In 2024, we carried out a PEEL inspection of Cumbria Constabulary. PEEL stands for police efficiency, effectiveness and legitimacy.
We inspected how well the force performed in several areas of policing. Most of these areas were then graded as outstanding, good, adequate, requires improvement or inadequate.
Our inspection assessed how good Cumbria Constabulary is in ten areas of policing. We make graded judgments in nine of these ten as follows:
Cumbria Constabulary was awarded no requires improvement or inadequate grades.
We also inspected how effective a service Cumbria Constabulary gives to victims of crime. We don’t make a graded judgment for this area.
We set out our detailed findings about things the constabulary is doing well and where the constabulary should improve in the rest of this report.
We also assess the constabulary’s performance in a range of other areas and we report on these separately. We make graded judgments for some of these areas.
In 2014, we introduced our police efficiency, effectiveness and legitimacy (PEEL) inspections, which assess the performance of all 43 police forces in England and Wales. Since then, we have been continuously adapting our approach.
We have moved to a more intelligence-led, continual assessment approach, rather than the annual PEEL inspections we used in previous years. Forces are assessed against the characteristics of good performance, set out in the PEEL Assessment Framework 2023–2025, and we more clearly link our judgments to causes of concern and areas for improvement.
It isn’t possible to make direct comparisons between the grades awarded in this PEEL inspection and those from the previous cycle of PEEL inspections. This is because we have increased our focus on making sure forces are achieving appropriate outcomes for the public, and in some cases we have changed the aspects of policing we inspect.
Our reports contain references to, among other things, ‘national’ definitions, priorities, policies, systems, responsibilities and processes.
In some instances, ‘national’ means applying to England or Wales, or England and Wales. In others, it means applying to England, Wales and Scotland, or the whole of the United Kingdom.
I congratulate Cumbria Constabulary on its performance in keeping people safe, reducing crime and giving victims an effective service.
I am pleased that the constabulary now has effective governance in place. It has clear strategic plans that are underpinned by accurate information and supported by a detailed performance framework. The constabulary has adequate oversight of services such as finance, HR, IT and estates.
I was pleased to find improvements in the management and scrutiny of criminal investigations. The constabulary has invested in both governance and performance processes to improve and maintain its investigative standards. This approach has led to continued performance improvements, with investigations overall found to be thorough and well supervised. Investigators seek opportunities to bring offenders to justice, even when victims are unwilling or unable to proceed, with the constabulary using bail effectively to protect vulnerable victims and to reduce further crime. However, more could be done to achieve even better outcomes for victims.
Cumbria Constabulary has improved the support it provides to its workforce, particularly to student officers. The support provided by supervisors, senior leaders and the occupational health unit is outstanding. The constabulary clearly values its officers and staff and understands that their well-being has a direct effect on their performance and the service they provide to the public.
I am pleased that the constabulary focuses on preventing crime and antisocial behaviour. It works well with partner organisations, charities and communities to solve local problems and to keep people safe.
Cumbria Constabulary is innovative and progressive in its approach to using technology and the potential benefits of digital solutions. It is often an early adopter of technology, helping it to manage offenders.
It has a strong evidence-based policing ethos that is clear across all its functions. The constabulary’s willingness to work with academia and to provide its workforce with more effective skills and tools contribute to a shared commitment to improve.
The constabulary had a change of leadership in the year leading up to our inspection, with the appointment of a new chief constable and deputy chief constable. The chief constable has developed a new strategic plan and this is being embraced by the workforce. The communicative and highly visible approach taken by the new leadership has been well received. The chief officers have also made considered changes and investments to make sure the constabulary has the right resources to meet its demand.
The constabulary’s leadership has continued to improve the services it provides to the public of Cumbria. While there remains room for further improvements, this ambition is also shared by the workforce.
I am confident the constabulary’s leadership and management will continue to make improvements based on this report. The improvements we have seen during our inspection will provide a good foundation to build on.
HM Inspector of Constabulary
Using the College of Policing leadership standards as a framework, in this section we set out the most important findings relating to the constabulary’s leadership at all levels.
Cumbria Constabulary has clear plans and priorities that guide its operational activity. This is reflected in the chief constable’s ‘4Cs’ priorities, which are well understood and well regarded by officers and staff across the constabulary.
The constabulary’s investments and change plans align with its clear strategic plans. It uses data and analysis to understand current and future demand. It has reviewed its policing model and resources to meet the demand it faces.
The chief constable and other senior leaders are visible and communicate with all police personnel, which is appreciated by officers and staff.
The constabulary is investing in the capability and capacity of its leadership to support the workforce and improve performance. Senior leaders are committed to developing leadership at all levels and a new leadership programme has been introduced. Support is in place for officers and police staff entering leadership roles for the first time.
Cumbria Constabulary responds proactively to the challenges it faces. Effective governance processes are in place to manage performance. During this inspection, we found a greater scrutiny of performance, with a focus on improving services. The constabulary has undergone substantial structural change recently and throughout this process it has communicated effectively with its workforce.
The constabulary has good oversight of data on new recruits and provides effective support to student officers, which has resulted in high levels of staff retention.
There is clear ownership of workstreams, including the constabulary’s digital strategy, collaboration and performance framework. People with the right skills support these workstreams. And there are effective processes for reviewing and allocating work.
More detail on Cumbria Constabulary’s leadership is included in the main body of the report.
The reducing crime assessment sets out what Cumbria Constabulary is doing to reduce crime and how effective this action is. This assessment doesn’t include police recorded crime figures. This is because they can be affected by variations and changes in recording policy and practice, making it difficult to draw comparisons over time.
The constabulary manages demand from the public effectively through its call handling functions. Threat, risk and harm are effectively identified and responded to.
Cumbria Constabulary prioritises crime prevention and investigation, tackling antisocial behaviour and responding to vulnerability. Its neighbourhood policing teams work closely with partner organisations to prevent and deter crime through effective problem-solving. They work with local communities to understand and meet their needs.
The constabulary maintains good oversight of its investigations. This has led to the effective investigation of crime and a high level of victim support. When crimes occur, officers and staff take positive action to arrest offenders. Investigations are well supervised and thorough. But there is still more that could be done to consistently achieve appropriate outcomes for victims.
The constabulary understands and improves the way it uses stop and search powers through analysis and monitoring at constabulary-level meetings. It can show its use of stop and search is fair and effective, helping to reduce crime. But it would benefit from greater external scrutiny of these powers.
Cumbria Constabulary provides effective training to its new officers and to those in specialist roles. This helps them to provide an effective service and keep people safe. But the constabulary should improve its recording of antisocial behaviour crimes to make sure it gives the public an effective service.
More detail on what Cumbria Constabulary is doing to reduce crime is included in the main body of the report.
This section describes our assessment of the service Cumbria Constabulary provides to victims. This is from the point of reporting a crime and throughout the investigation. As part of this assessment, we reviewed 100 case files.
When the police close a case of a reported crime, they assign it an ‘outcome type’. This describes the reason for closing it.
We selected 100 cases to review, including at least 20 that the constabulary had closed with the following outcome types:
Although our victim service assessment is ungraded, it influences graded judgments in the other areas we have inspected.
The constabulary answers non-emergency calls quickly. But it needs to improve the time it takes to answer emergency calls. When answering calls from the public, call handlers consistently use a structured process that assesses threat, harm, risk and vulnerability. And they almost always identify repeat victims. This means that they are fully aware of the victim’s circumstances when considering what response the constabulary should give. Call handlers are polite and give victims advice on crime prevention and on how to preserve evidence.
On most occasions, the constabulary responds to calls for service appropriately and within set timescales. And it always informs victims of delays, meaning that victims’ expectations are more likely to be met. Not updating victims may cause them to lose confidence in the service and not want to continue with the process.
The constabulary is effective at recording sexual offences, including rape, but needs to improve its crime-recording processes for violent crime and antisocial behaviour. It needs to make sure that it records all crimes correctly and promptly.
We set out more details about the constabulary’s crime recording in the section ‘Recording data about crime’.
In most cases, the constabulary investigates crimes in a timely way. And it completes relevant and proportionate lines of enquiry. The constabulary supervises investigations well and keeps victims regularly updated. Victims are more likely to have confidence in a police investigation when they receive regular updates.
A thorough investigation increases the likelihood of perpetrators being identified and arrested, providing a positive result for the victim. In most cases, the constabulary took victim personal statements, which give victims the opportunity to describe how the crime has affected their lives.
When victims withdraw support for an investigation, the constabulary considers progressing the case without the victim’s support. This can be an important way of safeguarding the victim and preventing further offences from being committed.
The Code of Practice for Victims of Crime requires forces to carry out a needs assessment at an early stage to determine whether victims need additional support. The constabulary usually carries out these assessments and records all requests for such additional support.
The constabulary closes crimes with the appropriate outcome type. It records a clear rationale for using a certain outcome and this is effectively supervised. It seeks victims’ views when deciding which outcome type to assign to a closed investigation. We found that the constabulary informed victims of crime what outcome code had been assigned to the investigation in all the cases we reviewed. But it isn’t always able to provide an auditable record of the victim’s wishes, when appropriate.
Cumbria Constabulary is adequate at recording crime.
The Home Office Counting Rules, which provide the standard for crime recording in England and Wales, have changed since the last time we inspected the constabulary for crime data integrity.
This change mainly relates to the way forces record violent crime. This means we can no longer compare the findings from this audit to those from previous audits.
We estimate that Cumbria Constabulary is recording 93.9 percent (with a confidence interval of +/- 2.4 percent) of all reported crime (excluding fraud).
We estimate that the constabulary is recording 98.1 percent (with a confidence interval of +/- 2.3 percent) of sexual offences.
We estimate that the constabulary is recording 89.4 percent (with a confidence interval of +/- 4.7 percent) of violent offences.
The constabulary’s data for victims of crime shows that age and gender are well recorded, ethnicity is less well recorded, and other protected characteristics aren’t well recorded. The constabulary should be collecting this information to understand the extent to which each protected group is affected by crime, how this differs from those without the protected characteristics, and whether a different response is needed for these victims.
The constabulary is failing to record all crimes when antisocial behaviour is reported by victims. We examined 50 incidents. Of these, 15 crimes should have been recorded, but 6 were actually recorded. Victims of antisocial behaviour are often subjected to abuse and torment for substantial periods of time, and crime is often committed by their neighbours. Failing to record crimes and provide an effective service to tackle antisocial behaviour can mean victims live in fear in their own homes while being subjected to long-term abuse and torment by people living next door or elsewhere in the local community.
In this section we set out our main findings that relate to crime data integrity.
The constabulary has continued to record rape offences effectively. In our victim service assessment, we found 32 reports of rape that should have been recorded. Of those 32 reports, the constabulary had correctly recorded 31. Rape is one of the most serious crimes a victim can experience. Therefore, it is important that crimes are recorded accurately to make sure victims receive the service and support they expect and deserve.
The constabulary records crimes against vulnerable victims well. We examined 71 incidents and found 30 crimes that should have been recorded. Of those, 29 had been recorded. Effective recording of vulnerable victim cases is important to make sure victims are safeguarded and perpetrators are brought to justice.
Cumbria Constabulary is adequate at using police powers and treating people fairly and respectfully.
Cumbria Constabulary relies on the police, fire and crime commissioner’s ethics and integrity panel to provide it with external scrutiny of both stop and search and use of force. Members of the panel are independent from the police and drawn from the communities within Cumbria. Selected members of the panel review body-worn video of three stop and search encounters and three instances of police use of force every three months. They then report their findings to the full ethics and integrity panel meeting. The constabulary uses this report to provide feedback to the officers involved and their supervisors, and to inform police officer training.
While the scrutiny of these incidents is very detailed, the numbers reviewed are too low to provide an overview of such activity across the whole of the constabulary.
During our inspection, we identified good examples of officers receiving advice after the panel had scrutinised cases. But the constabulary needs to increase the level of scrutiny provided and to demonstrate the identification of learning and good practice.
The ethics and integrity panel doesn’t scrutinise performance data. This data is important when considering any disproportionality in the constabulary’s use of these powers. In addition, the constabulary doesn’t publish such data on its website, which would make sure there is transparency in how these powers are used. The constabulary could improve the benefits of this external scrutiny by making sure more cases and data are subject to review, so it could gather meaningful feedback.
Cumbria Constabulary has a child-centred policing strategy that aims to provide early intervention with children at risk of becoming involved in crime. The constabulary monitors stop and search data for all children and young people under the age of 18. Every time a child is stopped and searched within Cumbria, the local child-centred policing team is informed. This team reviews the incident and decides how best to communicate with the child and their family to offer support and guidance.
The type of intervention depends on the nature of the stop and search, and the child. Officers may also refer the child to other agencies such as health services or education for specialised help. If the stop and search relates to weapons, then the officers give the child specific advice and information on knife crime. The child is also given a workbook to complete that provides further information on the implications of carrying weapons.
This prompt notification to specialist police officers and partner agencies of a child’s interaction with the police means interventions can take place sooner to divert children from criminal behaviour.
In this section we set out our main findings that relate to police powers and treating people fairly and respectfully.
The constabulary has been proactive in increasing its use of stop and search powers. In the year ending 31 March 2023, it used stop and search powers on 4,657 occasions. This represents a 104.5 percent increase on the previous year and shows the constabulary’s commitment to using police powers to prevent and deter crime. This increase resulted in the constabulary carrying out 8.6 stop and searches per 1,000 population, which was in line with the average for England and Wales.
Officers receive initial stop and search training on joining the constabulary. Specific teams of officers, such as neighbourhood policing teams and student officers, also receive training on how to effectively communicate with diverse communities. In the 12 months before our inspection, the constabulary had introduced additional training on carrying out and recording stop and search. All frontline officers have taken part in a two-hour online training course. The constabulary has also selected 100 stop and search ‘champions’ and provided them with more intensive training so that they can provide advice and guidance to their colleagues. The officers we spoke with said they felt confident in their use of stop and search powers and understood how they should be used.
Cumbria Constabulary analyses its stop and search data to understand how fairly its officers use the power. It uses this information to identify if the recorded grounds for the search are reasonable, how often the article sought was found and the outcome of the search.
As part of an internal monitoring process, police inspectors quality assure a proportion of stop and search records and review the body-worn video of the encounters. In addition, a central team within the constabulary carries out quality assurance checks on a proportion of records. The findings of this quality assurance process are discussed at an internal governance meeting. This reviews performance to identify areas for improvement and good practice, and to provide feedback to officers.
During our inspection, we reviewed a sample of 206 stop and search records relating to searches carried out from 1 January to 31 December 2022. Based on this sample, we estimate that 85.4 percent (with a confidence interval of +/- 4.7 percent) of all stop and searches carried out by the constabulary during this period were based on reasonable grounds. This is broadly unchanged compared to the findings from our previous review of records from 1 January to 31 December 2020, where we found that 77.2 percent (with a confidence interval of +/- 5.1 percent) of stop and searches in Cumbria had reasonable grounds. Of the records we reviewed for stop and searches on people from ethnic minority backgrounds, 9 out of 12 had reasonable grounds recorded.
In our audit we also found that officers in Cumbria Constabulary use stop and search proactively. Of the searches we reviewed, 61.2 percent were carried out by officers identifying the grounds to search people rather than as part of specific operations led by their supervisors. This suggests that the constabulary was focusing on people or places where there is likely to be more crime.
However, the constabulary should look to improve its ‘find rate’. This is when an officer finds the stolen or prohibited object that they are looking for when carrying out a search. In the year ending 31 March 2023, the constabulary’s find rate was 18.3 percent. This is lower than expected when compared to the average for forces in England and Wales, which is 24.6 percent. During our inspection, we saw how the constabulary has improved its stop and search training for officers, which focuses on the effective conduct of searches. The constabulary told us that for the year ending 31 January 2024, its data shows that it has an improved find rate of 21 percent.
When examining disproportionality data for stop and search rates between people from ethnic minority backgrounds and White people, a value of 1 means that there is no disparity. A value of less than 0.8 shows that there is evidence that on average people from an ethnic minority background are less likely than someone who is White to be stopped and searched. A value higher than 1.25 shows that there is evidence that on average someone from an ethnic minority background is more likely to be stopped and searched.
In Cumbria in the year ending 31 March 2023, people from all ethnic minority groups were more likely to be stopped and searched than White people.
The disproportionality rate was 5.4 for Black or Black British people, 3.1 for Asian or Asian British people, 2.7 for people from other minority backgrounds and 1.3 for those with a mixed ethnic minority background. Over the same period, a person who is Black or Black British was on average 4.1 times as likely as a person who is White to be stopped and searched in England and Wales.
The constabulary scrutinises issues of disproportionality at its performance board. Identified trends or emerging issues are discussed and action is taken to address them. All searches carried out of someone from an ethnic minority background are subject to a detailed audit, which includes scrutiny of the body-worn video from the incident. But the constabulary needs to analyse a more comprehensive set of disproportionality data to better understand this disparity. This would help it to take direct action to reduce disproportionality.
In the year ending 31 March 2023, Cumbria Constabulary recorded 5,797 use of force incidents, an increase of 114 percent compared with the previous year. During our inspection, we saw that improved recording practices and a sustained effort to encourage officers to submit forms are likely to be contributing factors for this increase. We estimate that the constabulary didn’t record 4,872 use of force incidents during this period. This was an improvement compared to the estimated 7,547 incidents that the constabulary didn’t record in the previous year. This ‘under-recording’ is calculated by comparing the number of use of force forms submitted by officers with the number of arrests made over the same period. Each arrest would usually count as a use of force incident (for example, due to the use of handcuffs), so the number of use of force incidents should be at least as high as the number of arrests.
We found evidence that the constabulary has continued to improve use of force reporting. The constabulary told us that in the year ending 31 January 2024, it recorded more use of force reports than arrests.
In the year ending 31 March 2023, 3.0 percent of use of force incidents recorded by Cumbria Constabulary were on people from an ethnic minority background. Within the Cumbria Constabulary area, 2.4 percent of the population is from an ethnic minority background. This suggests that the constabulary doesn’t use force disproportionately on people from ethnic minority groups.
In Cumbria Constabulary, sergeants don’t review reports made by their officers about their use of force or stop and searches at the point of submission. We found that officers submit the reports electronically and that they aren’t always reviewed by their supervisors to identify quality and performance issues at the time. The officers and staff we spoke with said their sergeants do examine some of their reports and view the related body-worn video footage to understand how effective their officers are. But how often this was done varied greatly from team to team. Opportunities may be being lost to improve how officers are using these powers.
Police inspectors are required to review five body-worn video incidents per month, two of which must be stop and search encounters with the public. As a result of these reviews, the inspectors provide direct feedback to the officers and complete a performance review. Data from the reviews is collated by the constabulary and used to inform future training. Until December 2023, a central team within the constabulary reviewed all stop and search reports. But due to the increase in reporting, the team changed to reviewing 200 reports per month, which only represents around 25 percent of the total. Again, the results of these reviews are collated and reported to the constabulary’s stop and search and use of force board.
In order to improve performance and to monitor the behaviour of officers more closely, the constabulary should review all use of force and stop and search records at the point of submission. The constabulary is aware of this and working to introduce this with the new IT system.
Cumbria Constabulary is good at prevention and deterrence.
The constabulary has developed a road harm index to identify road collision hotspots within the Cumbria area. Police forces have usually identified whole roads as ‘key locations’ on which to focus resources and activity. But the dangers to road users can vary greatly from location to location. In order to better continually assess and react to areas of higher risk, the constabulary has developed a tool that helps it to apply an evidence-based approach to reducing death and serious injuries from collisions on roads.
The road network is divided into 800-metre sectors. Each sector is assessed using a weighted scoring system to understand the relative ‘harm’ of each type of collision multiplied by the number of times it has occurred in that location. A local hotspot map is then used by police and partner agencies to agree on priority locations and to use appropriate prevention, deterrence and enforcement to reduce the risk to the public. The index is automated within a mapping application and can provide information on each location at different times of the day, week and year as required. The constabulary told us that actions taken in response to the road harm index have resulted in a reduction in collisions at these hotspot locations and across Cumbria as a whole.
In this section we set out our main findings that relate to prevention and deterrence.
The constabulary has developed a ‘Cumbria Police Neighbourhood Policing Engagement Strategy’ that follows the College of Policing Neighbourhood Policing guidelines. For each area of Cumbria, it has local engagement plans that explain to officers and staff how they should communicate with specific communities within their area.
During our inspection, we saw how working closely with communities allowed effective two-way communication and provided communities with the ability to influence policing and to set local priorities. For example, the constabulary receives monthly data from the StreetSafe tool, which it reviews in monthly tasking reports. StreetSafe is a national service that allows the public to report safety concerns in public places. Within Cumbria, this data is analysed by each neighbourhood policing team and informs local problem-solving and partnership working. Where the constabulary takes action in response, it reports progress using social media channels as a ‘You Said, We Did’ report.
The corporate communications team continually evaluates the how the constabulary works with its communities and provides feedback to local policing teams about the ‘reach’ of their activity, using local community engagement reports. The Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner works closely with the neighbourhood policing teams and co-ordinates activity with them.
Cumbria Constabulary encourages and trains its officers to work with communities that police traditionally interact less often with. The training package for community beat officers includes guidance on identifying hard-to-reach communities and groups within the constabulary area. This training is informed by the constabulary’s positive action/diversity lead. It requires students to identify approaches that they can adopt to communicate with these communities and to better understand their needs and concerns.
An example of the focus on working with these communities is an initiative to address domestic abuse concerns in rural areas. Within the Carlisle and Wigton area, the local community beat officer and special constable identified that farming communities were becoming increasingly isolated. These were communities, mainly of older people, often in need of support. Research carried out in Cumbria had identified that this isolation sometimes hid incidents of domestic abuse. As part of the local engagement plan, officers linked with the local doctor’s surgery to provide a joint clinic where the community could get medical advice and also confidentially seek information and support on domestic abuse matters from the police. This meant people could get wider partnership support to address their concerns.
The constabulary makes good use of data to understand and prioritise serious acquisitive crime, helping it to more effectively prevent and deter offending. Serious acquisitive crimes are domestic burglary, personal robbery, theft from a person, and theft of and from a motor vehicle. In the year ending 30 June 2023, Cumbria Constabulary recorded 2,029 serious acquisitive crimes. This was a 1.6 percent increase compared with the year ending 30 June 2022, when it recorded 1,998 of these crimes.
The constabulary considers crime and outcome rates at its strategic performance meeting, which takes place monthly and is chaired by the deputy chief constable. It compares the performance of the constabulary with that of other similar police forces and uses data to identify trends and increased demand.
Serious acquisitive crime and how the constabulary has responded to it is also reviewed at the safer neighbourhoods governance meeting. This meeting considers the effectiveness of problem-solving approaches to priority issues and crimes using a range of data sources. A particularly helpful tool is a mobile application that allows neighbourhood policing teams to log their activity within crime hotspot locations. The Busy Be-At application allows officers and staff to identify when their activity is linked to a specific priority or problem. Looking at this data and information about other preventative activities, the constabulary can evaluate police and partner efforts to tackle serious acquisitive crime. This is important as it helps the police to understand when their activity is working and when changes need to be made.
All antisocial behaviour reported to Cumbria Constabulary through the command and control room is assessed and graded by the call handler using an antisocial behaviour risk assessment tool. The incident and the grading are automatically forwarded to the local neighbourhood policing team for action. Call handlers can identify if a caller is a repeat victim and if there is already a plan in place to deal with the issue being reported. This makes sure attending officers are fully aware of any previous issues and activity, which means they can better support victims.
The constabulary has reduced levels of reported antisocial behaviour. In the year ending 31 March 2023, Cumbria Constabulary recorded 4,922 incidents of antisocial behaviour. This is a decrease on the 6,880 incidents recorded in the year ending 31 March 2022.
The number of antisocial behaviour incidents in the year ending 31 March 2023 represents a rate of 9.8 antisocial behaviour incidents per 1,000 population. This was lower than the average for all police forces in England and Wales, which was 17.4 antisocial behaviour incidents per 1,000 population.
Figure 1: Number of recorded antisocial behaviour incidents (all categories) per 1,000 population across all forces in England and Wales in the year ending 31 March 2023
Source: Data collection and analysis from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services
In the year ending 31 March 2023, the constabulary issued 2 Community Protection Notices and 13 Criminal Behaviour Orders, obtained 2 civil injunctions and used dispersal powers 65 times. The ratio of antisocial behaviour orders issued to antisocial behaviour incidents recorded over that period was in line with most police forces in England and Wales.
Cumbria Constabulary uses a ‘local focus hub’ approach to apply problem-solving to local issues. The constabulary has six neighbourhood policing areas across Cumbria, each working with a multi-agency local focus hub. Police and partner staff have been trained in problem-solving and work together, sharing information and activity on a shared IT system. The hub manages cases by following the OSARA (Objective Scanning Analysis Response Assessment) problem-solving model, researching each issue and providing a response using the most appropriate partner resources and powers.
During our inspection, we were impressed with the close working relationships between the police and partners, such as the local authority, health, education, housing providers and fire and rescue services. We saw that each agency had their own powers and responsibilities that they used to address local problems. The hub identified and implemented those powers that were most relevant to the problem and had the best chance of success, thereby resulting in improved, sustainable solutions.
The hub managers and co-ordinators (who are police officers) are co-located. The neighbourhood policing team and other agency staff regularly work out of the focus hub premises. Each hub is supported by a partnership analyst. We saw evidence that this provided effective information and resource sharing. Regular hub meetings are held and use data from across all partner agencies to identify emerging issues, repeat victims and repeat offenders. We also saw evidence of the routine consideration of a range of powers to address identified problems.
During our inspection, we observed several local focus meetings. These are monthly meetings involving senior managers from all partner agencies who work within the local focus hub structure. The progress of current problem-solving activity was discussed and evaluated at each meeting and we saw examples of effective problem-solving involving all partners.
One example of effective partnership working we found was the response made by a local hub partnership to a persistent antisocial behaviour hotspot. The hub analyst had examined the issue and identified that the behaviour was linked to a group of young people who all attended one particular local school. The effect on partner agencies was significant. Police, fire and rescue, and local authority resources all had to respond daily to reported antisocial behaviour problems linked to this group. The response plan was comprehensive and drew on the expertise and resources of a range of partner organisations. The primary involvement of the police was to enforce a short-term dispersal order. But the longer-term response activity involved providing special education needs support to the school, additional support to parents of the youths involved and providing the youths with health and substance misuse information. We were pleased to see that this was an effective partnership approach with a clear focus on resolving the problem.
Neighbourhood policing within Cumbria is overseen by the safer neighbourhoods governance meeting, chaired by a chief superintendent. The purpose of the meeting is to oversee problem-solving activity, neighbourhood policing performance and demand across Cumbria.
During our inspection, we found that neighbourhood policing team staff felt valued by the constabulary and senior officers, who often praised their work within force communications. Staff believed that the prevention and deterrence work of neighbourhood policing teams was given the same status within the constabulary as other ‘specialist’ departments. Community beat officers have been provided with a new, bespoke course for their role. The course draws on best practice from other police forces and focuses on evidence-based policing and problem-solving. It is externally accredited and evaluated. The community beat officer course provides guidance on working with partners, and the relevant partner and police powers and resources that they can call on, to reduce harm and support the victims of crime and antisocial behaviour.
Neighbourhood policing team staff told us that they used to be regularly removed from their neighbourhood policing duties to help other areas and departments (a process known as an abstraction). The constabulary has introduced a neighbourhood policing team abstraction policy to reduce the diversion of neighbourhood policing team staff away from their core roles. It has set an abstraction limit of 20 percent across all neighbourhood policing team roles. This is closely monitored within local daily management meetings and Pacesetter (twice-daily, constabulary-wide online management meetings). If the limit is breached, or likely to be breached, senior leaders are assigned to provide an action plan to prevent it happening again. The constabulary has also introduced a crime allocation and deployment policy. While this covers all areas of the constabulary, it has a particular focus on neighbourhood policing, and protects neighbourhood policing team staff from being given unsuitable investigations that would restrict their core activities. Staff told us that the introduction of these policies has allowed them to remain focused on preventing and deterring crime within their neighbourhood policing team roles.
The constabulary holds a neighbourhood policing conference and awards ceremony each year that is attended by all neighbourhood policing team officers and staff. This conference showcases good problem-solving practice, both from within the constabulary and across the country.
We found that there is a strong evidence-based policing culture within Cumbria. Student officers complete evidence-based policing research projects as part of their initial training, and some officers are supported to complete evidence-based policing courses with Cambridge University. An assistant chief constable champions evidence‑based policing within the constabulary. He makes sure a senior evidence‑based policing practitioner reviews all constabulary-wide policing operations and initiatives to confirm that they follow the principles of evidence-based policing.
During our inspection, we saw that evidence-based policing principles were applied to the development of a learning programme for frontline staff on digitally enabled offences. To determine what topics to present through the Police Digital Academy, the constabulary brought together a team of evidence-based policing academics, practitioners and subject matter experts to review and score all digital‑related investigations within the constabulary over the previous 12 months. This made sure officers had the most effective training subjects.
We were pleased to find good use of problem-solving and the OSARA approach outside neighbourhood policing teams. All student officers spend some time working in neighbourhood policing teams, where they are involved in problem-solving activity. They are then encouraged to take a problem-solving approach when working within response teams. The constabulary’s child-centred policing teams work closely with neighbourhood policing teams and partner agencies to meet their objectives of preventing the unnecessary criminalisation of children and diverting them away from offending. They use problem-solving to address issues with young people in the short, medium and long term, through a range of tactics.
The constabulary has also taken a problem-solving and partnership approach to addressing violence against women and girls within the night-time economy. Welfare hubs are set up in key locations at weekends, offering advice, support and a safe space to potentially vulnerable women and girls. The hubs are staffed by police officers, local authority staff, street marshals and volunteer students from the local university. Staff actively challenge male behaviour and help those who appear most at risk.
Cumbria Constabulary has built a SharePoint site to promote good practice and to showcase effective problem-solving activity. But problem-solving records are stored within different applications and not every member of staff can access them. Officers would be able to understand previous activity to resolve problems better if they could search and review all problem-solving records.
The central site should allow the constabulary to store guidance and problem-solving plans and make them accessible to all neighbourhood policing team staff, as well as other teams. For instance, command and control room staff should be able to find out valuable information about current problem-solving activity related to incidents being reported by the public. This would help them deploy the most appropriate resources.
The constabulary is aware of this issue and at the time of our inspection it was developing a central resource hub within SharePoint for all problem-solving plans and guidance.
Citizens in Policing within Cumbria is led by a chief superintendent and seen as an important resource. During our inspection, the constabulary told us that they had 78 police service volunteers, 700 mini-police and 86 police cadets. At the time of our inspection, the constabulary had 44 special constables but aimed to increase this number during 2024/25.
The constabulary shows innovation in its use of volunteers to support policing activity. Apart from those roles mentioned above, it also has police service volunteers working as:
Cumbria Constabulary is good at responding to the public.
In this section we set out our main findings that relate to how well the constabulary responds to the public.
The constabulary has restructured its governance of command and control to provide greater scrutiny and oversight. Daily control room management meetings review resource levels against demand and seek ways of improving performance. It has also introduced quality assurance processes to monitor the performance of staff and to identify where greater support is needed.
When we spoke with staff in the control room, they demonstrated a good understanding of performance targets and how they contributed to achieving them. They told us that they felt valued by the constabulary and understood that they have a responsibility to provide a quality service to the public.
The constabulary uses data about the number of calls it receives to predict and plan for future demand. It can identify peak demand periods and make sure staffing levels are appropriate within the control room and across the constabulary.
When a victim contacts the police, it is important that their call is answered quickly. Cumbria Constabulary has improved the time it takes to answer 999 calls, but it needs to reduce this further.
In the year ending 31 December 2023, the constabulary answered 87.2 percent of its 999 calls within 10 seconds. This was below the national standard of answering 90 percent within 10 seconds. But it does represent an improvement since our previous PEEL inspection and the constabulary has steadily improved in this area.
Figure 2: Proportion of 999 calls answered within 10 seconds by forces in England and Wales in the year ending 31 December 2023
Source: 999 call answering times from BT
Note: Call answering time is the time taken for a call to be transferred from BT to a force, and the time taken by that force to answer the call.
In relation to non-emergency calls, the constabulary told us that in the year ending 31 January 2024 they answered 96.1 percent of calls from the public within their target of 5 minutes.
All forces should be able to measure abandonment call rates. Forces without a switchboard should aim to have a rate of less than 10 percent. Cumbria Constabulary doesn’t have a switchboard facility. In our previous PEEL inspection, we found the constabulary had an abandonment rate that was more than double the aim as set out in the 2020 national contact management strategy principles and guidance. When we inspected Cumbria Constabulary this time, we found that it had lower non-emergency (101) call abandonment rates.
For the year ending 30 November 2023, the constabulary achieved low abandonment rates for non-emergency calls. The constabulary told us that only 4.9 percent of non-emergency calls over that 12-month period were abandoned by the caller before answer. This shows that the constabulary managed performance consistently over this period.
As part of our inspection, we listened to calls into the constabulary’s control room and audited the incidents recorded by call handlers. We found that in 82 out of the 85 calls we reviewed, the constabulary recorded a structured triage and risk assessment. This assessment was based on the constabulary’s structured ‘THRIVESC’ (threat, harm, risk, investigation, vulnerability, engagement, safeguarding and crime) approach to assessing risk and considering the needs of the caller. The constabulary was effective in applying this risk assessment model in all 82 of the calls.
We found that the constabulary identified and recorded vulnerable and repeat victims effectively. This meant that officers were aware of the victim’s circumstances when they responded.
Cumbria Constabulary has a graded response policy with published target attendance times. In our audit we found that, on most occasions, it responded to calls for service appropriately and it assessed the risk to victims effectively in 53 out of 56 cases. Response attendance was within the required time (whether downgraded or not) in 79 of the 83 cases we reviewed. Senior police leaders monitor attendance closely at daily management meetings at local and constabulary level, moving resources to meet emergency demand. This means that the callers most in need of emergency support are more likely to get a prompt service.
The constabulary needs to improve how it updates callers when attendance is delayed. We reviewed four cases of this type and the caller was only updated in one of them. Each caller may be a victim of crime and should be kept informed of delays, not only to reassure them but also to assess if circumstances or the level of risk have changed.
The constabulary understands the time taken during each phase of its response to incidents, from receiving the call, to officers being dispatched, to when officers arrive at the scene. It is meeting its published attendance times on most occasions.
Call handlers should advise the caller on how to support officers attending the scene by preserving evidence. They should also give the caller crime prevention advice. When we last inspected the constabulary, we found that this wasn’t consistently happening. Giving crime prevention advice reduces repeat victimisation. If scene preservation advice is provided to the caller, it helps officers who attend the incident to gather important evidence during the early stages of an investigation.
During this inspection, we found that call handlers gave appropriate advice on the preservation of evidence in 21 of the 24 cases we reviewed. And they gave appropriate crime prevention advice in 27 of 30 relevant cases. We could see that the constabulary has placed greater emphasis on this advice and that supervisors within the control room regularly review call logs to make sure this advice is being given.
In Cumbria Constabulary, both police sergeants and police staff supervisors work within the command and control room. In our audit we found that, when it was required, supervision of incidents was effective in 16 of the 17 calls we reviewed. In addition, we found effective management of the response and deployment process in 39 of 40 cases.
Supervisors also carry out quality assurance checks by listening to calls and reviewing the incident records created. We saw how this provided staff with clear guidance and improved both the service to the caller and the directions given to the police officers attending the incident.
We found that supervisors within the control room actively monitored radio transmissions from officers attending incidents and provided real-time advice, when necessary. They also effectively managed the number of officers sent to incidents to make sure these were appropriate. And where circumstances changed or there was a delay in an officer attending, we saw that they reviewed the THRIVESC risk assessment to make sure it was still relevant.
Cumbria Constabulary is good at investigating crime.
Cumbria Constabulary isn’t always achieving acceptable outcomes for victims of crime. It has low numbers of crimes that are solved following investigations. It needs to understand the issue and work to achieve better outcomes for victims.
In the year ending 30 September 2023, Cumbria Constabulary recorded 30,110 victim-based crimes. It assigned 13.1 percent of these offences an ‘offenders brought to justice’ outcome, compared to 13.3 percent in the year ending 30 September 2022. This was higher than expected compared to the average for forces in England and Wales. But the constabulary should improve this rate to better support victims of crime.
Figure 3: Proportion of victim-based crime offences where the offence was brought to justice by forces in England and Wales in the year ending 30 September 2023
Source: Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables from the Home Office
Note: Presented data comes from the January 2024 data release and may have been revised since. Victim-based crimes are defined as all police-recorded crimes where there is a direct victim, such as an individual, an organisation or a corporate body. Offences brought to justice includes the following outcomes: charged/summonsed, caution (youths), caution (adults), taken into consideration, offender dies, penalty notices for disorder, cannabis/khat warning, community resolution, not in public interest (Crown Prosecution Service), and diversionary, educational or intervention activity.
Figure 4: Proportion of victim-based crimes assigned a ‘charged/summonsed’ outcome (outcome 1) by Cumbria Constabulary between the year ending 30 June 2015 and the year ending 30 September 2023
Source: Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables from the Home Office
Note: Presented data comes from the January 2024 data release and may have been revised since. Victim-based crimes are defined as all police-recorded crimes where there is a direct victim, such as an individual, an organisation or a corporate body.
Figure 5: Percentage of victim-based crime recorded by Cumbria Constabulary and all forces in England and Wales by selected outcome types in the year ending 30 September 2023
| Outcome types | Cumbria Constabulary outcome rate | England and Wales outcome rate |
| 1 – Charged/summonsed | 7.5% | 5.0% |
| 2 & 3 – Caution – youths & adults | 0.6% | 0.7% |
| 8 – Community resolutions | 3.7% | 1.5% |
| 9 – Prosecution not in the public interest (Crown Prosecution Service decision) | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 10 & 21 – Prosecution not in the public interest (police decision) | 2.4% | 0.7% |
| 14 – Evidential difficulties (suspect not identified but the victim declines or is unable to support) | 6.8% | 5.7% |
| 15 – Evidential difficulties (suspect identified; victim supports police action) | 9.8% | 12.3% |
| 16 – Evidential difficulties (suspect identified; victim does not support or withdraws support) | 29.6% | 20.9% |
| 17 – Prosecution time limit expired | 0.4% | 0.2% |
| 18 – Investigation complete – no suspect identified | 29.7% | 43.0% |
| 20 – Action undertaken by another body/agency | 0.7% | 1.4% |
| 22 – Diversionary, educational or intervention activity | 1.3% | 0.3% |
Source: Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables from the Home Office
Note: Presented data comes from the January 2024 data release and may have been revised since. British Transport Police and City of London data is excluded from the England and Wales rate. Total police-recorded crime includes all crime (except fraud). For a full commentary and explanation of crime and outcome types please see the Home Office statistics.
In the year ending 30 September 2023, the proportion of victim-based crimes assigned outcome 16 (evidential difficulties: suspect identified, victim doesn’t support further action) by Cumbria Constabulary was 29.6 percent. This value was a reduction from the rate of 31.1 percent the previous year but was still higher than the average for forces in England and Wales.
During our inspection, we found that there was comprehensive scrutiny of disposal outcomes and a sustained effort to improve the outcomes for victims of crime. The constabulary has introduced measures to reduce the number of crimes assigned outcome 16. These measures include regular audits and the requirement for all victim-based crimes that are assigned that outcome to be reviewed by an inspector. The inspector is required to consider other lines of enquiry and to make sure the victim has received support throughout the investigation process.
We also saw evidence that the constabulary is improving its use of community resolution and other diversionary outcomes, particularly in its work with partner agencies. In Cumbria in the year ending 30 September 2023, 3.7 percent of outcomes in victim-based offences were assigned as ‘community resolution’. This is an increase from 3.1 percent in the previous year and is higher than the average for forces across England and Wales.
In this section we set out our main findings that relate to how well the constabulary investigates crime.
The constabulary has a detailed and clear quality assurance process that has improved how it investigates crime and seeks to improve outcomes for victims. It uses its ‘Principles of Investigation’ documents to make sure officers follow best practice while carrying out investigations. It also provides a clear structure for supervisors carrying out quality assurance reviews of their officers’ investigations. These principles are provided to officers and staff in the form of mnemonics to help them remember and focus on each important stage of the investigation. They cover several important areas:
During our inspection, we found that these principles were consistently applied and were welcomed by officers and staff across the organisation.
The constabulary has a comprehensive governance structure that provides oversight of investigations and investigators. There are various constabulary-level governance meetings, such as the strategic investigative oversight board, the major crime review board, the crime command accreditations meeting and the investigation quality board.
The investigation quality board is chaired by a detective superintendent. The board examines constabulary-wide compliance with the ‘Principles of Investigation’. It uses data gathered in a constabulary-wide audit of investigations to examine levels of compliance, and to identify trends, lessons to be learned and good practice.
To improve the quality of investigations the constabulary is increasing the number of evidence review officers. These are specially trained staff who are accredited to help them scrutinise investigations to achieve the best outcomes for victims. The constabulary is providing training so that all sergeants can become accredited evidence review officers.
In our victim service assessments we found that effective investigations were carried out in 95 of the 100 cases we reviewed. In 85 out of 87 cases, officers completed appropriate investigation plans in line with the College of Policing’s authorised professional practice guidance. And in all those 85 cases the plans were effectively followed and updated. This means that in the majority of cases officers were identifying opportunities to collect evidence from the very start of an investigation.
We found that officers then used this evidence to identify and arrest suspects. We found the constabulary was effective at maximising investigative opportunities in 95 of the 100 cases we reviewed. And officers promptly arrested identified suspects in 61 out of 62 cases.
The supervision of investigations within Cumbria Constabulary is closely scrutinised. During our inspection, we found that sergeants and other supervisors had a good understanding of the investigations that their officers were carrying out and provided regular support and guidance. We found that there were very few examples of unnecessary delays in investigations and that in almost all cases an appropriate level of resource was allocated to the investigation.
The constabulary monitors the number of accredited detectives it has and plans for future need through its crime command accreditations meetings. As at 31 March 2023, Cumbria Constabulary held 227 posts for detectives accredited under the professionalising investigations programme 2 (PIP2). At that time it had 215 officers in those posts, meaning that 95 percent of PIP2 investigator posts were filled. In addition, the constabulary had identified that expected future demand meant that it would require additional detectives, so it had a further 86 officers working towards PIP2 accreditation. This demonstrates the constabulary’s commitment to making sure it has enough trained and effective detectives and supports what we saw during our inspection of investigation teams.
When we spoke with officers and staff within specialist investigation teams, they said they felt they had enough training for their roles. They told us the constabulary made sure they received mandatory training. They also said that they were regularly encouraged to identify and participate in additional training, often with partner agencies, which enhanced their ability to do their jobs and to better support victims.
In our victim service assessment audit we found that the constabulary considered evidence-led prosecutions when victims didn’t feel able to support police action. During our inspection, we could see that investigators considered all evidential opportunities, such as CCTV, body-worn video, initial call recordings and witness testimony. In all 11 evidence-led investigations that the audit examined, the investigation was found to be effective.
Cumbria Constabulary has provided enhanced training to officers on evidence-led prosecutions. When we spoke with officers, they told us that they were confident in following the process to pursue evidence-led prosecutions and that the constabulary pushed them to carry out such investigations where appropriate. They gave us examples of how they had achieved successful prosecutions in domestic abuse cases, when the victims had been too afraid to provide witness statements.
The constabulary monitors the use of evidence-led prosecutions through tasking and co-ordination group meetings chaired by an assistant chief constable. These meetings scrutinise cases where an evidence-led prosecution may be possible and track the progress of these cases through the courts. To improve officers’ knowledge and use of evidence-led prosecutions, the constabulary holds domestic abuse ‘surgeries’ within stations using specialist domestic abuse officers who provide advice and guidance to response officers.
Within the audit, we identified that there wasn’t always a record made in the case file when a victim withdrew their support for the investigation. Such a record was found in only 16 out of the 27 cases we reviewed. These records are important to help the police understand why victims withdraw their support. But when we spoke with officers during our inspection, we identified that some were only recording the withdrawal and any reasons provided on their body-worn video cameras. The constabulary is aware of this issue and has reminded officers of the need to update the investigation log. Along with the increased scrutiny by police inspectors of all investigations where the victim withdraws support, this will help the constabulary to identify where it could do more for victims of crime.
Under the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime, the police should complete an initial victim needs assessment to determine if a victim requires support. The assessment should establish the type of support needed and assess if the victim is vulnerable or intimidated. Within our victim service assessment, we found that in all 88 of the cases we reviewed in Cumbria, officers were effective in recording the needs of the victim. Officers told us their supervisors routinely reviewed their cases to make sure this assessment was completed, to effectively support victims.
The Code of Practice for Victims of Crime also requires investigators to maintain contact with victims of crime and to update them about the progress of enquiries. During our inspection, we found that there was effective victim contact and service in place in 97 out of 99 cases. The victim contract agreed between the investigating officers and the victim was adhered to in 96 out of 97 relevant cases.
In the vast majority of cases, the constabulary complied with the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime. Officers and staff clearly understand how important it is to keep victims updated, and supervisors monitor the work of their teams to make sure this is done. When an investigation has reached an outcome, it is important that the victim has been consulted before the outcome is decided. We found that in 80 out of 83 cases the victim was consulted and their views taken into consideration before the outcome was decided. And in every case we looked at, the victim was informed of the final outcome of the investigation.
Cumbria Constabulary is good at protecting vulnerable people.
Cumbria Constabulary has introduced a county lines prevent and diversion response to tackle county lines issues, called 1-CLIC (county lines informed Cumbria). The constabulary identified that local residents within Cumbria were being used by criminal groups from outside the area to carry out criminal activities. These residents were often vulnerable because of mental health conditions or substance dependency issues.
The constabulary created a prevent and diversion officer post with funding provided by the police, fire and crime commissioner. The officer works with police analysts and researchers to identify county lines vulnerability and to help the police and partner agencies to respond quickly. This response can provide immediate, practical support to the person and make them less vulnerable to exploitation and harm.
Partnership and information-sharing arrangements have been put in place with key partners, such as local authorities, fire and rescue services, health services, probation, housing providers, mental health services and charities. Police and other partners can make rapid referrals once vulnerable people are identified.
As part of the 1-CLIC project, the constabulary gave training to partner agencies. This focused on helping agency staff to identify the signs of county lines when working within the community. Training was also provided to frontline police staff and to schools and colleges within the area.
The constabulary told us its work with partners within the 1-CLIC project has helped it to identify people vulnerable to county lines exploitation much earlier. The partnership is then able to support vulnerable people with a plan that is specific to their personal circumstances and needs. A key partner in this is a local organisation that supports people recovering from drug and alcohol addiction by providing therapy, counselling, peer mentoring, employment training and social activities.
1-CLIC project vulnerability visits are carried out with partner agencies, regularly visiting those at risk of exploitation. Visits to identified hotspot locations have been shown to deter new county lines activity. Children’s care homes and other premises that support potentially vulnerable people have been provided with crime prevention advice, additional security and security audits.
This project has reduced county lines activity and county lines-related threats to life, and increased county lines-related intelligence reports and referrals from partner agencies within Cumbria.
In this section we set out our main findings that relate to how well the constabulary protects vulnerable people.
The constabulary has identified vulnerability as a priority and has a vulnerability board that oversees the 14 strands of vulnerability. Each has a bespoke strategy. The board is chaired by an assistant chief constable and oversees the implementation of an improvement plan.
During our inspection, it was clear that workloads for teams dealing with vulnerability were manageable. This confirmed that resources were matched to demand in the right areas. Operational delivery groups oversee progress against the vulnerability strategies’ action plans and report to the vulnerability board. The constabulary has a range of ways for victims to give feedback. This has influenced how the constabulary supports vulnerable people. It now uses trauma-informed practice and commissions specialist support for child victims of domestic abuse.
Cumbria Constabulary works effectively with partner agencies in a range of multi‑agency groups to support and protect people at risk of harm from domestic abuse. During our inspection, we found that the different groups were interconnected and worked together to find solutions to cycles of offending and victimisation.
The constabulary has a co-ordinated approach to supporting victims and managing the perpetrators of the most serious crimes, including domestic abuse-related crime. Multi-agency risk assessment conferences (MARACs) are effective at supporting those victims who are most at risk. We found that MARAC chairs and other police officers and staff working in multi-agency roles had the necessary skills and understood their roles. In the year ending 31 March 2023, Cumbria Constabulary discussed 1,008 cases at MARACs, which was above the number (850) recommended by SafeLives based on the size of the local population.
We found that officers and staff are clear about their responsibility to give safeguarding support to vulnerable people. Officers who attend incidents involving vulnerable people carry out appropriate safeguarding and complete relevant forms. In our victim service assessment, we found that in 53 of the 56 incidents we reviewed, attending officers completed appropriate risk assessments. Officers told us that they received regular training in identifying vulnerability and were confident in their completion of risk assessments.
The constabulary’s systems automatically send completed risk assessment forms to the safeguarding hub within the constabulary. The forms are reviewed and quality assured. This makes sure appropriate referrals to other organisations are made promptly to help keep people safe and reduce risk of harm. When we inspected the safeguarding hub, we found staff were knowledgeable and worked closely with colleagues in other agencies. Their workloads were manageable and referrals were made in good time.
The constabulary has introduced a multi-agency tasking and co-ordination (MATAC) process to safeguard adults and children at risk of harm from domestic abuse perpetrators. The constabulary maintains a matrix of domestic abuse perpetrators who are considered for inclusion in the MATAC process. Police and partner agencies then work with those offenders to reduce the risk they present and to divert them from further offending.
To provide officers and staff with the knowledge they need to reduce harm, the constabulary gives regular training to investigation teams. This includes information and law updates to help them prevent and disrupt rape and serious sexual offences. The ‘RASSO [rape and serious sexual offences] Disruption Toolkit: From Bail to Jail and Everything in between’ is a Cumbria Constabulary guide that encourages officers and staff to consider all available legislation and preventative orders to keep victims safe. Officers and staff told us that this toolkit had allowed them to consider a wide range of tactics when helping victims of sexual assault.
The Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, also known as Clare’s Law, allows the police to disclose information to a victim or potential victim of domestic abuse about their partner’s or ex-partners’ previous abuse or violent offending. Cumbria Constabulary monitors its use of the ‘right to ask’ and ‘right to know’ elements of the scheme. During our inspection, we found that it complies with the 28‑day national time frame for disclosure.
The constabulary has provided training to partner agencies, including health and social care staff, to promote use of the ‘right to know’ scheme. This training gave them guidance on the scheme and encouraged the submission of referrals to the police. The result was an increase in the number of ‘right to know’ applications and disclosures. In the year ending 30 September 2023, Cumbria Constabulary recorded 431 ‘right to know’ applications, which equates to 8.6 applications per 10,000 population. This was higher than expected compared to the average for forces across England and Wales.
Frontline staff told us they had received training on Clare’s Law and felt confident in how the process worked and what information to give people. The constabulary has a dedicated domestic abuse site on its intranet where staff can find further advice. Staff said the constabulary encourages them to direct victims to support services that help prevent repeat offending and harm.
The constabulary has given violence against women and girls prevention training to all frontline officers and to partner agency staff. In addition, it has selected 75 violence against women and girls champions from across the constabulary. These champions provide guidance and direction on violence against women and girls issues both internally to police staff and externally to partners and the public. The champions meet monthly for additional training and updates on changes in services, legislation and patterns of offending. Work is also underway to similarly support the transgender community within Cumbria.
During our inspection, we found the constabulary had implemented a range of initiatives aimed at reducing violence against women and girls. These initiatives all work towards the aims of Cumbria Constabulary’s violence against women and girls strategy and are consistent with the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s strategy. The constabulary works closely with partner organisations to implement an action plan to reduce this type of harm.
The constabulary has an online public survey that seeks the opinions of women and girls about how safe they feel in their own homes, neighbourhoods and towns. In March 2023, the ‘Call it Out’ survey was reintroduced. At the time of our inspection, the constabulary had received over 2,500 completed surveys from the public. The information helps the constabulary and its partners plan how to use their resources to reduce harm and fear of harm. The constabulary has collated these survey responses and put in place problem-solving plans to address the issues raised through its local partnerships.
Using Home Office Safer Streets funding, the constabulary has introduced a permanent welfare hub in Carlisle city centre at weekends when the local night-time economy is at its peak. The hub is used to provide a safe space, advice and practical support. It is staffed by the local neighbourhood team, staff from local women’s centres, the local authority, street pastors and volunteers from the University of Cumbria. Under Operation Vigilant, similar initiatives are run at other locations across Cumbria at key times and for specific events. Across all locations, police staff are directed to identify and support vulnerable people and to challenge concerning behaviour.
In the year ending 30 September 2023, Cumbria Constabulary applied for 66 Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs) at court, which equates to 1.3 DVPOs per 10,000 population. This was in line with other police forces across England and Wales.
The constabulary is successful in obtaining DVPOs at court. In the year ending 30 September 2023, 95 percent of DVPO applications were granted by a court. Experienced safeguarding officers complete all DVPO applications on behalf of frontline officers and present them at court.
But the constabulary doesn’t always record when preventative measures, such as DVPOs, are considered. In the 24 case files we examined, only 10 case files recorded that such orders had been considered and the reason they hadn’t been progressed.
During our inspection, the officers we spoke with were aware of the benefits of obtaining protective orders and told us that they had received relevant training and guidance. But some officers acknowledged that they didn’t always record on the investigation log when they had considered applying for an order but had decided against it due to the circumstances. This suggests that the use of orders is being considered, but that accurate records of those considerations aren’t always being made.
Cumbria Constabulary is good at managing offenders and suspects.
The constabulary has established monthly meetings with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to improve working relationships and effectiveness. The meetings are attended by members of the constabulary’s management of sexual and violent offenders (MOSOVO) team, legal services team and CPS management. Within the meetings they discuss the progress of Sexual Harm Prevention Orders (SHPOs) and identify what factors are delaying or preventing the orders being obtained.
The meetings help the partner organisations identify where the police and the CPS can work better together to successfully obtain and manage SHPOs to protect the public. They discuss standards and consistency in applications to reduce delays in the process at court. They also identify where further liaison with the courts and the judiciary is required to prevent applications for orders failing because of misunderstandings of the legislation and how it should be applied.
The meetings review every case where a court has declined to grant an SHPO or has made an unexpected change to the wording of the orders that affects public safety. This helps the police to reapply for the order or an amendment, and also to learn lessons so that it can improve future applications.
The meetings have helped identify where joint training for police and CPS staff would be beneficial. This has been particularly successful when there is new legislation or guidance that affects both partners. The constabulary is now providing information to magistrates and the judiciary about the use of polygraphs within orders. By explaining how polygraphs are used in greater detail, the constabulary has overcome courts’ initial reluctance to grant conditions within SHPOs that related to polygraph testing.
During our inspection, we were impressed with how this close working relationship has identified and addressed emerging problems before they affected the successful obtaining of an order. In some cases the police found that courts were removing specific conditions from SHPOs about monitoring an offender’s access to the internet. This was due to a misunderstanding of the legislation and was overcome by rewording the applications and providing greater explanation to the courts about why it was necessary.
The constabulary and the CPS use a shared Microsoft Teams channel to communicate, share best practice and emerging issues, and discuss changes in legislation outside these meetings. This daily contact addresses many of the issues that arise and makes sure the meetings consider the more persistent and systemic problems.
Cumbria Constabulary told us that since these meetings were established, it has had greater success with its applications and that the courts are more willing to support the specific conditions requested in order to keep people safe. This has resulted in a higher number of offenders being held to account for their actions.
In this section we set out our main findings that relate to how well the constabulary manages offenders and suspects.
The constabulary arrests most offenders and suspects promptly. There are clear and appropriate policies in place about when suspects should be shown as wanted on the Police National Computer. This allows other forces across the country to establish if a person is wanted when interacting with them. Investigations remain open until wanted suspects are arrested.
Outstanding suspects and offenders are risk-assessed, prioritised and monitored at both local daily management meetings and the twice-daily online Pacesetter meetings for the whole constabulary. The constabulary can draw on accurate data that informs senior leaders how many outstanding suspects or wanted persons are currently at large. The constabulary has a risk assessment process to identify the highest-harm perpetrators. Higher-risk suspects, such as those involved in domestic abuse incidents, are discussed at a force-wide meeting so that further action can be taken if they aren’t promptly arrested. This proactive approach reduces the risk of further offending, victims are safeguarded and the constabulary can progress investigations.
In our victim service assessment we found that arrests of identified suspects were made promptly in 61 out of the 62 cases we reviewed.
Bail is a tool used by police to protect vulnerable people by imposing conditions of behaviour on suspects and offenders. Officers can use a range of bail conditions, such as restricting suspects from contacting victims or going to particular locations. This helps to prevent further crimes being committed and to safeguard vulnerable people.
Cumbria Constabulary has a centralised bail management team, whose role is to promote effective management of pre-charge bail cases. IT systems support the management of bail, providing details of imposed conditions, such as curfews. We saw evidence during our inspection that these conditions are discussed at team briefings and officers are assigned to checking that conditions are being complied with.
We found there was some confusion among officers and supervisors about the management of bail and released under investigation processes since new bail legislation was introduced. Officers would benefit from additional guidance in this area to avoid confusion and make sure victims and the public are protected. We were pleased to see that there were processes in place to monitor officers’ management of their suspects on bail. If bail timeliness requirements aren’t met, suspects must be released under investigation. This provides less protection for the public because released under investigation can’t have conditions attached to it. The criminal justice department oversees the bail management process appropriately and lets officers know when bail dates are approaching. This means that there is less risk of bail dates passing without further action being taken.
The constabulary has seen an increase in the use of police bail and a corresponding decrease in the use of released under investigation. For the year ending 30 September 2022, pre-charge bail was used 3,705 times. For the year ending 30 September 2023, this had increased to 6,473 times, meaning that 91.7 percent of offences were assigned pre-charge bail as the first course of action. Only 9.9 percent of all pre-charge bail lapsed into released under investigation. This shows that the constabulary had good governance of its use of bail and was focused on safeguarding victims.
Cumbria Constabulary management of sexual offenders and violent offenders (MOSOVO) officers we spoke with said they had manageable workloads and had received effective training and guidance to support them in their roles. MOSOVO staff were trained to the nationally required standards.
The constabulary uses the nationally recognised risk-assessment tool ARMS (active risk management system) for managing registered sex offenders. Bespoke risk management plans are completed by trained staff for each offender. We found that the plans were detailed and identified potential risk areas to be monitored.
The constabulary has developed and uses a MOSOVO tracker. This allows it to access performance data and review resourcing issues that may affect the performance of the team. The constabulary uses this data to divert officers from one MOSOVO team to another, so that they can help colleagues carry out timely home visits to registered sex offenders. This means that the constabulary doesn’t miss early opportunities to identify behaviours that may lead to further offending.
Cumbria Constabulary is a pioneer in trialling and adopting new digital technology and triage equipment to help manage registered sex offenders.
The constabulary is trialling specialist software on behalf of the Home Office to locate indecent images known to the national child abuse image database to help identify and safeguard victims across the country. It also uses devices to help find hidden internet routers in offenders’ homes. It has technology that allows officers to remotely monitor the digital activity of register sex offenders.
The constabulary has an in-house polygraph testing policy so it can use polygraph testing as a condition within preventative orders such as SHPOs. These tests have resulted in additional charges for offenders and effective safeguarding of children. It is also trialling a mobile phone-based voice analysis tool that uses artificial intelligence to assess risk in contacts with registered sex offenders.
Each MOSOVO team within the constabulary has a trained digital media investigator. Digital media investigators support the teams with specialist investigations involving digital technology, data and applications. These digital media investigators reduce the need for the teams to rely on support from the central digital forensics unit. They help teams to assess compliance with preventative orders restricting the use of digital technology by offenders. The digital media investigators also operate the technology that allows the team to locate and seize electronic devices during enforcement action, such as house searches. Cumbria Constabulary is also innovative in how it uses police service volunteers in these investigations. In particular, it uses a special constable who is highly qualified in digital media investigation, who helps with searches and in providing training and advice to the wider MOSOVO teams.
The constabulary has governance in place which includes regular performance meetings examining workloads and risk. During our inspection, we found that officer workloads were well managed and that most cases were actioned within Kent internet risk assessment tool timescales.
At the time of our inspection, we found the constabulary didn’t promptly share information with partners in online child abuse investigations. There were sometimes unnecessary delays in consulting with social services to start safeguarding children. This affected the constabulary’s ability to manage the risks posed by online child abuse offenders. We raised this issue with the constabulary, which took immediate action. The constabulary has updated its process to make sure officers complete referrals to social services at the earliest possible opportunity when they believe a suspect has access to children. This allows information-sharing to begin between the two services and helps them build an accurate picture of any risk that the suspect poses. The new process makes sure safeguarding children isn’t delayed.
We also found that the constabulary didn’t have a process to review the intelligence picture and continually risk assess the cases that were unallocated or awaiting enforcement action. We also raised this with the constabulary, which immediately changed its policy. There are now mandatory regular intelligence reviews that assess if the risk has changed. This allows the constabulary to prioritise the cases awaiting enforcement by assessing the risk using up-to-date intelligence.
In all other respects, the constabulary has effective performance monitoring in place, making sure it identifies and manages risk. There is strong governance and oversight in place to inform resourcing decisions and the allocation of work. The constabulary has systems in place to identify where there may be backlogs of work within police online investigation teams. Senior leaders scrutinise this data at regular performance meetings so that they can make informed decisions to address the risk.
The constabulary has a small but dedicated online child abuse investigation team. They are proactive in arresting suspects, meaning it has a minimal case backlog that is well within national timescales.
Cumbria Constabulary is outstanding at building, supporting and protecting the workforce.
Cumbria Constabulary understands the challenges faced by new police officers. The economic situation within Cumbria has meant that in the past retaining student officers has been difficult. Several large employers in the county offer much higher salaries for staff with the specific skills and attributes that are also valued by police forces.
To support new officers to stay and to develop effectively, the constabulary has introduced a number of initiatives. The development and needs of individual student officers are tracked using a student officer progression framework. This provides details on each student officer, including their development phase, supervisors, tutors and professional development unit sergeant. It also provides information on any well-being issues and welfare needs.
The constabulary provides all officers they believe are considering leaving with a one-to-one ‘stay conversation’ with a senior officer. In this meeting, practical considerations are discussed that may help the officer, such as flexible working, relocation, mentoring or coaching. When any considerations are agreed, they are held within a ‘fair passport’. This is a record of the agreements, which accompanies the officer wherever they move within the constabulary. This removes the need for the officer to repeatedly explain the reason for any help they receive as their career progresses. During our inspection, we heard about several interventions that had helped new officers decide to stay.
Student officer crime assessments are made weekly within the professional development units. These consider each officer’s workload, including the number of investigations and the complexity and demands of those cases. This assessment is carried out using the Cambridge Harm Index, which applies a weighted score to each case based on crime type and complexity. If the officer’s workload exceeds the trigger levels for either volume or complexity of cases, then an action plan is developed to help them.
Under the constabulary’s retention strategy, sergeants are encouraged to be accountable for the retention of their student officers. Student officer welfare and retention is discussed daily within the two basic command units and reported on at the monthly workforce board, chaired by the deputy chief constable. The constabulary uses a range of data and information to identify retention patterns and trends. It uses this specifically to understand the challenges for new recruits, especially those from under-represented groups.
All student officers are allocated a dedicated tutor constable and are offered the support of a ‘buddy’. This is an officer with a similar profile to themselves who they don’t routinely work with. This may be for the duration of their initial training or just in relation to a particular issue or phase of training.
During their initial training, student officers receive guidance from the occupational health unit’s workplace counsellors on managing their own mental health and resilience. This helps them to recognise signs of stress and anxiety in themselves and to manage them.
The constabulary has developed a confidential online reporting tool, called Student Officer Support: Heads Up. This is an application that allows either officers themselves or their colleagues to flag that they may need additional support. The report can be completed either anonymously or by a named person. It is forwarded to the professional development unit management team and triggers a support meeting with key people in order to seek a solution. This tool allows the students or their colleagues to raise issues that they may not feel comfortable discussing with their line managers or other supervisors.
Cumbria Constabulary makes new student officers aware of what well-being support is available to them in a clear and comprehensive document, ‘Health, Wellbeing and Safeguarding for New Student Officers’. This gives information about what safeguarding is, where responsibility for this lies in the constabulary and what structures are in place for their support. It directs officers to the occupational health unit and other support services. The document is shared with new officers through the online site set up for each training cohort to allow them to support each other and receive information that can help their development.
The constabulary told us that the number of officers who leave during their initial training period has reduced. During 2023, 122 new officers joined Cumbria Constabulary and only 6 student officers resigned.
In this section we set out our main findings that relate to how well the constabulary builds, supports and protects the workforce.
Police officers and staff we spoke with during our inspection said the constabulary provided a high level of well-being and welfare support to its workforce. They welcomed the preventative measures that had been put in place, including health, financial and well-being assistance. Almost all officers and staff referred to one pillar of the chief constable’s ‘4Cs’ priorities: ‘care for colleagues’. They felt that this was a significant priority for the constabulary.
We saw evidence that sergeants and other first-line managers took a proactive approach to the well-being of their officers and staff. They recognised when their officers and staff needed support and were knowledgeable about the different services and support that they could access for them.
The Wiser Mind training programme is the constabulary’s personal resilience programme. It helps officers and staff by providing them with resilience skills based on psychological research, in a relaxed and informal way. The programme was recognised by the Oscar Kilo Awards, which celebrate effective well-being support within policing.
The constabulary has a comprehensive occupational health, safety and well-being strategy, which governs its well-being services and support. A key objective of the strategy is to promote a culture where health and well-being is at the foundation of all decision-making. It recognises the effects of health on work and work on health in a high-risk occupation such as policing.
Demand, capacity and performance issues for the occupational health unit are discussed by the workforce board, chaired by the deputy chief constable. All waiting times for treatment or other support are closely monitored. During our inspection, the board approved short-term funding for additional therapy services because an increase in demand had resulted in a delay in some members of the workforce getting help. Staff are able to view the full range of services available to them and to request an appointment or make a referral for someone else through the dedicated occupational health unit intranet site.
In the year ending 31 March 2023, there were 37.5 occupational health unit referrals made per 100 Cumbria Constabulary employees. This is higher than expected compared to the average for police forces across England and Wales. This high rate of referrals could indicate a high volume of health conditions within the constabulary. However, long-term sickness absence rates for police officers are at a similar level to the England and Wales average, indicating that this may not be the case. When we spoke with officers and staff, it was clear that occupational health services were seen as supportive and not a last recourse. Supervisors made their teams aware of the services and regularly referred them as a preventative measure. This suggests that the occupational health unit services are held in high regard by officers and staff.
Cumbria Constabulary has identified those departments and roles that carry a high risk to well-being and reviews these regularly. The constabulary has comprehensive policies and processes to screen those staff who work in high-risk roles and to raise their awareness of the issues they may face. The training courses for high-risk roles, such as firearms, family liaison and collision investigation, all contain advice on managing stress and trauma, and a guide to the available occupational health unit services.
The constabulary sends every officer and member of staff in a high-risk role a psychological screening questionnaire, which they must complete. Those we spoke with who work in high-risk roles said they felt well supported by the constabulary and their supervisors. They told us that they had frequent one-to-one meetings, regular stress and risk assessments and open access to occupational health unit resources. If required, staff can be referred externally for further psychological assessment through the occupational health unit psychotherapist.
The constabulary has trained mental health first aiders who work in a range of operational and support roles and can offer guidance and support to their colleagues. Officers and staff are aware of the national police well-being service resources and those we spoke with were knowledgeable about the services and the Oscar Kilo internet site.
The constabulary has a well-established process for post-incident support, including debriefs after specific traumatic or critical incidents, enhanced access to occupational health, and a well-regarded trauma risk management (TRiM) referral process. We were pleased to find that most officers held the TRiM process in high regard. Many had a positive experience of the process or knew of colleagues who spoke highly of it.
Cumbria Constabulary has continued to use the Better Health at Work Awards as a gauge of the quality of the support services it provides to its staff. This is an assessment across a range of well-being areas. Since our last PEEL inspection, the constabulary has been successful in achieving the Gold Award.
Cumbria Constabulary has introduced a new leadership programme to help develop officers and staff and aid their progression. The programme has three streams:
There are plans in place to next develop a senior leadership programme in line with the College of Policing’s guidance. Access to the sergeant’s programme is open to constables who are seeking promotion.
The constabulary takes action to address barriers to development when it identifies them. The positive action team has worked closely with the Cumbria Constabulary Multicultural Police Association to understand why officers and staff from under-represented groups were reluctant to seek promotion or other development. It found that they were lacking self-belief that they could pass the competitive process. To address this, the learning and development department offers support to any minority ethnic candidates taking national promotion exams. And mentoring support is offered to them when carrying out interviews and assessments.
During our inspection, we spoke with officers and staff from under‑represented groups. They told us that their line managers were supportive and provided practical help to aid their development. Supervisors receive training on how to support colleagues from under-represented groups. Members of the workforce told us that they felt supported to achieve their full potential. We carried out a PEEL workforce survey between 10 October and 7 November 2023. We received 986 responses, which is an estimated 45.2 percent of the total workforce. Of those, 93.3 percent told us that their line manager challenged discriminatory behaviour in the workplace. And 89.4 percent told us that their line manager creates an inclusive working environment.
Cumbria Constabulary has the highest proportion of female police officers of any police force in England and Wales. In the year ending 31 March 2023, 42.3 percent of the constabulary’s police officers were female. The constabulary told us that since the last PEEL inspection, they have lost a number of senior female police officers who retired or were promoted into roles in other police forces. The chief officers have recognised this change in the balance of the senior leadership. To help address this, the chief constable championed a female leadership day to encourage female staff to seek development and promotion within Cumbria.
Operation Hampshire is the nationwide strategy with processes and guidance to help forces understand, support and respond more effectively to assaults on police officers and staff. Strategic oversight and governance of Operation Hampshire in Cumbria Constabulary is through the stop and search and use of force board. But all individual assaults on police officers or staff are scrutinised at daily management meetings and twice-daily constabulary-wide Pacesetter meetings chaired by a chief officer.
The board examines constabulary data that identifies which officers and staff have been assaulted, their area of work, the location of the assault and the time and day of the week that the assault occurred. This helps the constabulary to understand why such assaults happened and to identify any emerging trends. Staff who are assaulted receive direct support and contact from both senior officers and their direct supervisors. The constabulary has developed a ‘Cumbria Constabulary Assault Support Plan’ to help it respond effectively.
The vast majority of assaults on officers in Cumbria don’t involve the victim receiving an injury. In the year ending 31 March 2023, 473 police officers were assaulted. Only 22 percent of assaults resulted in any form of injury. But such assaults can still have a detrimental effect on the well-being of the victim and on their family and colleagues. During our inspection, we were pleased to find that the officers and staff we spoke with valued the support provided by the constabulary to those who are assaulted in the course of their duties. We were told repeatedly about the significant concern expressed by senior leaders.
Cumbria Constabulary’s leadership and management is good.
The constabulary recognised the importance of providing its workforce with relevant investigation knowledge and skills. As technology-related crimes rapidly change, the skills needed to respond effectively need to change with them. To help the constabulary meet this ongoing development need, it created the police digital academy. This team is responsible for developing and creating digital skills training for its workforce, to help them effectively investigate crimes such as stalking, harassment and domestic abuse committed using digital technology and social media.
The digital academy includes a digital research hub that involves academic partners and practitioners. Jointly, they analyse recent investigations to identify what digital skills are required. This work influences the content of future training sessions and has included improving investigative standards and addressing the supervisory challenges in overseeing digital investigations.
The initial pilot has been evaluated and has now been adopted by five forces as a new northwest collaboration. Sessions are short to help increase attendance and typically last 30 minutes. All sessions can be accessed using Microsoft Teams to minimise travel costs and maintain workforce productivity. The training modules are individual topics. They have covered learning about platforms Snapchat and Facebook, for example, and digital crime prevention advice. Each training session is evaluated and the feedback is used to help to shape future sessions.
In this section we set out our main findings that relate to leadership and management.
The constabulary has effective governance processes in place that use analysis and data. This helps to make sure it is effective and efficient. Its performance objectives align with its strategy. Force management statements and performance objectives are supported by the constabulary’s plans to achieve its goals. The constabulary’s strategic planning process is effective and is strongly aligned to its 4Cs plan on a page, which also influences other departmental plans, policies and processes. The 4Cs plan is very well understood by the workforce, who show a strong commitment towards it and to meeting its priorities.
Strategic decision-making is based on effective analysis of intelligence and trustworthy data. The constabulary uses analysis to make sure it operates effectively and efficiently. The constabulary recently reviewed and restructured its reporting governance structure to make sure it aligned with the 4Cs plan. It uses good quality data to measure progress against its priorities and to improve services for local communities. The constabulary has a good understanding of its current performance and is steadily improving.
In December 2023, Cumbria Constabulary introduced a new leadership strategy that clearly sets out its expectations of its leaders. This aims to make sure they have the necessary skills, abilities and capability to lead effectively at all levels. The constabulary has developed a range of training programmes that are specific to each leadership level, to make sure they have the knowledge and skills needed to be effective in their roles. It also offers less formal training through regular professional development events and through its coaching and mentoring scheme.
During our inspection, the workforce told us that chief officers were very visible and communicative. They commented positively about how often they saw senior leaders and how they felt supported by them. The constabulary’s approach to communicating its standards and expectations to its leaders is effective. And we saw evidence of its commitment to creating a positive working environment for its people.
The constabulary has introduced a new operating model to help it to respond to its priorities and to both current and future demand. It has effective systems in place that make sure crimes are allocated to appropriately skilled officers and units. The constabulary uses data to make workforce decisions and make sure its resources are where they are most needed. This makes sure the constabulary can meet current demands and community needs, and prepare for future challenges. This shows the constabulary is aware of resource, cost, demand and workforce pressures. But it needs to make sure it prioritises activity that removes internal demand by continually improving how it works. For example, greater use of robotic process automation technology could replace some staff tasks that are repetitive and time-consuming. This would help the constabulary to increase productivity and workforce capacity, which would help it meet current and future demand more efficiently.
Cumbria Constabulary is investing in new technology to improve its operations and will introduce a new record management database, called Mark 43, in late 2024. This will make the constabulary’s processes more efficient and provide access to better quality data. We found that the constabulary has made good progress through its wider investments in IT and data systems. However, during our fieldwork we found that while the constabulary had access to many IT applications, finding information could be a time-consuming task for officers and staff. The high number of different applications was causing confusion. And as a result, leaders weren’t always able to get effective management information needed to manage their team’s performance efficiently.
The constabulary also lacks an effective briefing system to provide important information to its workforce. While it has plenty of data, it isn’t accessible through a dedicated briefing system. This is crucial to make sure officers have easy access to the information they need to carry out their roles effectively. The constabulary told us that it would prioritise introducing a system to meet this need. This will allow it to optimise its processes and improve the service provided to its communities.
The constabulary displays an effective approach to financial management. The forecasts within its mid-term financial plan are based on realistic assumptions about future funding and expenditure.
In the year ending 31 March 2023, Cumbria Constabulary received £163m in funding, equating to £325.6k in total funding per 1,000 population. This was significantly higher than the average for police forces in England and Wales.
Figure 6: Total funding per 1,000 population by forces in England and Wales in the 2022/23 financial year
Source: Data collection and analysis from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services
In line with other forces in England and Wales, Cumbria Constabulary receives a combination of a core grant from central government and local revenue raised through the council tax precept. This precept contributed a total of £49m to the constabulary’s total budget. This is 30.1 percent of the constabulary’s total funding, which is slightly lower than the average for the percentage of funding that forces receive from the precept.
The constabulary received help from a maximum increase in the precept for 2023/24. The increase was £14.94 per band D property. This was allocated to support the constabulary with its plans to meet cost pressures and maintain services. Despite this increase, the constabulary estimates that it will still have a budget deficit of £5m in 2024/25. It has identified the areas where it will make efficiency savings. It has a good track record of making savings and is confident that its plans are achievable.
The constabulary told us that the capital expenditure for 2023/24 amounted to £8m, which was used to invest in IT applications and to make improvements in efficiency by rolling out mobile technology. It also made investments in police buildings and replacing its fleet of vehicles. The constabulary uses its reserves prudently, but budgetary pressures have created the need to draw on them frequently. The constabulary said it holds general reserves of about £4m, which is about 3 percent of its net revenue budget and is considered an adequate amount.
In the year ending 31 March 2023, Cumbria Constabulary had 17.2 percent of officers working in support roles. This is significantly higher than expected compared to the average for forces in England and Wales.
Figure 7: Proportion of officers in support roles by forces in England and Wales in the financial year 2022/23
Source: Police workforce England and Wales statistics from the Home Office
Note: The workforce data is based on the full-time equivalent workforce figures for police officers. They include officers on career breaks and other types of long-term absence but exclude those seconded to other forces.
Data in this report comes from a range of sources, including:
For any charts and tables included in this report, we have listed the data source underneath.
We collect data from police forces twice a year. We agreed the design and schedule of this data collection with forces and other interested parties, including the Home Office.
Our analysts check and evaluate the collected data. We contact the force if we have any initial queries. Following this, we carry out an in-depth data review and make further contact with the force if needed. This process gives forces several opportunities to quality assure and validate the information they shared to make sure it is accurate.
We then share our analysis with the force by uploading the data to online dashboards. As they can review own and other forces’ data in context, forces can identify any notable differences or other inconsistencies.
This report presents the results from a PEEL inspection of one of the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales. British Transport Police is outside the scope of this report.
Any aggregated totals for England and Wales exclude data from the British Transport Police, which means that the totals will differ from those published by the Home Office. If any other police forces didn’t supply data and aren’t included in the total figures, we will mention this.
We use data that has been collected outside our PEEL inspection to support our fieldwork.
This report contains the latest data available before the start of our inspection and the data that the force gave us during our inspection. If more recent data becomes available after our inspection fieldwork and shows that the force’s performance has changed, we will comment on this.
In this report, we sometimes present information as rates per 1,000 population in each police force area. This allows our data to be comparable across all forces. Where population data is used in our calculations, we use the latest mid-year population estimates from the Office for National Statistics.
In this report, we have included bar charts with dotted red lines to show where a force is significantly different from the average for forces in England and Wales.
The dotted lines on the bar charts show one standard deviation above and below the unweighted average of all forces. Standard deviation summarises the difference between each individual value and the average and can be used to identify extreme or rare values.
Forces that are more than one standard deviation above or below the average are considered significantly different. These forces are outside the red dotted lines on our bar charts and we have highlighted them in either a dark blue (forces above average) or light blue (forces below average) colour. Typically, 32 percent of forces will be above or below these lines for any given measure.
We survey the police workforce throughout England and Wales to understand their experiences at work. The survey is an opportunity for the whole workforce to share their views with us. It is a valuable source of information as it isn’t possible to speak to everyone in a force during our inspection.
However, the responses we receive come from a non-statistical, voluntary sample within the workforce. The number of responses also varies between forces. This means that the results may be not representative of the workforce population.
We treat the results with caution and don’t use them to assess police forces. Instead, we use the results to establish themes that should be explored further during our inspection fieldwork. The results can also be used to give more evidence and validate information from other sources.
We carry out a victim service assessment for all forces as part of our inspection programme.
We assess the service that a force provides to victims. This is from the point of reporting a crime and throughout an investigation.
We also evaluate how forces record crimes. We assess every force on its crime recording practices at least once every three years.
Details of the technical methodology for the victim service assessment.
We carry out a stop and search audit for all forces as part of our inspection programme.
Our stop and search audits allow us to evaluate how well forces use their stop and search powers. We review how many stop and searches a force carried out under section 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 or section 23 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. We analyse:
Cumbria PEEL assessment 2023–2025
You can find more about Cumbria Constabulary on our dedicated force page.
Cumbria Constabulary force area covers 2,613 square miles, is 98% rural & mountainous, with 150 miles of coastline, geographically isolated and serves a sparse population of 498,000.
The small population increases with millions of visitors each year, which in turn increases the demand on services and infrastructure.
Cumbria Constabulary congratulated for good performance
Find out more about HMICFRS’s work and other inspection areas.
Find out how well other forces have performed during their PEEL assessment.
You can view the recommendations for all forces made by HMICFRS on our Progress against recommendations page. This shows how much progress has been made on these recommendations.
