West Midlands PEEL Assessment 2023–2025

Overall summary

Our judgments

Our inspection assessed how good West Midlands Police is in nine areas of policing. We make graded judgments in eight of these nine as follows:

West Midlands Police was awarded no outstanding or good grades.

We also inspected how effective a service West Midlands Police gives to victims of crime. We don’t make a graded judgment in this overall area.

We set out our detailed findings about things the force is doing well and where the force should improve in the rest of this report.

We also assess the force’s performance in a range of other areas and we report on these separately. We make graded judgments for some of these areas.

PEEL 2023–2025

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.

Terminology in this report

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.

HM Inspector’s summary

I have concerns about the performance of West Midlands Police in keeping people safe, reducing crime and providing victims with an effective service. I have serious concerns about how well the force investigates crime, protects vulnerable people and manages offenders and suspects. We have highlighted these problems in previous inspection reports, but the force’s performance has declined. In view of these findings, I have been in contact with the chief constable as the improvements required are substantial.

The force had a change in leadership in the year leading up to our inspection, with the appointment of a new chief constable, deputy chief constable and other senior leaders. They have implemented a robust performance framework to help make improvements. Most significantly, the leadership team has reviewed the force’s operating model and made rapid changes to it. The new model brings investigations, response and neighbourhood policing together under local commands.

At the time of our inspection, the force had only just put these changes in place. There have been clear improvements in the ability of the control room to answer emergency and non-emergency calls. But there hasn’t yet been time for most of the changes to fully develop.

I recognise the rapid action taken by the senior team and accept that it will take time to have the effect the leadership team wants. However, because these changes are being made so quickly, the force hasn’t considered the full breadth and depth of available data. This means that it doesn’t know whether these changes are the most efficient and effective ways of achieving sustainable improvements.

Improvements are needed to the force’s operations, but acute environmental factors also influence its ability to meet its demand. Between 31 March 2010 and 31 March 2023, the total officers in the force (measured in full-time equivalents) reduced from 8,626 to 7,954. This means that the force has 672 fewer officers, despite the investments made by the Police Uplift Programme.

The West Midlands also has high levels of deprivation. The rate of permanent exclusions from schools in the region is higher than the average for England. This means children are more vulnerable and more likely to be exposed to criminal exploitation. In the year ending 30 June 2023, West Midlands Police recorded 14.4 homicides per million population, the fifth highest of all forces in England and Wales. Forty-two people lost their lives to homicide in the West Midlands, the second highest number after the Metropolitan Police area.

On 5 September 2023, Birmingham City Council issued a section 114 notice which means that it can’t meet its expenditure commitments from its income. It is one of the largest local authority areas in the country and the consequences for its partners, including West Midlands Police, aren’t yet clear. In 2022, the Institute for Fiscal Studies found that the amounts that police forces receive from central grants hadn’t taken account of wider needs.

West Midlands Police’s funding reduced by 13 percent per capita between the year ending 31 March 2014 and year ending 31 March 2020. This means that it has been affected disproportionately compared to some other forces, and has little opportunity to obtain additional funds from increasing the police precept. West Midlands Police needs to have enough resources to prevent crime and protect the public effectively.

Wendy Williams

HM Inspector of Constabulary

Providing a service to the victims of crime

Victim service assessment

This section describes our assessment of the service West Midlands Police 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 force had closed with the following outcome:

• when the crime had been investigated, no suspect had been identified and the investigation was closed.

Although our victim service assessment is ungraded, it influences graded judgments in the other areas we have inspected.

The force needs to improve the time it takes to answer emergency and non-emergency calls

The force needs to improve the time it takes to answer emergency calls. It also needs to reduce the number of non-emergency calls where the caller hangs up before a handler answers it. In their calls, call handlers use a structured process that assesses threat, harm, risk and vulnerability. Call handlers also identify repeat victims, meaning that the force is aware of the victim’s circumstances when deciding what response it should give. We found that call handlers don’t always give victims advice on crime prevention or on how to preserve evidence.

In many cases, the force doesn’t respond promptly to calls for service

The force doesn’t always respond to calls for service appropriately and within set timescales. It doesn’t always inform victims of delays, meaning that victims’ expectations aren’t always met. This may cause victims to lose confidence and to not want to continue with the process.

The force doesn’t always carry out effective investigations

The force doesn’t always carry out investigations in a timely way. It also doesn’t always complete relevant and proportionate lines of enquiry. A thorough investigation increases the likelihood of perpetrators being identified and arrested, providing a positive result for the victim.

The force doesn’t always supervise investigations well or regularly update victims. Victims are more likely to have confidence in a police investigation when they receive regular updates.

In most cases when a victim withdrew support for an investigation, the force considered progressing the case without their support. This can be an important way of safeguarding the victim and preventing further offences from being committed. In some cases, the force didn’t always record whether it considered using orders designed to protect victims, such as a Domestic Violence Protection Notice or Domestic Violence Protection Order.

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 force usually carries out this assessment and records the request for additional support.

The force doesn’t always assign the right outcome type to an investigation

The force isn’t consistently providing the level of service needed to make sure that it achieves appropriate outcomes for victims of crime. It doesn’t close crimes with the appropriate outcome type and doesn’t record a clear rationale for using a certain outcome. This process is not effectively supervised.

The force doesn’t always consider victims’ wishes or record them properly

The force doesn’t always seek victims’ views when deciding which outcome type to assign to a closed investigation. The force isn’t always able to provide an auditable record of the victim’s wishes. And it didn’t always inform victims of the outcome it assigned to the investigation.

Police powers and treating the public fairly and respectfully

West Midlands Police is adequate at using police powers and treating people fairly and respectfully.

Main findings

In this section we set out our main findings that relate to police powers and treating people fairly and respectfully.

The force trains its officers to help them communicate more effectively

The force trains officers to use tactical communication skills. Their use of communication is assessed during personal safety training, which covers emotions, mental health and disability. Officers are trained to use proven principles when responding to incidents involving people who have behavioural disorders. These include backing off, using cover and early negotiation. This means they are more likely to de-escalate situations.

The force uses the Hydra training system, which draws on evidence from real situations. Officers observe and discuss scenarios in a group setting, so they can learn from these interactions. This helps them understand how bias influences decision-making. As part of the national Police Race Action Plan, the force gives officers and staff training called ‘Learning from our Black History’. This helps them to understand factors that have affected the relationship between Black communities and the police.

The force uses body-worn video frequently, which helps it assess how well officers interact with people

Body-worn video devices capture audio and video footage when officers interact with the public. Officers must use body-worn video when using stop and search powers. The force’s policy is up to date and reflects national requirements. The force recognises the benefits of body-worn video and makes sure that its officers are using it when they should. The force told us that between 1 April and 31 August 2023 it recorded 9,540 stop and searches, and officers used body-worn video in 97.1 percent of cases. Of the 5,861 occasions when the use of force was recorded in this period, body-worn video was used in 85.6 percent of cases.

During our reality testing, officers told us that their supervisors review footage so they can see how well they interact with the public. And internal and external panels review body-worn video footage. This helps to make sure that interactions are lawful, fair and respectful. We also saw how the force has developed the capability to live-stream body-worn video footage, which we describe in the section on ‘Responding to the public’.

However, some supervisors told us they weren’t trained in how to review records and weren’t certain about the process they should follow. When we reviewed a small selection of body-worn video footage, we saw that officers sometimes failed to tell people who they searched what they were looking for and didn’t always tell them that they can ask for a copy of the search record. The force uses QR codes that help people who have been searched to give feedback about their experience. But procedural failings might not be identified unless people who are stopped and searched know they are entitled to a record of the search, and body-worn video footage is dip-sampled effectively. The force needs to make sure that supervisors consistently monitor these interactions.

The force could act more positively on feedback from external scrutiny panels

External scrutiny panels operate throughout the force. They have independent chairs and diverse membership. They review stop and search records and body-worn video, and give their opinions on how well procedures are followed and whether officers’ actions are appropriate. Panel members accompany officers on operations and participate in ‘ride-alongs’ where they can observe stop and searches taking place. We saw that panel members are confident to challenge the force.

Minutes of scrutiny panels’ meetings are published by the police and crime commissioner’s office. But when we reviewed this, we found that in some cases no recent records had been published. We identified good examples of officers receiving advice after panels had scrutinised cases. But the force needs to demonstrate how it identifies learning and good practice and shares it more widely, to improve training and procedures and influence behaviour.

Overall, the force uses stop and search powers fairly and respectfully, but it needs to develop its understanding of disproportionality

When examining disproportionality data for stop and search rates between people from ethnic minority backgrounds and White people, a value of less than 0.8 shows that a person from an ethnic minority background is less likely than someone who is White to be stopped and searched. A value higher than 1.25 shows that someone from an ethnic minority background is more likely to be stopped and searched.

In the year ending 31 March 2022, West Midlands Police recorded 26,372 stop and searches. This represents 9.0 stops per 1,000 population. This was a 1.8 percent increase from the previous year’s figure of 25,895. In the same period, the figure for England and Wales fell by 25.9 percent.

In the West Midlands, based on population data from the 2021 census, Asian or Asian British people were 2.0 times as likely to be stopped and searched compared to White people. Black or Black British people were 2.9 times as likely, and people from multiple ethnic minority backgrounds were 3.0 times as likely. The likelihood of a person who is Black or Black British being stopped across England and Wales is 4.8 times that of a White person. This shows that West Midlands Police has slightly lower levels of disproportionality in its use of stop and search powers than England and Wales as a whole.

During our inspection, we reviewed a sample of stop and search records from 1 January to 31 December 2022. Based on this sample, we estimate that 86.6 percent (with a confidence interval of +/− 6.8 percent) of all stop and searches by the force during this period had reasonable grounds recorded. In our previous review of records from 2020, we found 92.8 percent (with a confidence interval of +/− 3.3 percent) of stop and searches had reasonable grounds recorded. Of the records we reviewed for stop and searches on people from ethnic minority backgrounds, 35 of the 41 reviewed had reasonable grounds recorded.

The ‘linked find rate’ is the proportion of times when a stop and search results in finding the particular item(s) that formed the officers’ suspicion and grounds for the interaction in the first instance. Linked find rates should be proportionate to the force’s levels of stop and search use. In the year ending 31 March 2022, West Midlands Police found the item that was the subject of the search in 22.9 percent of stop and searches. This is similar to the 22.2 percent find rate for all forces in England and Wales during the same period.

The force assesses its use of stop and search at different management meetings. It monitors the number of stop and searches performed on people of different ethnicities. But it doesn’t monitor linked find rates by ethnicity, and it doesn’t collect any data on age or gender. It could use more data and information from diverse sources, including body-worn video and feedback from scrutiny panels, to help it to understand why disproportionality happens and to improve its practices.

Preventing and deterring crime and antisocial behaviour, and reducing vulnerability

West Midlands Police is adequate at prevention and deterrence.

Main findings

In this section we set out our main findings that relate to prevention and deterrence.

The force prioritises the prevention and deterrence of crime

Within West Midlands Police’s force area, there are a comprehensive range of initiatives to reduce crime, including violence. The Violence Reduction Partnership, funded by the Home Office, addresses underlying factors that can lead to people becoming victims or perpetrators of violence. Project Guardian is a well-established force-wide approach that focuses on prevention and enforcement activities. And the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence programme, which the force participates in, seeks to dissuade people from becoming involved in gangs and county lines drug-dealing. The cities of Coventry and Wolverhampton have received funding for this programme.

The force has trained analysts who identify the patterns and causes of crime. Its tasking and co-ordination process is effective in allocating resources to tackle crime. These are important measures because, as we saw, the force contends with serious youth violence, gang tensions, robbery and firearms offences, along with neighbourhood crime. It works hard to reduce the knife crime that affects some of its most deprived neighbourhoods. But this problem is acute. West Midlands Police recorded 5,192 knife and sharp instrument offences in the year ending 31 March 2023. The rate of knife and sharp instrument offences was the highest across all forces at 178 per 100,000 population.

The force is getting better at identifying and responding to emerging trends in neighbourhood crime

Neighbourhood crime includes domestic burglary, vehicle-related crime, theft from the person and robbery. In the year ending 30 June 2023, West Midlands Police recorded 67,747 neighbourhood crimes. We noted that for the year ending 30 June 2023 recorded domestic burglary fell by 27.6 percent from 21,542 to 15,590 and robbery fell by 2.8 percent from 8,945 to 8,691, compared with the year ending 30 June 2019. But theft from the person increased by 39.7 percent, with the force recording 4,525 crimes in the year ending 30 June 2023 compared with 3,239 offences in the year ending 30 June 2019. And vehicle crime increased by 7.8 percent, with the force recording 38,941 crimes in the year ending 30 June 2023 compared with 36,130 crimes in the year ending 30 June 2019.

The force recognised these problems and acted by assigning specialist resources to tackle them. Its response includes Operation Advance and Operation Target, which concentrate on criminals involved in organised acquisitive crime. And it directed its preventative messages to areas where the risks of crime are highest. Senior leaders scrutinise the effectiveness of these activities at monthly performance meetings. The force told us that levels of vehicle crime and theft from the person had reduced in the year ending 31 August 2023, compared with the year ending 31 August 2022. This suggests that it is becoming more effective at identifying and responding to changes in neighbourhood crime.

The force actively seeks views and support from communities

The force aims to interact well with all communities, to build relationships, trust and confidence. Its diversity and inclusion strategy is called ‘Fairness and Belonging’. This describes how the force uses messaging targeted at specific communities, so they have the opportunity to influence policing. This is important because the force recognises that communities are complex and evolving. We saw this in practice: policing teams identify where new communities are emerging and assess how well they engage with them. For example, they have worked to establish links with the Somali and Chinese communities in Birmingham to help build trust in policing. This helps the force to understand more about the issues that affect diverse communities, so it can respond appropriately.

Neighbourhood teams also communicate with people through surgeries held in public areas, social media and attending community events. They attend Partners and Communities Together meetings, which give residents the opportunity to meet with their policing team and partner agencies about local concerns, and to influence their actions. Neighbourhood teams work with children’s homes to work with young people and break down barriers. And they hold community café events where people can meet them and talk about their experiences. The force’s communications team supports neighbourhood teams by sharing their understanding of communities, so they can devise engagement methods that people are more likely to respond positively to.

The force works with partners to reduce and prevent long-term crime and antisocial behaviour

We found examples of the force working with partner agencies and communities to prevent crime and antisocial behaviour. For example, the Violence Reduction Partnership has developed a toolkit for faith communities, which recognises their potential for helping to reduce serious youth violence. The toolkit describes faith-inspired support for young people. WMnow is an email alert system which updates subscribers about local priorities and initiatives. We subscribed to this system and saw how areas are targeted with helpful crime prevention advice. And local officers visit schools to talk about the harmful effects of antisocial behaviour. This puts the emphasis on diversion rather than prosecution, meaning young people are less likely to be drawn into the criminal justice system.

Where enforcement is needed, we saw how the force targets areas where demand is highest. An example of this is Operation Advance, in which the force works with British Transport Police, Trading Standards and other agencies to tackle crime and disorder problems. Members of the independent advisory group, who are drawn from local communities, accompany officers so they can observe the action they take. The force uses surveys afterwards to capture local people’s views about policing, and it publicises the results of each operation to maximise their deterrent effect.

In July 2023, we published our report on police performance ‘Police performance: Getting a grip‘. We highlighted how West Midlands Police’s data analytics lab performs forward-facing analysis to predict areas where violence is most likely to happen, so the force and partner organisations can plan activity to address it.

According to the Office for National Statistics’ Crime Survey for England and Wales, in the year ending 31 March 2023, an estimated 36.8 percent of adults aged 16 and over in the West Midlands experienced or witnessed antisocial behaviour in their local area. This is higher than the estimate for England and Wales of 34.0 percent. This difference is not statistically significant.

Responding to the public

West Midlands Police requires improvement at responding to the public.

Main findings

In this section we set out our main findings that relate to how well the force responds to the public.

Call handlers don’t always give appropriate advice on preserving evidence and preventing crime

The force needs to make sure that call handlers give appropriate advice on preserving evidence and preventing crime to help and reassure callers. In our victim service assessment, call handlers failed to give appropriate advice on preservation of evidence in 9 of 16 cases we reviewed, and on crime prevention in 10 of 23 cases. This means that the force may be missing opportunities to secure evidence at crime scenes, or to gather evidence of antisocial behaviour that might support its investigations.

Call handlers carry out a structured initial triage and risk assessment

The force’s control room staff use a risk-assessment process called THRIVE. The force does a good job of scrutinising how frequently and effectively this process is used. In our victim service assessment, we found that call handlers used this structured approach to assess risk and consider the needs of the caller in all 70 of the applicable cases. The structured triage record was an accurate and meaningful reflection of the circumstances in 64 out of 70 relevant cases.

We found that call handlers’ initial grading of reported incidents was appropriate in 90 of 92 cases. This reflects the findings of our previous PEEL inspection when we found that control room staff were using THRIVE well.

The force routinely identifies repeat victims

We found that call handlers checked whether the call involved a repeat victim in 66 of 69 relevant cases. The information gathered when a repeat victim was identified was used effectively in 23 of 24 cases we examined.

Investigating crime

West Midlands Police is inadequate at investigating crime.

Main findings

In this section we set out our main findings that relate to how well the force investigates crime.

The force has put in place appropriate governance arrangements to make sure it has effective oversight of investigations

The force’s new operating model was introduced in April 2023. We found that senior leaders have acted to improve performance, including outcomes. A new management structure, led by the deputy chief constable, oversees investigations. The operating model redistributes some investigations to different teams, including neighbourhood teams. Local investigation teams investigate more serious neighbourhood crimes like robbery and burglary, while the major crime unit handles more complex investigations.

The force told us that this will give specialist investigators more capacity to handle serious cases. It also anticipates this will help officers to develop their skills at investigating crime. It has implemented an improvement plan called Operation Vanguard to raise the standard of investigations.

Protecting vulnerable people

West Midlands Police is inadequate at protecting vulnerable people.

Main findings

In this section we set out our additional findings that relate to how well the force protects vulnerable people.

The force needs to make sure that its management structure helps it to effectively identify and respond to risks that affect its ability to protect vulnerable people

The force’s vulnerability strategy is led by an assistant chief constable. Each of the College of Policing‘s 13 strands of vulnerability has a lead officer assigned to it who is responsible for making improvements. Progress is reviewed at strategic meetings. We assessed the force’s plan to tackle violence, abuse and intimidation against women and girls. This reflects the vulnerability strands and describes how the force and its partners work together to protect women and girls. The force is a pilot site for Operation Soteria, which we describe positively earlier in this report.

West Midlands Police’s force management statement includes an assessment of vulnerability demand and explains how the force will address risks to vulnerable people. The force has acted on this assessment by changing its operating model to build capacity in its public protection unit.

The force told us that this will help officers and staff to investigate serious offences more thoroughly, in order to achieve better outcomes for victims. But the force too often reacts to problems as they emerge, rather than using data and insight to anticipate and mitigate systemic risks. The problem of demand faced by MARACs is an example of this. At the time of our inspection, the force was reviewing its management structure to make it more effective.

The force obtains victims’ views, but it needs to make sure it responds to their feedback consistently to improve its services

The force told us that it wants to improve the confidence of victims and the wider public in how it investigates crime. It will listen to victims and change the way it works in response to their feedback. The force’s victims thematic board has developed a delivery plan aimed at improving the service victims receive. And each department has a service improvement meeting that discusses how well victims are supported. For example, a chief inspector in the public protection unit presents information to the senior leadership team at monthly meetings.

The desire to improve is evident in the services the force offers. It has introduced a domestic abuse support desk. Victims can discuss their personal circumstances with trained staff using video calls. The force told us that early results indicate that victims are more supportive of prosecutions since the support desk’s introduction and they value the service they receive. When asked about using the service again, the force told us that 76.0 percent of respondents stated they would prefer video calling to telephone calls (14.0 percent of respondents) or a home visit (10.0 percent of respondents). The introduction of the support desk means the force can meet vulnerable victims’ needs better. But the force needs to make sure that appropriate enquiries are made, for example, about children who may be present in a home and who witness domestic abuse.

The force has provided guidance for officers via their handheld devices, called the Child Abuse Guide. It helps them capture children’s views and needs. Managers from investigation teams examine cases and evaluate how well officers listen to children and consider their views. This process is focused on the quality of action that is taken, but it isn’t brief – supervisors must invest time in it. This gives the force an opportunity to learn from children’s experiences and improve.

The West Midlands MARAC Survivor Feedback Project is a survey of the survivors of domestic abuse who have received support through the MARAC process. The survey’s report, which was prepared in January 2023, makes 20 recommendations to improve the service MARACs give, although it isn’t clear if the force has taken action to address these recommendations.

The force has made some useful changes. We look forward to learning how its delivery plan makes sure that widespread use of feedback from victims, including children, leads to better services for victims.

The force uses the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (also known as Clare’s Law) to protect vulnerable victims and potential victims

Under Clare’s Law, ‘right to ask’ gives any member of the public the right to ask the police if their partner may pose a risk to them, and ‘right to know’ allows the police to disclose information to protect a potential victim. Our data from 31 March 2023 shows that the force’s use of ‘right to know’ applications has grown. In the quarter ending 31 March 2023, the force received 191 ‘right to know’ applications and made 78 disclosures, whereas for the same period in 2022 it had received 25 applications and made 13 disclosures.

The force’s Clare’s Law team handles these applications. The force told us that it processes approximately 225 requests each month, and 30.0 percent of these are ‘right to know’ applications. They are reviewed promptly. The team also considers safeguarding needs and promotes the use of Clare’s Law to the wider force. This appears to be effective, with safeguarding teams demonstrating their awareness of Clare’s Law by proactively considering ‘right to know’ referrals for MARAC cases.

But we learned that many cases are handled over the telephone due to demand. Best practice states that this should only be done when other methods aren’t possible. The force has introduced a domestic abuse desk that uses video calling – it could consider using similar technology when processing Clare’s Law applications. This would help it to validate applications efficiently, so vulnerable victims could quickly find out about their partner’s or ex-partner’s previous abusive or violent offending.

Managing offenders and suspects

West Midlands Police is inadequate at managing offenders and suspects.

Main findings

In this section we set out our additional findings that relate to how well the force manages offenders and suspects.

The force considers the safeguarding benefits of pre-charge bail and uses it appropriately

The force understands the requirements of new bail legislation introduced by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and has improved its management of bail cases. Investigation teams hold monthly service improvement meetings, and an assistant chief constable chairs quarterly performance meetings where a wide range of data and information about bail is scrutinised. This includes the number of outstanding suspects with lapsed bail and details of backlogs. Sergeants and inspectors now play a greater role in ensuring bail is used appropriately. In the year ending 31 March 2023, there were 5,529 lapsed bail cases. The force told us that it had reduced lapsed bail cases to 1,769 by 31 August 2023. We confirmed that it uses bail more often than released under investigation. The force told us that during August 2023, out of 1,257 cases of domestic abuse, it used bail in 1,243 cases and released under investigation in 12 cases. This suggests the force balances safeguarding needs and other priorities when making decisions about bail.

Building, supporting and protecting the workforce

West Midlands Police requires improvement at building and developing its workforce.

Main findings

In this section we set out our main findings that relate to how well the force builds and develops its workforce.

The force understands the factors that have a positive and negative effect on its workforce’s well-being, but it needs to communicate about change more effectively

The force’s well-being strategy is linked to national well-being initiatives. In November 2022, the force completed a workforce survey. Each local policing area (LPA) has developed an action plan to support the workforce’s well-being that is assessed each quarter. The action the force takes is reported to its senior leaders. However, the force acknowledges that it needs to communicate the outcomes of these plans more positively to its workforce. It is carrying out a review to determine how it can manage resources, staff development needs and well-being more effectively. This is encouraging because well-being was a prominent theme of this inspection.

In April 2023, the force changed its operating model to reflect its priorities. It intends to balance its operational needs with the well-being of its workforce. We saw how the force has allocated more resources to teams where demand pressures are most acute. An example is the online child sexual exploitation team (OCSET), where officers spoke positively about recent changes that aid their well-being. We found good examples of the force consulting with and supporting its workforce when making decisions that affected them. Leaders communicate with their teams using weekly team ‘dial-in’ meetings and the intranet. We noted that the chief constable was about to start a series of ‘roadshows’ across the force to engage personally with officers and staff about their experiences.

But views about well-being were often negative. During our reality testing, staff felt that their well-being wasn’t properly considered when the new operating model was introduced. Managing and communicating change well within the workplace means that staff will feel included and part of the force, regardless of their role or rank. In our PEEL workforce survey, 15.4 percent of respondents (53 of 343) agreed that change is managed well in West Midlands Police. And 38.2 percent of respondents (131 of 343) felt that the force keeps them informed about matters that affect them. We acknowledge that the force has implemented changes rapidly to improve its service to the public, and the extent to which these changes affect staff varies. But the force needs to demonstrate that it is actively considering the impact on its workforce’s well-being, to help mitigate any negative effects.

The workforce has access to a range of measures to improve their physical and mental well-being

The well-being support the force offers includes an employee assistance programme called Vivup, which is available 24 hours a day. This gives access to counselling and advice from specialists. There is widespread use of trauma risk management (TRiM), a process that helps staff who have experienced traumatic events. Annual psychological screening is offered to officers and staff in roles where they are more likely to be exposed to negative influences on their well-being. These high-risk roles include OCSET, sex offender managers, crime scene managers, authorised firearms officers, collision investigators and forensic scene investigators. However, we learned that the force has to make difficult decisions about the teams it offers screening to, because of the costs involved.

The force circulates information about well-being in the form of ‘top tips’. It also works with the national police well-being service, Oscar Kilo, to understand where there are gaps in its well-being provision and how it can improve. The force told us that by September 2023, 156 officers had participated in their Passport to Management course for newly promoted supervisors, which includes training about well-being. This means supervisors will be better equipped to support well-being.

In the year ending 31 March 2023, 1.5 percent of police officers in West Midlands Police were on long-term sickness absence as a proportion of full-time equivalent police officers. This was in line with other forces in England and Wales.

The force makes new recruits feel welcome and included, and helps supervisors to foster an ethical and inclusive working environment

The force’s strategy for diversity and inclusion is called ‘Fairness and Belonging’. It has three strands: Our People; Our Communities; and Our Partners. It reflects the force’s ambition to be an employer of choice, and to be more representative of its communities. The strategy is managed by the force’s fairness and belonging governance board, led by the deputy chief constable. The cross-industry network Inclusive Companies ranked the force 4th in its list of the top 50 inclusive UK employers in the year ending 31 March 2023.

We saw how the force is developing its leaders so they can contribute more to an inclusive culture. The Passport to Management course includes modules on moral courage, managing inclusion and understanding fairness. Mandatory training on the Equality Act 2010 helps staff to recognise the importance of inclusive language and the negative effects of ‘micro-aggression’, which is defined as indirect, subtle or unintentional discrimination. A useful guided reflection toolkit, ‘Driving Inclusion’, is available on the force’s intranet. Supervisors can use it to guide discussions with staff about inclusion and identify areas for improvement. The force uses equality analysis to understand the impact of its decisions on protected groups, including student officers. It trains its staff so they can complete equality assessments when making changes to practice. These help it to make sure that its policies and services don’t discriminate, and to evaluate how its work affects diverse groups of people.

The student welfare team makes sure that students and their trainers understand the range of support available, including the use of reasonable adjustments and help from different staff associations. Every student officer is offered a dyslexia screening test. New students are introduced to the team and told about the force’s procedures for dealing with reports of inappropriate behaviour, to help give them confidence in those procedures. Alongside the daily face-to-face support that sergeants offer, the force’s student support and welfare hub offers advice and guidance to student officers and their line managers. Student support surgeries are held in LPAs, and students have the opportunity to ask questions and seek help in a quarterly online forum. Learning support agreements are used, and in some cases breaks in studies are given. The force also helps some officers to work flexibly so they have time for prayer.

A supportive, ethical working environment is important because it affects job satisfaction, well-being and the way the force is perceived by its workforce and the public. We found that the force reinforces the importance of high ethical standards. All officers and staff must undergo an annual integrity health check. This is a guided discussion to establish whether their personal circumstances have changed and if they have any new integrity risks. A record of the discussion is made and the force closely monitors completion rates. This helps to make sure that all officers and staff understand the code of ethics, the force’s values and the standards of behaviour expected of them.

As part of our PEEL inspection, we carried out an anonymised workforce survey across the whole force. This provides an insight into the thoughts and feelings of staff. We received 343 responses to our survey for this inspection, which is only around 2.7 percent of the force’s total workforce.

The results regarding diversity, quality and inclusion showed that, of those surveyed:

• 84.5 percent agreed that their line manager challenges discriminatory behaviour;
• 82.8 percent agreed that their line manager creates an ethical working environment;
• 81.3 percent agreed that their line manager creates an inclusive working environment;
• 77.8 percent agreed that their line manager models high standards of behaviour; and
• 71.5 percent agreed that their line manager nurtures an environment of trust and confidence.

The force offers some support to police officers and staff from under-represented groups to help them develop and progress, but it needs to understand more about barriers to promotion and progression

West Midlands Police aims to be an employer of choice. Strategic leaders emphasise the importance of the force being representative of its local communities, so it is more able to serve the public. This means it must invest in its staff. The force has worked hard to increase the proportion of its workforce who are from under-represented groups. It has a good understanding of the composition of its workforce, which is monitored by the fairness and belonging governance board. We saw that diversity and inclusion data includes details of the numbers of officers from ethnic minority groups who are successful in promotion processes, and the proportion of students from those groups who leave the force. We set out above that more should be done to reduce the number of student officers who leave the force.

Supervisors support the development of colleagues from under-represented groups. For example, they help prepare personal development plans that reflect career aspirations. The force offers the College of Policing’s Aspire development programme for officers and staff in leadership roles who identify as being from under-represented groups, including women, LGBTQ+, and Black, Asian or other ethnic minority groups. But it is in the early stages of assessing how under-represented groups experience barriers to promotion. At the time of our inspection, the force hadn’t completed an assessment of why people from these groups are prevented from progressing or applying for promotion, and it didn’t have a positive action plan. The force would benefit from carrying out a self-assessment and producing an action plan so that it can better understand the barriers and challenges, and put in place actions to overcome them.

Leadership and force management

West Midlands Police’s leadership and management requires improvement.

Main findings

In this section we set out our main findings that relate to leadership and management.

The force has an effective strategic planning framework, making sure it tackles what is important locally and nationally

The force has a three-year strategy called ‘This Work Matters’, which reflects the West Midlands police and crime commissioner‘s ‘Police and Crime Plan 2021–2025‘. During our inspection, we assessed how the force scrutinises the performance of its workforce to make sure it meets its priorities. Recent changes to its management structure have improved scrutiny of performance. Leaders are held to account for their areas of responsibility by the deputy chief constable at a strategic monthly performance meeting. Data is used to evaluate performance and make improvements. The force is adjusting other parts of its governance framework to make sure lines of accountability are clear across all areas.

However, we found that the force isn’t managing risks effectively. Senior leaders confirmed that knowledge of risk management is inconsistent across the organisation, and that leaders need training in the principles of risk management. This will make sure that leaders have the skills to manage local risks more effectively, and to decide what issues need to be escalated for strategic oversight at a force level.

The force’s new operating model was at the first stage of its implementation at the time of our inspection. Its LPAs closely align with local authority boundaries. Each LPA has a commander with overall responsibility for the policing and management of their area. This helps to build relationships with partners. The force is investing in its estate and has opened two more custody suites to support local policing functions. There are early signs that performance is improving. But the force needs to confirm that it has allocated enough resources to each LPA based on good-quality data. This will make sure that each LPA has the capacity and capability it needs to provide effective and efficient local policing services.

There is a good level of investment in leadership

The force invests in its leaders and has developed a range of training programmes to give them the skills they need. The strategic talent board manages leadership development. It identifies skills gaps among current and future leadership and gives access to a range of learning opportunities. The force has introduced a frontline leadership programme and offers a range of other programmes that are tailored to an individual’s leadership position in the force.

The force also recognises the benefits of recruiting external talent. It has a good track record of attracting people to the force at all levels. They bring valuable knowledge and experience gained from working in other forces and organisations. This helps the force to innovate and improve.

The force’s financial plans, including its investment programme, are affordable and will support it in meeting future demands

The force displays an effective approach to financial management. The forecasts in its mid-term financial plan are based on realistic assumptions about future funding and expenditure.

In the year ending 31 March 2023, West Midlands Police received £688m in funding. Like other forces in England and Wales, it receives a core grant from central government and the remainder is raised through the council tax police precept. The force received a total of £156m of funding through the precept, about 20.0 percent of its total funding. This is lower than most other forces.

West Midlands Police has received help from an increase of its precept in 2023/24 by the maximum amount allowable under government rules. The increase was £15 per band D property, and was allocated to hiring an extra 450 neighbourhood police officers. Despite this increase, the force estimates it will still have a budget deficit of £25m in 2023/24. The force has identified areas where it will make savings. It has a strong track record of making savings and it is confident that its plans are achievable.

Capital expenditure for 2022/23 amounted to £25m, which the force used to bring about improvements in performance and efficiency. It invested £10m in IT and equipment to increase efficiency. The rest was spent on the vehicle fleet, improvements to existing buildings and the purchase of new premises.

The force uses its reserves prudently, but budgetary pressures mean it has needed to draw on them frequently. The force holds general reserves of approximately 1.8 percent of its net revenue budget, which is adequate.

About the data

Data in this report is from a range of sources, including:

• Home Office;
• Office for National Statistics (ONS);
• our inspection fieldwork; and
• data we collected directly from all 43 police forces in England and Wales.

When we collected data directly from police forces, we took reasonable steps to agree the design of the data collection with forces and with other interested parties such as the Home Office. We gave forces several opportunities to quality assure and validate the data they gave us, to make sure it was accurate. We shared the submitted data with forces, so they could review their own and other forces’ data. This allowed them to analyse where data was notably different from other forces or internally inconsistent.

We set out the source of this report’s data below.

Methodology

Data in the report

British Transport Police was outside the scope of inspection. Any aggregated totals for England and Wales exclude British Transport Police data, so will differ from those published by the Home Office.

When other forces were unable to supply data, we mention this under the relevant sections below.

Outlier Lines

The dotted lines on the Bar Charts show one Standard Deviation (sd) above and below the unweighted mean across all forces. Where the distribution of the scores appears normally distributed, the sd is calculated in the normal way. If the forces are not normally distributed, the scores are transformed by taking logs and a Shapiro Wilks test performed to see if this creates a more normal distribution. If it does, the logged values are used to estimate the sd. If not, the sd is calculated using the normal values. Forces with scores more than 1 sd units from the mean (i.e. with Z-scores greater than 1, or less than -1) are considered as showing performance well above, or well below, average. These forces will be outside the dotted lines on the Bar Chart. Typically, 32% of forces will be above or below these lines for any given measure.

Population

For all uses of population as a denominator in our calculations, unless otherwise noted, we use ONS mid-2020 population estimates.

Survey of police workforce

We surveyed the police workforce across England and Wales, to understand their views on workloads, redeployment and how suitable their assigned tasks were. This survey was a non-statistical, voluntary sample so the results may not be representative of the workforce population. The number of responses per force varied. So we treated results with caution and didn’t use them to assess individual force performance. Instead, we identified themes that we could explore further during fieldwork.

Victim Service Assessment

Our victim service assessments (VSAs) will track a victim’s journey from reporting a crime to the police, through to outcome stage. All forces will be subjected to a VSA within our PEEL inspection programme. Some forces will be selected to additionally be tested on crime recording, in a way that ensures every force is assessed on its crime recording practices at least every three years.

Details of the technical methodology for the Victim Service Assessment.

Data sources

Crime and outcomes

We took data on crime and outcomes from the July 2023 release of the Home Office police-recorded crime and outcomes data tables.

Total police-recorded crime includes all crime (except fraud) recorded by all forces in England and Wales (except BTP). Home Office publications on the overall volumes and rates of recorded crime and outcomes include British Transport Police, which is outside the scope of this HMICFRS inspection. Therefore, England and Wales rates in this report will differ from those published by the Home Office.

Police-recorded crime data should be treated with care. Recent increases may be due to forces’ renewed focus on accurate crime recording since our 2014 national crime data inspection.

999 calls

Data on 999 calls is provided by BT. 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. This data is provided for all 43 police forces in England and Wales and covers the year ending 30 June 2023.

For a full commentary and explanation of crime and outcome types please see the Home Office statistics.

Further information and documents

Download the PDF report

West Midlands PEEL assessment 2023–2025

More about West Midlands Police

You can find more about West Midlands Police on our dedicated force page.

What West Midlands Police says

Get the press release

Concerns over West Midlands Police’s performance

Our work

Find out more about HMICFRS’s work and other inspection areas.

Other forces

Find out how well other forces have performed during their PEEL assessment.

Progress

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.

Data and methodology

Detailed information about the inspection methodology.