Response by the Police and Crime Commissioner to HMIC Inspections of Hampshire Constabulary Inspection Details
Title of Inspection: PEEL: police legitimacy 2016- Hampshire Constabulary Date Inspection Published: 8th December 2016 Deadline for Response: 8th January 2017 Type of Inspection: Hampshire Constabulary Specific
Thematic
National
Partner Inspection
Follow up Is Hampshire Constabulary quoted? Yes No Are there any recommendations / areas for improvement? National Local
Date response sent: 30/01/2017 (Responses to be sent to SofS.section55responses@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk & PCC@hmic.gsi.gov.uk )
FORCE RESPONSE: As part of the annual PEEL inspection process, HMIC (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary) has examined the extent to which Hampshire Constabulary treats people with fairness and respect, the extent to which it ensures the workforce acts ethically and lawfully, and the extent to which the Constabulary workforce itself feels it has been treated with fairness and respect by the force. The overall judgement of HMIC was that Hampshire’s approach to legitimacy is good. Its findings in 2016 are consistent with those of 2015, in which HMIC also judged the force to be good. This HMIC inspection took place after the Constabulary delivered all the planned for savings by April 2016. Unlike a number of other forces at the time of their inspections, Hampshire was already working to new establishment figures in line with the allocated budget. HMIC recognised that Hampshire Constabulary is good at treating the people it serves with fairness and respect and that this is a central part of the force’s values. It was equally recognised that the force actively seeks feedback and challenge from a variety of sources for example, from independent advisory groups, independent custody visitors and online surveys, as well as by working with specific groups in the community. This information is acted upon to improve service to the public and ensures the workforce is aware of good practice and lessons learnt by publishing examples on the force intranet. HMIC noted that Hampshire Constabulary has a systematic approach to clarifying and reinforcing acceptable and unacceptable behaviour, and that it is effective at identifying threats to the integrity of the organisation and undertakes proactive and reactive investigations to identify potential corruption. This is recognised by the workforce which is aware of the confidential service for reporting information about possible corruption. Pertinently in light of the focus on this area, HMIC found that Hampshire Constabulary recognises the abuse of authority for sexual gain (taking advantage of a position of power to exploit vulnerable victims of crime) as serious corruption.
Date response sent: 30/01/2017 (Responses to be sent to SofS.section55responses@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk & PCC@hmic.gsi.gov.uk )
HMIC has not identified any causes of concern and has therefore made no specific recommendations for the force. It has however but has identified the following eight areas for improvement: 1) The force should improve how it seeks feedback from the people it serves about their perceptions of how the police have treated them. 2) The force should ensure that it acts on learning and feedback to improve how it treats all the people it serves. 3) The force should improve how it clarifies and reinforces standards of behaviour to its workforce, in particular when dealing with vulnerable people, including victims of domestic abuse. 4) Annually, the force should produce a local counter-corruption strategic assessment and control strategy, to identify risks to the force’s integrity. 5) The force should ensure that it has the capability and capacity to monitor all its computer systems to identify risks to the force’s integrity. 6) Hampshire Constabulary requires improvement in how it treats its workforce with care and respect. This is not a judgment about the ethos of the force, nor does all performance fall within this category, but rather a reflection of the force’s reliance on systems which are not fully integrated so does not fully understand staff welfare and performance. 7) The force should improve its workforce’s access to occupational health provision to address as a priority. 8) The force should improve how it manages individual performance. (The force as a whole does not have access to a PDR system through which it can gather and monitor data centrally. This is another example of the lack of adequate human resources information available to the force, which means that it cannot reassure itself that the use of PDR is fair and effective. This is an important area that HMIC encourage the force These issues have been recognised in the Constabulary and action plans have been established with the relevant key players to address the identified areas. As part of the ongoing ‘Insight’ visits paid by HMIC to the Constabulary, established dialogues will ensure that progress against these plans are monitored and acted upon.
Date response sent: 30/01/2017 (Responses to be sent to SofS.section55responses@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk & PCC@hmic.gsi.gov.uk )
PCC RESPONSE TO THE REPORT: “I am pleased that Hampshire Constabulary ‘Legitimacy’ has been rated as good, I am also glad that HMIC recognise that the force takes the issues of misconduct seriously and is good at treating the public it serves fairly and with respect. The Inspectorate did not identify any causes for concern. While no recommendations have been made, HMIC have identified areas for improvement. As I continue to empower the Chief Constable to ensure effective and efficient operational policing, I have no doubt that the Chief Constable will implement and monitor the necessary areas where the Constabulary can still do better, while remaining good at engaging with her workforce. In working to deliver my Police and Crime Plan priorities, I look to the Chief Constable to ensure Hampshire Constabulary is fit for purpose and can deploy the necessary resources to fulfil the legitimacy criteria. In congratulating my Constabulary for its recognition in the latest HMIC reports, I want to reiterate my promise, to fight for the necessary funding so that the residents of Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton have a force that is adequately and fairly funded to meet their professional needs – and necessary to deliver the operationally effective modern policing we need to keep us all safer into the future.”
Michael Lane, Police and Crime Commissioner
Date response sent: 30/01/2017 (Responses to be sent to SofS.section55responses@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk & PCC@hmic.gsi.gov.uk )