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 Staffordshire Police’s performance this year, including where I would like to see improvements next year.
I have been impressed by some aspects of the performance of Staffordshire Police. However other elements are of concern to me. I am reassured by the positive response the force has made to address the issues that we have raised.
The force works well with partner organisations and is good at preventing crime and anti-social behaviour. It also works well to tackle serious and organised crime. However our inspections identified serious weaknesses in the services the force provides to protect and support vulnerable victims, most notably victims of domestic abuse. We also found a small number of staff displaying troubling attitudes towards victims and other people who are vulnerable.
I am pleased that work is now being undertaken by the force to improve the consistency and quality of the way it protects and supports vulnerable people, and to improve the quality of crime investigations. I am also reassured by the additional training the force is providing to address the unacceptable manner in which some victims were being treated. The force will want to evaluate and test the effectiveness of the training in addressing this issue.
In marked contrast, I congratulate the leadership of the force for its clear vision for transforming policing in Staffordshire over the next four years. It has a good understanding of its current demand and has developed processes to allow it to make informed choices about resource allocation throughout the force. Within its transformational change programme, the force is testing a new operating model that integrates investigators within other frontline staff and requires fewer dedicated neighbourhood officers.
Staffordshire Police uses an extensive range of methods to engage with local people, including surveys, public engagement activities and effective use of social media. As a result, the force has an excellent understanding of its communities. This helps it to work with partner organisations in meeting differing needs for services.
Description of force area
Staffordshire Police provides policing services to the county of Staffordshire. Although there are some more affluent areas, Staffordshire has a high level of poverty. Around 1.1 million people mainly live within the urban centres which include the city of Stoke-on-Trent and the towns of Burton-upon-Trent and Stafford. The resident population is increased by university students and the large numbers who visit, socialise, or travel through the area each year. The transport infrastructure includes major rail stations.
The proportion of areas in Staffordshire that are predicted to present a very high challenge to the police is lower than the national average. These are characterised by social deprivation or a concentration of commercial premises (including licensed premises), and in some cases both. Providing services across the entirety of the force area is hindered by the road network.
Working arrangements
The force collaborates with West Midlands Police to fulfil its responsibilities for managing firearms licensing and with several other forces in the Central Motorway Patrol Group. The force is developing a joint transport strategy with the fire and rescue service.
Effectiveness
In our effectiveness inspection, we judged Staffordshire Police to require improvement in the way in which it keeps people safe and reduces crime. HMIC found a mixed picture of performance. The force works well with partner organisations and is good at preventing crime and anti-social behaviour; it also works well to tackle serious and organised crime. However, improvements are needed in the way it investigates crime and manages offenders. Of more serious concern are aspects of the services it provides to keep vulnerable victims safe, which were found to be inadequate. This is the first year HMIC has graded forces on their overall effectiveness so a year-on-year comparison is not possible.
Efficiency
Staffordshire Police is well prepared to face its future financial challenges. It has a good understanding of its current demand and has developed processes to allow it to make informed choices about resource allocation throughout the force. The force has strong financial management and has made all of the savings required for the spending review period. In last year’s value for money inspection, which considered how forces had met the challenge of the previous spending review period, Staffordshire was judged to be outstanding.
Legitimacy
The chief constable has set out a vision for the workforce to ‘do the right thing’ when serving the public, and most of the workforce reported that an ethical culture forms part of everyday policing. Officers and staff consistently engage very effectively with the public and understand their needs.
Staffordshire Police is not compliant with the Best Use of Stop and Search scheme, and we have concerns about the recording of reasonable grounds for lawful use of the power. The force uses Taser fairly and appropriately.
This is the first time HMIC has graded forces on their legitimacy, so no year-on-year comparison is possible.
Leadership
Staffordshire Police is well led, with values set by the chief constable that the majority of the workforce follows. The leadership is clear, especially in communicating future plans and priorities and in setting expectations, and we found that the workforce at all levels feels strongly involved in this process.
The force is encouraging leaders and motivating the workforce well on an informal level, though it has no formal leadership training courses routinely available above junior management grade. The force would also benefit from a formal system to identify and develop talented individuals for promotion to support the work already carried out in this area.
Insights from other inspections
HMIC undertakes other inspections in addition to the PEEL programme. Since the last PEEL assessment there have been four reports published on inspections that included Staffordshire 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, along with the causes of concern and areas for improvement that HMIC has identified in the last year.
I will be particularly interested to see:
- improvements in the force’s response to victims of domestic abuse to address weaknesses in how the force identifies, assesses and responds to risk;
- improvements in the overall service provided to – vulnerable people and improvements in attitude displayed to victims;
- continued improvement in the quality of investigations;
- compliance with the Best Use of Stop and Search scheme; and
- improved effectiveness and efficiency of the force as a result of the new operating model.
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.
