, the force has improved how it protects vulnerable people.
The force is working well with multi-agency partners to safeguard and reduce the risk of harm to vulnerable people. It should improve its recording practices when crimes are identified during meetings with other agencies.
The force understands the impact of fraud on its communities. It has made this a priority. It has sufficient capability and capacity to manage the fraud investigations well. It uses community messenger, a two-way digital system for communicating with the public, to give fraud protection advice to the public.
It works with the local university to raise students’ awareness of fraud. It should take available opportunities to continue to build on this fraud protection approach.
The force began acting on our feedback about its custody suites at the time of this inspection. It should improve its oversight of custody. It only arrests children as a last resort, but it should make sure it protects their rights. It should also improve the risk assessments of all detainees throughout their time in custody and upon their release.
We found that the force treated detainees with dignity, respect and appropriate care. Detainees were able to exercise their legal rights.
I am optimistic that North Yorkshire Police will continue to make improvements.
I have given North Yorkshire Police recommendations that set out the areas it needs to focus on, and I will continue to monitor its performance.
David Skaith, Mayor of York and North Yorkshire said:
These inspection results reflect the hard work, professionalism and commitment of officers, and staff across North Yorkshire Police. Over recent years the force has taken real steps to improve how it keeps people safe in our region.
The progress made is welcome but we must be clear – good is the minimum the public expect. The inspection is also clear that there is still work to do. The public have a right to feel safe wherever they live or work in our region and my expectation is that North Yorkshire Police must continue this progress towards becoming an outstanding police force.
Jo Coles, Deputy Mayor for Policing, Fire and Crime, who has delegated responsibility for police and fire, said:
Previous HMICFRS inspections identified clear areas for improvement, and it is encouraging to see how much progress North Yorkshire Police have made. Working alongside Mayor David Skaith I will continue to hold the Chief Constable to account to monitor progress against the inspection recommendations, especially around custody and responding to the public to ensure the positive momentum of recent years is maintained. It’s also vital that we optimise the opportunities from devolution and the combined authority to support North Yorkshire Police on its journey to move from being a good to an outstanding police force.
This inspection also reinforces the need for national policing reforms to be focused on delivery, strong local accountability and building public confidence. In York and North Yorkshire we will always want changes and reforms to be focused on what can best improve public safety and, as we’ve said previously, the Mayor and I are concerned any Yorkshire wide police mergers would put this at risk.
