Published by Skills for Justice

Date 20.02.20
Last week, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) published their annual Police Effectiveness, Efficiency and Legitimacy (PEEL) inspection spotlight report. The report detailed their findings from the 43 force inspections which were carried out during 2018/2019 and compiled national themes across policing.
Within their inspections, they look to assess forces in three ways to find out:
In summary, their report concluded from the inspections that policing across England and Wales is largely good. However, forces are having to provide services under the joint pressures of rising demand and falling resources and the impact of this has not fallen equally across police forces.
The report goes on to tell us that three emerging themes were identified across the three-stage group split: Initially, a system under pressure, secondly, a workforce under pressure, and thirdly, divergence under pressure.
The report compares these inspection findings to those taken in 2017 and concluded the following:
Whilst these findings show a variety of performance results across the force, one thing which is undeniably clear is the increasing pressure on the policing system and workforce. Further to this, as divergence in the workforce continues to grow, this pressure can escalate, and the help afforded by an increase in resources, achieved through operational uplift, brings with it only greater challenges, namely that of developing an appropriate leadership and organisational culture for a diverse force.
In order for policing to see the improvements in police legitimacy, which are being achieved in effectiveness and efficiency, it is vital then that there is a leadership established that unites and celebrates difference, as well as a culture created that attracts and retains the broadest range of candidates possible for the role.
Of course, these areas do not stand alone and a leadership practice that takes a systemic view, recognising the need for different styles and approaches will see gains in all areas going forward.