This year, for the first time, we have assessed leadership across the force. The assessment has led to a narrative rather than graded judgment, which is summarised below.
Read more about my assessment of Greater Manchester Police’s performance this year, including exceptional events and where I would like to see improvements next year.
I am pleased with the performance of Greater Manchester Police in keeping people safe and reducing crime.
I particularly welcome the progress the force has made in protecting the most vulnerable people. This reflects the considerable effort and resources that the force has invested following HMIC’s 2014 domestic abuse inspection. The force also has good arrangements in place to identify and disrupt organised criminality, and it works well to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour. However, the force needs to improve the quality and supervision of investigations of those crimes assessed as ‘non-complex’.
I was reassured by the force’s sound understanding of the demand for its service, especially given the complexity of the policing environment in which it operates, and I am pleased that it is developing this further. However, based on the plans available at the time of our efficiency inspection in spring 2015, the force’s projected workforce model is not sustainable or affordable beyond 2015/16. The force had developed various options for a workforce that addresses this, all of which were at an early stage of design at the time of inspection.
I feel that the force has made strides into improving the culture within the organisation, although some staff representative groups have expressed concern that the force leadership has been slow to respond to historic issues of unfairness. I was impressed by some excellent examples of engagement and close working with the diverse communities of Greater Manchester. I was also pleased to see that the force has made progress in its use of stop and search, having introduced an improved recording system.
Description of force area
Greater Manchester Police provides policing services to the metropolitan area of Greater Manchester. Although there are areas of great affluence, Greater Manchester has a high level of poverty. Around 2.7 million people live in an urban setting. This major conurbation includes Manchester and Salford, as well as the large surrounding towns. The residential population is ethnically diverse, with 16 percent from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, and is increased by very large numbers of university students and the large numbers who visit, socialise in, commute into, or travel through the region. The transport infrastructure includes major rail stations and a major airport.
The proportion of areas in Greater Manchester that are predicted to present a very high challenge to the police is higher than the national average. These are characterised by social deprivation or a concentration of commercial premises (including licensed premises), and in some cases both.
Exceptional events
A number of protests and demonstrations have taken place following suggestions that so-called fracking sites may be licensed in Greater Manchester, and the force mounted the security operation for the Conservative Party conference in October 2015.
In December 2015, there were major floods and the force was instrumental in protecting life, property and livestock in parts of Greater Manchester.
Working arrangements
The area of Greater Manchester is one of the first areas in the UK in which all public bodies will be managed at a local level. As such, the role of the police and crime commissioner will now be undertaken by the elected Mayor. The devolution of public bodies aims to improve outcomes and reduce public spending through joint working across the public, private, community and voluntary sectors reducing duplication and improving the coordination of services. Greater Manchester Police has been recognised as being the main driver for greater integration. An excellent example is Project Challenger, in which local authorities work directly with the police to tackle serious and organised crime.
There have been significant changes to the chief officer team. The new chief constable (the former deputy chief constable) was appointed in October 2015 and a new deputy chief constable in January 2016. Further appointments will be made to assistant chief constable vacancies in 2016.
Effectiveness
In our effectiveness inspection, we judged Greater Manchester Police to be good at keeping people safe and reducing crime. The force has good arrangements in place to tackle serious and organised crime. It works well to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour. The force is also good at protecting vulnerable people from harm. However, the way in which the force investigates crime could be improved, most notably its investigation of non-complex crime. This is the first year HMIC has graded forces on their overall effectiveness so a year-on-year comparison is not possible.
Efficiency
Greater Manchester Police is adequately prepared to face its future financial challenges. It has a good understanding of the demand for its service and is developing this further. It has a good track record of achieving savings and has set a balanced budget for 2015/16. However, plans to develop a new workforce model are in the early stages and the force needs to agree a model that will meet demand beyond 2016 within its available budget. In last year’s value for money inspection, which considered how forces had met the challenge of the previous spending review period, Greater Manchester Police was judged to be good.
Legitimacy
The force recognises that it needs to improve the force’s ethical culture, moving from one which was focused on numerical performance targets, to a culture capable of delivering improved service with diminishing resources. The majority of police officers and staff we spoke to felt that the culture was improving.
We found many examples where neighbourhood teams had successfully worked closely with their communities, with some excellent examples of local engagement in diverse communities.
Greater Manchester Police complies with most elements of the Best Use of Stop and Search scheme, having recently introduced a new recording system. The use of Taser by officers across the force is fair and appropriate.
This is the first time HMIC has graded forces on their legitimacy, so no year-on-year comparison is possible.
Leadership
Greater Manchester Police is a well led force with a clear understanding of the capacity and capability of its leadership. The force has communicated clearly its expectations of leaders, and has made a concerted effort to empower its staff and officers in taking decisions.
While the force provides extensive leadership development and training, it could do more to improve its identification and development of talented individuals. Many police staff and officers are unaware of the talent management process, and senior managers do not follow it consistently.
Insights from other inspections
HMIC undertakes other inspections in addition to the PEEL programme. Since the last PEEL assessment there have been nine reports published on inspections that included Greater Manchester Police. More detail on some of these inspections can be found under the Other inspections section.
Looking ahead to PEEL 2016
In the year ahead, I will be interested to see how the force responds to this assessment, and the areas for improvement that HMIC has identified in the last year.
I will be particularly interested to see:
- developments in the quality and supervision of investigations into ‘non-complex’ crime such as criminal damage, theft and minor assaults;
- continued work around the wellbeing of the workforce;
- commencement of the £30 million information strategy transformation project;
- continuing work to improve the force’s understanding of the demands it faces, along with the development of plans to match the workforce model to the force’s budget beyond 2016; and
- the direction set for the force by the new chief officer team.
Unlike the majority of police force areas across England and Wales, the Greater Manchester Police area will not be affected by the police and crime commissioner (PCC) elections in May 2016. Scrutiny of the force is conducted by an interim mayor (the post holder is currently also the PCC), with the first full election planned in 2017.
