Gwent PEEL 2017

Leaders in the force demonstrate that they understand the importance of treating the people they serve with fairness and respect; this is reflected in the unconscious bias training and guidance provided to frontline officers and force leaders, and the fact that this is being introduced to the whole workforce. Officers and PCSOs whom we spoke to showed a good understanding of the fair and respectful use of coercive powers.

Force-level scrutiny of stop and search is taking place but this is currently limited in its scope. The force would benefit by extending its scrutiny regime to recognise any potential unfairness or good practice and to provide assurance that the power is consistently being used legitimately across the force. The force is not able to comply fully with the national recording standard on the use of force but does encourage and make use of some external scrutiny of areas that effect fair and respectful treatment of people by the workforce. The force does not currently review its body-worn video camera records in relation to its scrutiny of stop and search.

Gwent Police is good at ensuring that its workforce behave ethically and lawfully. The force has an effective system in place for the consideration of ethical decision making; this is reinforced by a comprehensive training programme. This training is understood and refreshed regularly, and further guidance is available in the workplace. Ethical dilemmas are used regularly across force; these focus on hypothetical scenarios which might undermine the force’s reputation and the workforce are tested on how they would respond to them. This initiative is coordinated by the force’s ethics board which is chaired by a chief officer; officers and staff spoke of their willingness and confidence to refer matters to the ethics board if they have concerns. Chief officers regularly publish examples of ethical decision-making and occasions when front line workers have acted positively to protect the reputation of the service

Chief officer expenses are posted on the force’s website, although some information is not up to date. The force’s vetting programme is not yet in a position to ensure that security clearance is in place for the entire workforce; there is a plan to improve this situation which will be carefully monitored by HMICFRS.

The force provides comprehensive information about how to make a complaint in English and Welsh on the force website, however better multi lingual literature should be made available to the public in police buildings. Once someone has made a complaint however, the force is good at keeping complainants updated about the progress and outcome of their complaint. The force ensures its workforce identifies and responds to potential discrimination and investigates allegations thoroughly in line with national guidance.

The force has a comprehensive set of systems and processes that ensure leaders seek feedback from the workforce, including post implementation reviews, ‘Ask the Chief’ events, the staff survey, ‘Time to Listen’ sessions with chief officers and regular communication with staff networks. In this way, the force identifies workforce concerns and is good at acting upon feedback from the staff survey. The workforce have confidence in these processes, and the force’s grievance procedure, which are effective at resolving workforce concerns.

The force continues to promote and improve physical and psychological wellbeing across the organisation via its health and wellbeing strategy. The force has a good understanding of the risks and threats to the wellbeing of its workforce and their underlying causes, and there is a range of information and support available to ensure that preventative and early action is taken in response to wellbeing concerns. The force’s policy of supporting staff members in the workplace has led to reductions in sickness and other absences.

The force is beginning to improve how it manages and develops the individual performance of its officers and staff, but the process is not yet fully effective as it does not yet have credibility among much of the workforce. The force has an established process for identifying high-potential candidates but there is still a feeling among the workforce that gaining particular ‘backers’ is a pre-requisite, and that police staff are not as well supported in this area. The force recently reviewed its promotion processes and has moved away from competency-based selection towards values-based selection.