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 Northumbria Police performance this year, including exceptional events and where I would like to see improvements next year.
I am satisfied with most aspects of Northumbria Police’s performance in keeping people safe and reducing crime, but there are some areas that need to be improved in order to provide a consistently good service.
The force is effective in preventing crime and the service provided to victims is reliable. The standards of investigation are generally high and there are good arrangements in place to tackle serious and organised crime. I welcome the strong focus on managing offenders to reduce offending.
Overall, the force provides a good response to and safeguards missing children and victims of domestic abuse, and is well prepared to tackle child sexual exploitation. The force has effective arrangements in place with partner agencies to keep vulnerable people safe. The force has a strong commitment to protect vulnerable victims with training supporting this approach along with clear and consistently-applied processes to identify repeat and vulnerable victims to ensure an appropriate and timely response.
I was reassured that the force achieved its saving requirements for the spending review period while continuing to protect local policing. It has set a balanced budget for 2015/16 and has a strong understanding of its likely financial position up to 2018 and its workforce numbers until 2020.
I am concerned that the force does not comply with the Best Use of Stop and Search scheme. At the time of our inspection, there were a number of concerns about the force’s efforts to instil a culture which promoted innovation and a willingness to challenge. I welcome the ethos of being ‘proud to protect’ the communities served by Northumbria Police that is being advocated by the new chief constable.
Description of force area
Northumbria Police provides policing services to the counties of Northumberland and Tyne and Wear. Although there are some affluent areas, Northumbria has a high level of poverty. Around 1.4 million people mainly live in the urban centres which include the cities of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Sunderland, as well as a number of smaller towns on the coast. The resident population is increased by university students and the large numbers who visit, socialise in, or travel through the area each year. The transport infrastructure includes major rail stations, air and sea ports.
The proportion of areas in Northumbria 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
St James’ Park in Newcastle hosted the Magic Weekend, when 12 Rugby Super League teams played six matches over two days in May, attracting significant numbers of supporters to the city.
In October, the same venue hosted three matches as part of Rugby World Cup 2015, with Northumbria Police facilitating an Official Fanzone and other events taking place in and around Newcastle.
Working arrangements
Forensic services are now provided through collaboration with the other forces in the north east, Yorkshire and Humber region. The force is currently exploring opportunities with Cleveland Police and Durham Constabulary to co-locate public order training and police dog facilities.
A new chief constable has been appointed this year.
Effectiveness
In our effectiveness inspection, we judged Northumbria Police to be good at keeping people safe and reducing crime. The force investigates crime well and maintains a strong focus on managing offenders to reduce offending. Officers and staff focus on protecting and supporting vulnerable victims and have been trained accordingly. The force has well-established partnership arrangements with other agencies to improve its understanding of serious and organised criminality and to respond effectively. This is the first year HMIC has graded forces on their overall effectiveness so comparison of their year-on-year effectiveness is not possible.
Efficiency
Northumbria Police is well prepared to face its future financial challenges. The force has successfully reduced its spending over the last spending review period while working hard to protect local policing. For these reasons the force is graded as good. The force’s understanding of demand and the costs involved in providing all of its various services is not yet sufficiently detailed. This is needed to inform the new operating model the force must adopt to meet its budget requirements beyond 2017/18. In last year’s value for money inspection, which considered how forces had met the challenge of the previous spending review period, Northumbria was judged to be good.
Legitimacy
At the time of our inspection, there were a number of concerns about the force’s efforts to instil a culture which promoted innovation and willingness to challenge. This is something the new chief constable is aware of and is addressing.
Local police teams have a good understanding of their neighbourhoods and engage positively with the public. This commitment is reflected in the level of public satisfaction with the services they receive.
Decisions made by Taser-trained officers are generally fair and appropriate and oversight of the use of Taser is strong. The force has more to do in order to comply with the Best Use of Stop and Search scheme.
This is the first time HMIC has graded forces on their legitimacy, so no year-on-year comparison is possible.
Leadership
Northumbria Police has a number of areas which would benefit from stronger leadership. The force cannot consistently identify strengths and areas for development among its leaders individually, or as a team. The force does not have a formal system for identifying and nurturing talent.
The force supports neighbourhood policing and is committed to maintaining and improving support to victims. As a result it has continually high levels of public satisfaction.
Insights from other inspections
HMIC undertakes other inspections in addition to the PEEL programme. Since the last PEEL assessment there have been ten reports published on inspections that included Northumbria 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:
- further development of an organisational culture that is ‘proud to protect’;
- improvements in the wellbeing of the workforce;
- improvements in how the force responds to complaints from the public and how it ensures that complainants have their concerns properly recorded and addressed;
- how the planned additional analytical support will help to tailor interventions to provide greater support and protection for vulnerable people;
- how changes the force is already making improve compliance with the Best Use of Stop and Search scheme; and
- the work to improve the level of understanding of the evidence base in the prevention of crime and anti-social behaviour by drawing from other forces, academics and partners.
In May 2016, like the majority of forces in England and Wales, the force will see the second elections for its police and crime commissioner.
