#009/2010 - Statement by HMI Zoë Billingham on the performance of Nottinghamshire Police

#009/2010 – Statement by HMI Zoë Billingham on the performance of Nottinghamshire Police

“The Police Performance Steering Group met earlier today to consider the performance of Nottinghamshire police force and police authority.

“The meeting was attended by representatives from ACPO, the APA, the Home Office, HMT, NPIA and the Audit Commission.

“Although crime rates have been falling in Nottinghamshire, they have not been falling as fast as they have in similar areas. The number of violent crimes that resulted in an injury remain the highest in England and Wales. And public confidence in the force is the lowest in the country.

“Nottinghamshire police are the only force to have been rated by HMIC as poor in all three domains of the recently published Police Report Card, namely local crime and policing; protecting the public from serious harm; and public confidence and satisfaction.

“All these issues have been raised with the force and the authority since HMIC took over responsibility for monitoring police performance in April 2009.

“In response the force and authority produced a recovery plan at the end of last year. Regrettably, it was HMIC’s view that this plan did not adequately address whether the force and the authority had the capability to tackle these challenges. HMIC has therefore overseen a review of the force’s capability which was published by the police authority on 8 March 2010.

“HMIC has carefully considered the highly critical Capability Review and endorses the findings made. The police force and authority have recognised and accepted that there are significant problems with the capability of both the force and the authority.

“Jon Collins and Kam Gill of Nottinghamshire Police Authority presented today their initial response for addressing these problems along with the Chief Constable Julia Hodson. Key features of that response include putting in place swiftly a new leadership of the police authority; a new executive to support their work; and a process to recruit a new chief officer team to support the Chief Constable in significantly improving performance for the people of Nottinghamshire.

“A programme to support improvement is being assembled by the APA, ACPO and the Home Office.

“Although an improvement plan is also required, Denis O’Connor, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary, concluded that the initial response was sufficient at this stage although a convincing improvement plan will need to be in place by the end of April. An escalation of external intervention was not deemed necessary at this point, although progress will be closely monitored by HMIC and reviewed on a monthly basis.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

  1. The PPSG monitors police force performance, identifying those that are performing poorly and putting in place the necessary support and/or intervention if performance does not improve as quickly as the group thinks it should. PPSG members also discuss issues relating to national police performance.
  2. Meetings take place quarterly and are chaired by HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary.
  3. The PPSG is made up of representatives from HMIC; the Home Office; the Treasury; the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO); the Association of Police Authorities (APA); the National Policing Improvement Agency; the Audit Commission and the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit.
  4. HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary, as chair of the group, uses this assessment to decide the amount of support and intervention needed if the force is to improve.
  5. HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary decided today that Nottinghamshire police should remain at level 3 on the Ladder of Support and Intervention.
  6. The Police Report Card for Nottinghamshire police can be found on our website here.