2018/19 PEEL assessment

In 2018/19 HMICFRS developed our PEEL inspections by incorporating force management statements (FMSs) and monitoring of forces to provide a judgment of how forces were performing. These were called Integrated PEEL Assessments (IPA).

Overview of IPAs

The IPA was designed to bring the three separate PEEL pillars (our effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy inspections) together into a single, clear and coherent narrative. We had previously published three separate reports on each police force, per year.

We also changed other elements of our approach to the PEEL inspection programme. However, while our assessment methodology was updated, how we inspected was broadly the same as previous years.

Integrated PEEL Assessments in detail

These inspections were:

  • termly – we inspected forces in three tranches across the reporting year;
  • simplified – the question set that forces were assessed against was reduced by 30 per cent;
  • risk-based – we concentrated on areas with the greatest risk to the public rather than inspecting every element of a high performing force every time;
  • integrated – one inspection covered the effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy of a force and findings were published as one force report;
  • collaborative – forces were expected to assess their own performance and provide FMSs; and
  • rolling – a continuous monitoring process examined areas of risk in forces and informed our inspection programme.

Below you can find:

Risk-based approach

Since the establishment of the PEEL assessments in 2014, we have sought ways to reduce the intensity of inspection on forces. Analysis and feedback from forces over the years showed that a risk-based approach, where well-performing forces are inspected on fewer areas, would:

  • reduce the inspection burden on forces;
  • allow forces to focus on areas presenting greatest risk to public safety and security; and
  • promote improvements in policing to make everyone safer.

The risk-based assessment was used to determine the questions inspected against for each force, to reach a judgment on its effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy.

The following criteria were used in this risk-based assessment. If a force met all three criteria for a particular question, then they were not inspected on that question and the previous judgments were carried over.

  • Forces graded as good or outstanding in the 2017 assessment cycle, with no more than one Area for improvement (AFI) in that question. This includes forces with good or outstanding grades rolled forward from 2016.
  • No new material risks (or potential outstanding practice) identified through the force management statement or through pre-fieldwork activity (insight).
  • No new AFI or other material risks identified through other inspections (for example, Crime Data Integrity inspections, National Child Protection inspections, Custody inspections) relevant to that question.

Updates to uninspected questions

Some questions that weren’t inspected as part of PEEL 2018/19 may have had areas for improvement (AFIs) identified from previous years’ inspections.

AFIs are monitored throughout the year. Progress, or lack of progress, made against these AFIs was factored in as part of the risk-based process for selecting which questions to include in each force’s inspection.

Some AFIs may be judged as still in progress, but did not warrant a full inspection against that question. Where this was the case, the AFI was carried over to PEEL 2018/19 and an update provided.

PEEL 2018/19 questions

Our inspections focused on the core themes of effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy. We also assessed forces on their leadership.

As in PEEL 2017, the leadership element was woven into questions on each of the core themes, rather than being inspected as a separate question set. Questions that were used to form an assessment of leadership are denoted by an asterisk in the question set below.

Effectiveness

Definition: an effective force is one that keeps people safe and reduces crime.

Headline question

How effectively does the force reduce crime and keep people safe?

Core question Diagnostic
How effective is the force at preventing crime, tackling anti-social behaviour and keeping people safe? How well does the force understand and prioritise crime prevention?*How well does the force protect the public from crime and anti-social behaviour?
How effective is the force at investigating crime and catching criminals? How well does the force investigate crime?*

How well does the force catch criminals and resolve investigations?

How effective is the force at protecting those who are vulnerable from harm, and supporting victims? How well does the force understand the nature and scale of vulnerability?*

How well does the force protect vulnerable people from harm?

How effective is the force at tackling serious and organised crime? How well does the force understand the threat and risk posed by serious organised crime?

How well does the force mitigate risk and prevent serious and organised crime?

How well does the force respond to serious and organised crime?

How effective are the force’s specialist capabilities? How effective are the force’s specialist capabilities?

*Questions that will be used to form an assessment of leadership are denoted by an asterisk.

Efficiency

Definition: an efficient force maximises the outcomes from its available resources.

Headline question

How efficiently does the force operate and how sustainable are its services to the public?

Core question Diagnostic
How well does the force use its resources to meet the demand it faces? How well does the force understand demand?

How well does the force manage demand?

How well does the force allocate its resources?

How well does the force maximise the productivity of its resources and assets?*

How well does the force plan for the future? How well does the force predict likely future demand?

How well do the force’s plans meet likely future demand?*

*Questions that were used to form an assessment of leadership are denoted by an asterisk.

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Legitimacy

Definition: a police force is legitimate if it has the consent of the public, and those working in the force consistently behave in a way that is fair, reasonable, effective and lawful, which generates the trust and co-operation of the public.

Headline question

How legitimately does the force treat the public and its workforce?

Core question Diagnostic
How well does the force treat the people it serves with fairness and respect? How well does the force understand the importance of engaging with people it serves and treating them with fairness and respect?*How well does the force understand and improve the way it uses force?

How well does the force understand and improve the way it uses stop and search powers?

How well does the force ensure that its workforce behaves ethically and lawfully? How well does the force develop and maintain an ethical culture?How well does the force tackle potential corruption?
How well does the force treat its workforce with fairness and respect? How well does the force identify and improve potential unfairness at work?*How well does the force support the wellbeing of its workforce?*

How fairly and effectively does the force manage and develop individual performance of its officers and staff and its selection process?*

*Questions that were used to form an assessment of leadership are denoted by an asterisk.

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How we inspected

In this inspection year, all forces were assessed against the four following core questions:

  • vulnerability;
  • specialist capabilities;
  • counter corruption; and
  • future planning.

HMICFRS carried out a risk assessment to determine if a force would be inspected against any other questions. We continued to inspect some forces that were ‘good’, to identify notable practice and to identify and grade ‘outstanding’ forces.

We published graded judgments (outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate) against nine of the core questions. There was also one overall graded judgment for each of effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy.

Judgment criteria are used to determine a force’s level of achievement. The judgment criteria indicate the expected levels of performance consistent with each grade. These criteria allow our inspectors to make consistent assessments across forces and for forces to see what they are being graded against. The criteria are examples to help inspectors to determine appropriate judgments. They are not intended to prescribe specific standards, relate directly to the sub-diagnostics, or to be exhaustive lists of how we expect forces to perform at these levels.

The criteria take account of existing national guidance, authorised professional practice and evidence from research. We consider new guidance, standards and research as they become available.

Read the detailed PEEL judgment criteria (PDF document).

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