Northumbria PEEL 2017

Northumbria Police is good at treating all the people it serves with fairness and respect, with elements that are outstanding. Fairness and respect constitute the cornerstone of what the force believes in, and this is constantly communicated and understood by the entire workforce. There is good leadership around values and expected standards of behaviour, and this is reflected in workplace activity.

The force has clear processes in place to monitor the legal and proportionate use of stop and search and the wider use of force. However, the understanding of what constitutes reasonable grounds to stop and search among some officers and supervisors requires strengthening. The force has outstanding processes in place for external scrutiny of a range of policing activities, including stop and search and the use of force.

Northumbria Police is good at ensuring that its staff behave fairly and ethically. All staff have had training in discrimination awareness and understand the importance of it. The workforce knows how they should behave and understands the reporting processes for any problems of fairness or discrimination. Staff and officers had a high level of confidence that the organisation would act positively should a report be submitted.

The force has excellent systems for recording complaints and it conducts high-quality investigations. The internal systems allow tight governance of the entire complaints process, and as a result, all complaints that were reviewed were found to have been well managed. The inspection team found good evidence of quality investigations by the force across the range of complaint, misconduct and grievance matters. Investigating officers have a good understanding of discrimination and how to investigate it.

Performance in respect of grievance and service recovery matters was particularly impressive. The associated processes provide examples of good practice which other forces may benefit from exposure to, in order potentially to bring about improvements in their own organisations. The inspection found evidence of a well-run and well-led professional standards department, that carries out and manages high-quality investigations treat people fairly and with dignity.

Our review of the force website highlighted that there were areas that could be improved. The site was not the easiest to use either to make a complaint or to obtain information about complaints. Gifts, hospitality, declarations of business interests and details of pay and rewards had not been updated since 2015.

Northumbria Police is good at treating its workforce with fairness and respect. The force is very good at encouraging feedback, and supporting its workforce to raise difficult matters through a variety of means. The force has a range of ways for the workforce to feedback and submit ideas and to alert leaders to problems. Leaders within the force listen and respond to these problems and, where possible and appropriate, make changes and implement the ideas put forward. Staff and officers were very positive about the leadership of the force and its commitment to seeking feedback and taking it seriously enough to make changes.

The force is outstanding in the wellbeing provision for its officers and staff. There is a clear commitment from the chief constable that is mirrored by leaders throughout the force. Wellbeing awareness if very high among the workforce, and this has led to an increase in prevention activity and early intervention from supervisors and trained staff who have the skills to be able to spot potential health problems and provide support at an early stage. Staff and officers were extremely positive about the force’s approach to wellbeing and believe that the force is totally committed to improving the health of its workforce.

The force has developed its personal development system, but the take-up is poor and not everyone has completed the process. The force needs to do more to make the process feel relevant to the whole workforce and to manage individual performance through this system.