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 Surrey Police’s performance this year, including exceptional events and where I would like to see improvements next year.
In its PEEL inspections this year, HMIC found some areas of serious concern in the performance of Surrey Police in keeping people safe and reducing crime. In view of these findings, I have been in regular contact with the chief constable and I am reassured by the extremely positive way in which she and the force has acknowledged and responded to the issues we have raised.
At the time of our efficiency inspection, the force was going through an internal reorganisation and was in transition, and I judged the force to be insufficiently well prepared to meet its future financial challenges. While recognising that the force has a good track record of financial management, the workforce model made available to us on the inspection was not affordable; there were too many vacancies in frontline roles and this was placing undue pressures on the organisation. I am reassured that the force had already recognised this and has been taking appropriate steps, through its reorganisation, to protect neighbourhood policing, which has the prevention of crime and anti-social behaviour at its core.
The force is undoubtedly committed to protecting vulnerable people but our vulnerability and child protection inspections raised some serious concerns. The quality and consistency of child protection investigations and the way in which the force handles reports of missing children are both causes of concern. To its credit, the force has responded positively to these issues and has addressed historic underinvestment in these areas by allocating additional resources to help safeguard vulnerable victims and improve the standard of investigations. I commend the force for the significant improvements it has made since our child protection inspection, but I do not underestimate the time that it will take for some of the changes to take effect.
The chief constable, who has now left the force to take up a national position in policing, provided strong leadership and was both visible and approachable. The chief officer team has worked to make ethics an important part of the force’s everyday culture and is committed to the wellbeing of the workforce, responding positively when pressures were apparent in some front line areas. The force communicates well with communities in Surrey, particularly through social media.
Description of force area
Surrey Police provides policing services to the county of Surrey. Surrey is generally affluent. Around 1.2 million people mainly live in the urban centres which include the outskirts of Greater London, as well as several other distinct urban areas, including the towns of Guildford, Reigate, Staines and Esher. The resident population is ethnically diverse, with 10% from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities and 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 Surrey that are predicted to present a very high challenge to the police is broadly in line with 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
In June 2015 the celebration of the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the Magna Carta was held in Surrey. This required a major policing operation with over 600 officers and staff on duty, and over 3,000 guests attending, including Her Majesty the Queen and the Prime Minister. This event, took place in the same month as Armed Forces day, which attracted over 30,000 visitors.
Working arrangements
The force has developed collaborative arrangements with Sussex Police. Although the forces have recently decided not to progress collaboration in some front line operational policing areas, work continues to collaborate in many support functions. The force is also part of a collaboration to develop a south east contact centre, which also involves Sussex Police and the ambulance and fire services.
The chief constable was appointed as Director General of the National Crime Agency in January 2016. A new chief constable is due to be appointed after the police and crime commissioner elections in May.
Effectiveness
In our effectiveness inspection, we judged Surrey Police to require improvement in the way in which it keeps people safe and reduces crime. The way it prevents crime and anti-social behaviour is good, but the quality of some crime investigations requires improvement. The force works well to stop some re-offending and it has good arrangements in place to ensure that it can fulfil its national policing responsibilities. However, it needs to improve how it tackles serious and organised crime in Surrey. Of concern is the force’s inadequate approach to protecting and supporting some vulnerable victims, especially children who have been subject to abuse. 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
Surrey Police is partly prepared to face its future financial challenges. The force has a good track record of effective financial management and understands the savings it has to achieve up to 2019/20. However, it does not have a thorough understanding of the demands for its services and is not able to match its resources to these demands. The force has recognised this and is currently identifying a new way of organising itself (its operating model) that is designed to help it to meet demand while remaining within its future budget. In last year’s value for money inspection, which considered how forces had met the challenge of the previous spending review period, Surrey Police was judged to be good.
Legitimacy
Surrey Police is judged to be good in respect of its legitimacy. The chief officer team takes the need for an ethical workforce seriously. It was instrumental in the successful introduction of the Code of Ethics.
Local neighbourhood policing teams have a good understanding of their area and engage positively with the public. Taser is used fairly and appropriately, and the force complies with most aspects of 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
The chief constable and the chief officer team have demonstrated strong leadership by identifying and effectively addressing a range of issues, many of which were the result of an historic underinvestment in skills and capabilities in some areas of the force. The force’s positive future direction to develop its leaders and to motivate officers and staff has been communicated effectively.
HMIC found an ethical style of leadership across the organisation and a largely effective performance review process that is closely linked to development opportunities and training programmes.
Insights from other inspections
HMIC undertakes other inspections in addition to the PEEL programme. Since the last PEEL assessment there have been seven reports published on inspections that included Surrey 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 to the causes of concern and areas for improvement that HMIC has identified in the last year.
I will be particularly interested to see:
- how the implementation of the new local policing model by April 2016 enables the force to maintain its strong preventative neighbourhood policing approach;
- how the steps that the force has taken to improve its response to vulnerable victims, particularly children, translate into an operational reality and tangible improvements in the service it provides; and
- the future direction of the force following the appointment of the new chief constable.
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.
