Police Authority Inspections
In November 2008, the government announced that police authorities would be jointly inspected by HMIC and the Audit Commission across the full range of their activities.
Between September 2009 and July 2010 HMIC, the Audit Commission and the Wales Audit Office inspected 22 of the 43 police authorities in England and Wales. HMIC’s report, ‘Police Governance in Austerity’, draws on the findings from all 22 inspections.
Police Governance in Austerity – October 2010
In March 2010 preliminary findings following the first ten inspections were published.
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
Police Authority Inspection report 2010 – Hertfordshire
Police Authority Inspection report 2010 – Cleveland
Police Authority Inspection report 2010 – Cumbria
Police Authority Inspection report 2010 – West Mercia
Police Authority Inspection report 2010 – Surrey
Police Authority Inspection report 2010 – Bedfordshire
Police Authority Inspection report 2010 – Gloucestershire
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 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 involves a number of pre-fieldwork meetings with the police authority and other stakeholders to gather evidence. The onsite inspection usually takes four and a half days, and up to two weeks for the largest police authorities.
Each police authority receives an inspection report, which are published and made available to the public. The reports identify the police authority’s strengths and areas of innovation to be shared with other police authorities. The reports 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.