Police Authority Inspections
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Police Authority Inspections

In November 2008, the government announced that police authorities will be jointly inspected by HMIC and the Audit Commission across the full range of their activities.

In March 2010 the joint inspectorates published 'Learning Lessons: An overview of the first ten joint inspections of police authorities by HMIC and the Audit Commission March 2010'

View the press release

View the Q&A document that accompanied the above press release

Inspection reports for individual forces are set out below:

Police Authority Inspection report 2009 - Avon & Somerset

Police Authority Inspection report 2009 - Lancashire

Police Authority Inspection report 2010 - Leicestershire

Police Authority Inspection report 2010 - Wiltshire

Police Authority Inspection report 2010 - Gwent

Police Authority Inspection report 2010 - Greater Manchester

Police Authority Inspection report 2010 - Hampshire

Police Authority Inspection report 2010 - Cheshire  

Police Authority Inspection report 2010 - Northamptonshire

Police Authority Inspection report 2010 - Metropolitan

Police Authority Inspection report 2010 - South Wales

Police Authority Inspection report 2010 - Sussex

Police Authority Inspection report 2010 - Warwickshire

Police Authority Inspection report 2010 - Humberside

Police Authority Inspection report 2010 - Merseyside

We consulted widely across the government, third sector organisations and the public on the principles and approach for the inspections. The consultation and the results of the four pilot inspections informed the police authority inspection framework published in July 2009.

Inspectors will judge how well police authorities are fulfilling their role of ensuring that the public has an efficient and effective local police force along four key themes:

  • Setting the strategic direction and priorities of the police force
  • Scrutinising the performance of the police force
  • Ensuring results through community engagement and partnerships
  • Ensuring value for money and productivity.

Onsite inspection activity began in September 2009. Each inspection will involve a number of pre-fieldwork meetings with the police authority and other stakeholders to gather evidence. The onsite inspection will usually take four and a half days, and up to two weeks for the largest police authorities.

Each police authority will receive an inspection report, which will be published and made available to the public. Reports will identify the police authority’s strengths and areas of innovation to be shared with other police authorities. Reports will also identify areas for improvement that we expect police authorities to act upon in order to improve their performance for the public.

More information can be found in the Related Sites section on this page.