2016 PEEL assessment
PEEL 2016 questions
A new set of questions was developed for PEEL 2016. In addition to the core themes of effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy, we also assessed forces on their leadership.
Each force in England and Wales was assessed against each of these questions during two inspections:
- the spring inspection, running from May to July 2016, inspected on questions relating to efficiency, legitimacy and leadership; and
- the autumn inspection, running from September to December 2016, inspected on questions relating to effectiveness.
The questions are listed below.
Effectiveness
Definition: an effective force is one that keeps people safe and reduces crime.
Headline question
How effective is the force at keeping people safe and reducing crime?
| Core question | Diagnostic |
|---|---|
| How effective is the force at preventing crime, tackling anti-social behaviour and keeping people safe? | How effectively does the force understand the threat or risk of harm within the communities it serves? |
| How effectively do force actions and activities prevent crime and anti-social behaviour? | |
| How effective is the force at investigating crime and reducing re-offending? | |
| How effective is the force’s initial investigative response? | |
| How effective is the force’s subsequent investigation? | |
| How effectively does the force reduce re-offending? | |
| How effective is the force at protecting those who are vulnerable from harm, and supporting victims? | |
| How effectively does the force identify those who are vulnerable and assess their level of risk and need? | |
| How effectively does the force initially respond to vulnerable victims? | |
| How effectively does the force investigate offences involving vulnerable victims and work with external partners to keep victims safe? | |
| How effective is the force at tackling serious and organised crime? | |
| How effectively does the force understand the threat and risk posed by serious and organised crime? | |
| How effectively does the force respond to serious and organised crime? | |
| How effectively does the force prevent serious and organised crime? | |
| How effective are the force’s specialist capabilities? | |
| How effective are the force’s arrangements to ensure that it can fulfil its national policing responsibilities? | |
| How effective is the force’s firearms capability? |
Efficiency
Definition: an efficient force maximises the outcomes from its available resources.
Headline question
How efficient is the force at keeping people safe and reducing crime?
| Core question | Diagnostic |
|---|---|
| How well does the force understand the current, and likely future, demand? | How well does the force understand the current demand for its services? |
| How well does the force understand potential future demand for its services? | |
| How well does the force use its resources to manage current demand? | |
| How well does the force’s current allocation of resources match demand, organisational and financial requirements? | |
| How well does the force improve the productivity of its workforce? | |
| How well does the force work with others to improve how it manages demand for its services? | |
| How well does the force understand how any changes made to improve efficiency have affected its ability to manage demand? | |
| How well is the force planning for demand in the future? | |
| How well does the force identify and prioritise areas to invest in for the future? | |
| How well does the force plan its investments? | |
| To what extent does the force fund its investments sustainably? |
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 cooperation of the public.
Headline question
How legitimate is the force at keeping people safe and reducing crime?
| Core question | Diagnostic |
|---|---|
| To what extent does the force treat all of the people it serves with fairness and respect? | To what extent does the force understand the importance of treating the people it serves with fairness and respect? |
| How well does the force seek feedback and identify those issues and areas that have the greatest impact on people’s perceptions of fair and respectful treatment? | |
| How well does the force act on feedback and learning to improve the way it treats all the people it serves, and demonstrate that it is doing so? | |
| 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 identify, understand and manage risks to the integrity of the organisation? | |
| How well does the force engage with the public and its workforce about the outcomes of misconduct and corruption cases? | |
| To what extent does the force treat its workforce with fairness and respect? | |
| How well does the force identify and act to improve the workforce’s perceptions of fair and respectful treatment? | |
| How well does the force support the wellbeing of its workforce? | |
| How fairly and effectively does the force manage the individual performance of its officers and staff? |
Leadership theme
Headline question
How well led is the force?
| Leadership questions | Diagnostic |
|---|---|
| How well does the force understand leadership? | |
| To what extent is there a clear understanding in the force of what is expected of effective leaders? | |
| How well does the force understand the relative strengths and effects of its current leadership? | How well does the force develop leadership? |
| How well does the force develop its leadership capability? | |
| How well does the force identify and develop potential senior leaders? | How well does the force display leadership? |
| To what extent is the force encouraging innovation and swiftly implementing new ideas, approaches and working practices? | |
| To what extent is the force developing diverse leadership teams in terms of experience, background and skills? |
How PEEL was inspected in 2016
Effectiveness
To reach a judgment on the extent to which each force is effective in keeping people safe and reducing crime, HMIC assessed each force on five core questions.
HMIC analysed data and documents from forces, reviewed investigation files, interviewed senior officers and held focus groups with officers and staff of all grades and ranks.
During fieldwork, HMIC also made unannounced visits to police stations to gather evidence from frontline officers and staff.
Forces were assessed against these questions between September and November 2016, except for Kent Police – our pilot force – which was inspected in June 2016.
Efficiency
To reach a judgment on the extent of each force’s efficiency, HMIC reviewed both the financial and workforce planning carried out by police forces in England and Wales while examining wider questions of demand management, making best use of all resources available and investing for the future.
During our inspection, we collected data and documentation from forces, reviewed force websites, interviewed senior officers and held focus groups with officers and staff from all grades and ranks. Also, we made unannounced visits to police stations to talk to frontline officers and staff about their work.
The inspection continued to focus on the way in which forces understand the demand they are facing or will face, how they are currently meeting that demand and how they are planning to meet future challenges. To assess this, we looked at three core questions.
Forces were assessed against these questions between May and July 2016, except for West Yorkshire Police – our pilot force – which was inspected in March 2016.
Legitimacy
After consultation with the public, forces, Government, the voluntary sector and other interested parties, in this iteration of PEEL legitimacy we looked at three core questions.
To reach a judgment on the extent to which a force acts legitimately, HMIC considered a range of data and documents submitted by the 43 Home Office-funded forces in England and Wales, and carried out fieldwork in each force.
During fieldwork, inspectors interviewed senior officers and staff responsible for communications, vetting, anti-corruption, wellbeing and performance, and held focus groups with a range of officers and staff. We also made unannounced visits to police stations to talk to frontline officers and staff about their work.
Forces were assessed against these questions between May and July 2016, except for West Yorkshire Police – our pilot force – which was inspected in March 2016.
Leadership
As part of the PEEL inspection, HMIC has inspected the leadership of forces at every rank and grade of the organisation, specifically exploring the degree to which leadership is understood within policing, how forces work to develop leadership capability and how well leadership is displayed by a force.