Police face a tough 18 months says HMIC

Published by GovToday for GovToday in Communities and also in Central Government

In an exclusive interview with Public Sector News and Resource website www.govtoday.co.uk Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary, Zoe Billingham, has spoken of the tough times all Police Authorities and Forces are facing in light of the recent Comprehensive Spending Review.

Speaking to Editor of the site, Scott Buckler, Ms Billingham discussed the recent HMIC Report entitled Police Governance in Austerity. The Report highlighted the performance of twenty two Police Authorities, addressing the work being carried out to reduce costs and create savings. Of the twenty two authorities visited there were only found to be seven which were making significant headway and ensuring value for money. Of these seven there were four authorities that were doing all the things necessary in ensuring strategic direction for policing in their area and ensuring value for money.

Speaking to GovToday, Ms Billingham said:

When conducting the recent report we found numerous trends amongst the Police authorities we inspected and several trends in those  who were performing adequately. Of these 15 authorities performing adequately we found many were just focusing on short term savings and not long term efficiency. They were better at holding their Forces to account for local policing outcomes, but they were less able to rationalise the less complex areas of policing. They were not utilising all the information at their disposal neither were they challenging Forces to reduce spending and create efficiency-  

“The report was about identifying whether or not Police Authorities were performing to their best possible standards and to identify what we believe are the most important things to concentrate on over the next 18 months. What we were trying to achieve with the report was to see how Police authorities were equipped for the tough times ahead. It is hoped the report will aid Police authorities in what will be a tough 18 months until they are replaced by police and crime commissioners. It is apparent that nearly all authorities need to identify reductions in police spend whilst protecting the front line services.”

These findings come at a very difficult time for Police Authorities who are facing front line cuts to their forces whilst trying to maintain a high Police presence on the streets of towns and cities across the UK. In the summer the HMIC carried out a similar report entitled Valuing the Police which identified different means in which Forces could re-engineer their services to release savings.

Valuing the Police identified that significant re- engineering of services both back and frontline now might help release up to 12% in savings for authorities in the future, however to achieve much more than this will be difficult without cutting into the workforce. The current financial support will reduce by 20% in the next four years; this will effect Police authorities differently depending on how they are funded and their size- Said Ms Billingham

The full interview can be found at www.govtoday.co.uk