This year, for the first time, we have assessed leadership across the force. The assessment has led to a narrative rather than graded judgment, which is summarised below.
Read more about my assessment of Norfolk Constabulary’s performance this year, including where I would like to see improvements next year.
I would like to congratulate Norfolk Constabulary on its excellent performance this year and keeping the people of Norfolk safe and reducing crime.
I have continued to be very impressed by the force’s commitment to neighbourhood policing which lies at the heart of its approach to preventing crime, anti-social behaviour and keeping people safe. The force has protected its local neighbourhood teams, which work extremely well with partners (including local councils) to keep communities safe.
I am pleased that the force has an outstanding approach to preventing crime and anti-social behaviour. I am particularly impressed that despite the financial challenges, the force has invested in those areas supporting the most vulnerable victims. Together with partners, Norfolk Constabulalry responds well to missing and absent children and victims of domestic abuse, and continues to develop its approach to tackling child sexual exploitation.
I commend the force for its outstanding performance in reducing its costs whilst maintaining the service it provides to the public. It continues to plan for the long term and together with Suffolk Constabulary has joined with academic institutions to carefully review how it provides services to ensure it represents value for money.
The force is very well led with an ethos of protecting the most vulnerable members of the community. It has developed and maintains an ethical culture. The workforce understand the importance of giving careful consideration to ethical issues in the decisions they make to protect the public.
Description of force area
Norfolk Constabulary provides policing services to the county of Norfolk. Although there are some highly affluent areas, Norfolk has a high level of poverty. Around 0.9 million people live in a predominantly rural setting. Its distinct and generally small urban areas include the city of Norwich, as well as the towns of Great Yarmouth and King’s Lynn. The resident population is increased by university students and the large numbers who visit, socialise in, or travel through the county each year. The transport infrastructure includes an airport and sea ports.
The proportion of areas in Norfolk that are predicted to present a very high challenge to the police is broadly in line with the national average. These are characterised by social deprivation or a concentration of commercial premises (including licensed premises), and in some cases both.
Working arrangements
The force’s mature and successful collaboration with Suffolk Constabulary saves money and provides greater resilience in how specialist operational and support services are provided.
Effectiveness
In our effectiveness inspection, we judged Norfolk Constabulary to be good at keeping people safe and reducing crime. The force is outstanding in the way it prevents crime and anti-social behaviour, with impressive recent reductions in anti-social behaviour across the county. Vulnerable victims are well-supported and the force works well with partner organisations to investigate crime and manage offenders, including those involved in serious and organised crime. This is the first year HMIC has graded forces on their overall effectiveness so comparison of their year-on-year effectiveness is not possible.
Efficiency
Norfolk Constabulary is exceptionally well-placed to face its future financial challenges. The force has an excellent track record of achieving savings and has balanced the budget to date. It is making prudent assumptions for further reductions in spending through to 2019/20 with well-developed plans to achieve a large proportion of the savings. In last year’s value for money inspection, which considered how forces had met the challenge of the previous spending review period, Norfolk was also judged to be outstanding.
Legitimacy
The force prioritises the development of an ethical culture within the organisation based on the Code of Ethics, which defines the standards of behaviour for everyone who works in policing. The force positively promotes the wellbeing of the workforce. Officers and staff in Norfolk Constabulary treat members of the public with fairness and respect, engaging and communicating well with the people they serve. The force complies with the Best Use of Stop and Search scheme, and uses Taser both fairly and appropriately.
This is the first time HMIC has graded forces on their legitimacy, so no year-on-year comparison is possible.
Leadership
Norfolk Constabulary is very well led and benefits from stability at chief officer level. The force has communicated a clear sense of its future direction which is well-understood and supported by the workforce. The chief officer team is visible and engages regularly with frontline officers and staff.
The force would benefit from having a consistent process to identify and develop talented individuals towards promotion.
Insights from other inspections
HMIC undertakes other inspections in addition to the PEEL programme. Since the last PEEL assessment there have been three reports published on inspections that included Norfolk Constabulary. More detail on some of these inspections can be found under the Other inspections section.
Looking ahead to PEEL 2016
In the year ahead, I will be interested to see how the force responds to this assessment, and to the areas for improvement that HMIC has identified in the last year.
I will be particularly interested to see how the force further develops its collaboration with Suffolk Constabulary and wider partners; and, in doing so, how it continues to improve the services it provides to the public of Norfolk.
In May 2016, like the majority of forces in England and Wales, the force will see the second elections for its police and crime commissioner.
