Annual review of the 2022–25 policing inspection programme and framework

An inspection programme and framework under Schedule 4A to the Police Act 1996

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services independently assesses and reports on the effectiveness and efficiency of police forces in the public interest.

We ask the questions that we believe the public wish to have answered, and publish our findings, conclusions and recommendations in an accessible form, using our expertise to interpret the evidence. We provide authoritative information to allow the public to compare the performance of their police force against others, and to determine whether performance has improved or deteriorated over time. Our recommendations are designed to bring about improvements in the service provided to the public.

Foreword

In 2022, we moved from an annual to a multi-year approach for our inspection programme. The result was our policing inspection programme and framework commencing April 2022, which covered our plans for inspections between 2022/23 and 2024/25.

We made a commitment to review this programme every year because we anticipated that some elements would need to change. New and emerging priorities for policing and Government funding of our inspectorate affect our capacity and capability to inspect.

This is our first annual review of the programme. It sets out the inspections we completed from April 2022 up to and including August 2023. It also establishes the inspections that are currently proposed for the remainder of this programme.

As in previous years, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary has produced his annual State of Policing report. This is his assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of policing in England and Wales. This year’s report, which was published in June, is based on the inspections we carried out between 1 December 2021 and 31 March 2023.

Inspectorate capacity

Plans for the remainder of this inspection programme are based on the assumption that there will be a full-time complement of inspectors of constabulary. While we have received notification of our funding for 2023/24, funding for 2024/25 is yet to be confirmed. The scope and number of inspections that we carry out beyond 2023/24 will depend on the funding we receive.

Next steps

We have reviewed our plans for the remainder of this programme to consider new and emerging priorities. We will continue our review during 2023/24, and we will publish a further annual review in 2024. This review will set out the inspections we have carried out, as well as any changes to our plans for the remainder of this programme.

In mid-2024, we will also begin to develop our policing programme and framework for 2025 and beyond. To do this, we will work with a range of specialists and other stakeholders, including leaders in policing and at other inspectorates. We will also hold a public consultation. Further details on this will be shared in our next annual review.

Inspections completed in 2022/23 and planned for 2023–25

We carry out a range of inspections. Our police efficiency, effectiveness and legitimacy (PEEL) inspections assess the performance of all 43 police forces in England and Wales. Our national thematic inspections are in-depth examinations of particular policing practices or processes, or of the policing approach to preventing and tackling specific offences. We receive commissions from the Home Secretary and local policing bodies and have a statutory responsibility to carry out inspections of specific national bodies and non-Home Office forces. We also work with other organisations to carry out joint inspections. These allow us to inspect the way in which the police approach and tackle a particular type of crime or problem as part of a wider assessment of the service provided by all the relevant bodies and organisations. Further details of our different types of inspections can be found in our policing programme and framework.

The inspections we carried out in each of these areas are listed below with links to the published reports. A summary of our proposed plans for the remainder of this programme is also included.

All our completed and planned inspections are in line with our inspection framework, methodology, monitoring assurance and insight approaches, as established in our policing inspection programme and framework commencing April 2022.

PEEL inspections

Completed inspections

We achieved our commitment to inspect every Home Office force by the end of 2022. Information on how individual police forces have performed in our PEEL inspections can been found by selecting a force area on our map of England and Wales.

At the beginning of 2023, we started the next round of our PEEL inspections, which will run throughout the remainder of this policing programme and framework.

Our PEEL inspections assess how well each force:

• serves victims of crime;
• engages with and treats the people it serves;
• prevents crime and deters antisocial behaviour;
• responds to the public;
• investigates crime;
• protects vulnerable people;
• manages offenders and suspects;
• disrupts serious and organised crime;
• builds, develops and looks after its workforce and encourages an ethical, lawful and inclusive workplace;
• leads and manages its services to make sure they are efficient, effective and sustainable;
• vets its officers and staff; and
• protects the information it holds and tackles potential corruption.

Spotlight reports

Using findings from recent PEEL inspections, and where relevant, thematic inspections in England and Wales, we also produce spotlight reports focusing on specific themes. Since 2022, we have published two spotlight reports on:

• the police response to burglary, robbery and other acquisitive crime; and
• police performance.

Planned inspections

We will complete the next round of our PEEL inspections, which will run throughout the remainder of this policing programme and framework. We will continue to evaluate our approach and ask for feedback to determine whether any further improvements are needed.

We also intend to publish further spotlight reports during the remainder of this programme.

Specialist inspections and investigations

Completed thematic inspections

• The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Criminal Justice System – a progress report. Published on 17 May 2022.
• Safeguarding: How effective is the National Crime Agency at protecting vulnerable people? Published on 23 June 2022.
• Twenty years on, is MAPPA achieving its objectives? Published on 14 July 2022.
• An inspection of vetting, misconduct, and misogyny in the police service. Published on 2 November 2022.
• An inspection into how well the police and other agencies use digital forensics in their investigations. Published on 1 December 2022.
• An inspection of how well the police tackle serious youth violence. Published on 8 March 2023.
• An inspection of how well the police and National Crime Agency tackle the online sexual abuse and exploitation of children. Published on 5 April 2023.
• An inspection of the Metropolitan Police Service’s response to lessons from the Stephen Port murders. Published on 27 April 2023.
• Vetting, misconduct and misogyny in the police service: review of progress. Published on 11 May 2023.
• An inspection of how effective police forces are in the deployment of firearms. Published on 11 July 2023.
• Homicide prevention: An inspection of the police contribution to the prevention of homicide. Published on 11 August 2023.
• Race and policing: A review of the police service’s leadership and governance arrangements for race-related matters and Race and policing: An inspection of race disparity in police criminal justice decision-making. Published on 25 August 2023.

Planned thematic inspections

We currently intend to carry out or complete inspections of the following thematic areas during the remainder of this programme:

• police engagement with women and girls;
• police leadership and culture;
• recruiting and retaining police officers and staff;
• investigations;
• prosecution team case-building;
• child protection;
• domestic abuse;
• counter-terrorism;
• science and technology in the criminal justice system;
• disclosure;
• meeting the needs of victims; and
• experience of victims of child sexual abuse.

Some elements of this inspection activity may be included in our PEEL inspection programme. Other elements are also included in the Criminal Justice Joint Inspection Business Plan 2021–23.

These plans depend on our funding and capacity and on any new priorities for policing.

We have reviewed our priorities for thematic inspections

We have reviewed the thematic inspections included in the policing programme and framework commencing April 2022 when developing our plans for the remainder of this programme. We have assessed those plans against our capacity and funding.

We have considered the new commissions we have received (further details are included below) to make sure we prioritise those areas of most concern. As a result, we won’t be carrying out the following inspections that were previously included in the programme:

• how forces manage increasing demand and the changing nature of demand, such as supporting people with mental health conditions; and
• forces’ understanding of their local drugs market, including supply, consumption and levels of dependency.

We also no longer plan to carry out a standalone thematic inspection on the police response to the Beating crime plan. Instead, we will inspect key aspects of the Beating crime plan in our PEEL, thematic and other rolling inspections.

Completed super-complaint investigations and related publications

• Responses to The hidden victims: Report on Hestia’s super-complaint on the police response to victims of modern slavery. Published on 4 April 2022.
• Responses to A Duty to Protect: Report on Centre for Women’s Justice super‑complaint. Published on 7 June 2022.
• Police perpetrated domestic abuse: Report on the Centre for Women’s Justice super-complaint. Published on 30 June 2022.
• Responses to Police perpetrated domestic abuse: Report on the Centre for Women’s Justice super-complaint. Published on 23 November 2022.
• How the police respond to victims of sexual abuse when the victim is from an ethnic minority background and may be at risk of honour-based abuse. Published on 16 December 2022.

Planned investigations for super-complaints

We are currently working on investigations resulting from super-complaints submitted by the Criminal Justice Alliance (on the use of stop and search) and the Suzy Lamplugh Trust (on the police response to cases of stalking).

We also expect to receive further super-complaints during the period covered by this programme. We will continue to work with the College of Policing and the Independent Office for Police Conduct to put in place a process to manage future investigations. We will work with the Home Office to make sure that enough funding is made available for this purpose.

Completed inspections of national bodies and non-Home Office forces

• An inspection of the service provided to victims of crime by British Transport Police. Published on 20 May 2022.
• Royal Air Force Police – Rape, serious sexual assault and domestic abuse investigations. Published on 15 June 2022.
• Royal Military Police – Rape, serious sexual assault and domestic abuse investigations. Published on 15 June 2022.
• Royal Navy Police – Rape, serious sexual assault and domestic abuse investigations. Published on 15 June 2022.
• Royal Gibraltar Police: Evaluation of progress. Published on 13 October 2022.
• An inspection of the Isle of Man Constabulary. Published on 6 February 2023.

Planned inspections of national bodies and non-Home Office forces

Subject to further discussion with the organisations concerned, we intend to carry out or complete inspections of the following organisations:

• HM Revenue & Customs;
• the police forces concerned with the armed services;
• the National Crime Agency;
• British Transport Police;
• the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority;
• the Police Service of Northern Ireland; and
• police forces in British Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories.

Vulnerability and child protection inspections

National child protection inspections in England and Wales

Completed inspections

We have continued to inspect and re-inspect forces to assess how effectively forces safeguard children who are at risk.

We have completed the following inspections:

• Staffordshire – National child protection inspection. Published on 7 April 2022.
• Cheshire – National child protection inspection. Published on 11 May 2022.
• Warwickshire – National child protection inspection. Published on 5 August 2022.
• Wiltshire – National child protection inspection. Published on 5 August 2022.
• Suffolk – National child protection inspection. Published on 22 December 2022.

We also completed the following re-inspections:

• Dorset – National child protection inspection post-inspection review. Published on 7 September 2022.
• Hampshire – National child protection inspection post-inspection review. Published on 28 September 2022.
• Derbyshire – National child protection inspection re-inspection. Published on 21 October 2022.
• Cambridgeshire – National child protection inspection post-inspection review. Published on 9 December 2022.
• North Yorkshire – National child protection inspection post-inspection review. Published on 3 May 2023.
• Warwickshire – National child protection inspection post-inspection review. Published on 6 June 2023.
• Cheshire – National child protection inspection post-inspection review. Published on 6 June 2023.
• Staffordshire – National child protection re-inspection. Published on 4 August 2023.

On 5 April 2023, we also published a separate report collating and expanding on our findings on how well the police and National Crime Agency tackle the online sexual abuse and exploitation of children.

Planned inspections

We will shortly complete our current round of inspecting all 43 forces as part of this programme, and have taken the opportunity to review our approach. We plan to increase the number of initial inspections each year. Our approach to re-inspection will also change as we will now carry out a post-inspection visit to each force. This involves holding a discussion with senior leaders about how the force is addressing our recommendations and the progress it has made.

Joint targeted area inspections in England

Completed inspections

Together with Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission, we have continued our joint inspection programme to examine how English local authorities, the police and health services work together to help and protect children. The inspectorates now carry out two types of joint targeted inspections:

• An inspection that evaluates the multi-agency response to identifying initial need and risk (known as the ‘front door’ of child protection). These inspections focus on the multi-agency response to the criminal exploitation of children.
• An inspection that assesses a particular theme or cohort of children. These inspections focus on getting early help for children and families.

We have completed the following joint targeted area inspections:

• Joint targeted area inspection of the multi-agency response to identification of initial need and risk in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. Published on 4 July 2022.
• Joint targeted area inspection of the multi-agency response to identification of initial need and risk in Barnsley. Published on 18 July 2022.
• Joint targeted area inspection of the multi-agency response to the criminal exploitation of children in Kirklees. Published on 18 August 2022.
• Joint targeted area inspection of the multi-agency response to the criminal exploitation of children in Cheshire East. Published on 26 September 2022.
• Joint targeted area inspection of the multi-agency response to identification of initial need and risk in Walsall. Published on 6 January 2023.
• Joint targeted area inspection of the multi-agency identification and response to initial need and risk in Lewisham. Published on 31 January 2023.
• Joint targeted area inspection of the multi-agency response to children and families who need help in the Wirral. Published on 16 February 2023.
• Joint targeted area inspection of the multi-agency response to children and families who need help in Sunderland. Published on 16 March 2023.
• Joint targeted area inspection of the multi-agency response to children and families who need help in Bedford. Published on 31 March 2023.
• Joint targeted area inspection of the multi-agency response to children and families who need help in Surrey. Published on 2 May 2023.
• Joint targeted area inspection of the multi-agency response to children and families who need help in Harrow. Published on 24 May 2023.
• Joint targeted area inspection of the multi-agency response to children and families who need help in Blackburn with Darwen. Published on 14 July 2023.
• Joint targeted area inspection of the multi-agency response to identification of initial need and risk in Gloucestershire. Published on 3 August 2023.

Planned inspections

We will continue this programme of inspections.

Joint inspection of child protection arrangements in Wales

Completed inspections

We have continued to work with the Care Inspectorate Wales, Healthcare Inspectorate Wales and Estyn (the education and training inspectorate for Wales).

This joint inspection programme focuses on the experiences of children to assess the effectiveness of working with other partner organisations.

On 19 May 2023, we published a report on the multi-agency response to keeping children and young people safe in Denbighshire.

Planned inspections

We will continue this programme of inspections.

Violence against women and girls

Planned inspections

We will continue to inspect the police’s approach to tackling and preventing crimes that disproportionately affect women and girls as part of several of our inspections. Our child protection inspections will continue to assess the experiences of girls who are victims of abuse and exploitation. And our PEEL inspections will continue to assess how forces deal with all vulnerability and crimes that may affect both women and girls.

In addition, we will be carrying out a Home Secretary commission (as noted below) on Operation Soteria, the joint policing and Crown Prosecution Service programme of work to improve the investigation and prosecution of rape cases.

We will continue to monitor progress against recommendations from our previous thematic inspections. This includes the police approach to tackling harassment and stalking and honour-based violence, forced marriage and female genital mutilation.

Home Secretary and other commissions

Completed Home Secretary commissions

On 2 November 2022, we published our report on the vetting of police officers and measures to prevent police corruption. This was following the sentencing of Sarah Everard’s murderer, who was a serving police officer at the time of his offences.

After we published this report, we received a commission from the Home Secretary to carry out an urgent review of progress made by police forces in England and Wales against its recommendations.

On 28 July 2023, we published our review of Devon and Cornwall Police’s progress against recommendations made by the Independent Office for Police Conduct concerning the force’s firearms licensing following the tragic events in Plymouth on 12 August 2021.

Planned Home Secretary commissions

In March 2022, we received a commission from the Home Secretary to carry out an inspection of the police’s response to group-based child sexual exploitation. We will publish our inspection findings in autumn 2023.

We have recently received further commissions from the Home Secretary:

• to inspect the police response to organised immigration crime;
• to review Operation Soteria, the joint police and Crown Prosecution Service programme designed to improve the investigation and prosecution of rape cases; and
• to inspect whether police involvement in politically contentious matters is having a detrimental impact on policing.

Completed police and crime commissioner and mayoral commissions

On 27 April 2023, we published An inspection of the Metropolitan Police Service’s response to lessons from the Stephen Port murders.

Planned police and crime commissioner and mayoral commissions

We have accepted a commission from the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime to conduct an inspection of the Metropolitan Police Service’s response to child sexual abuse. We have also accepted a commission from the Thames Valley police and crime commissioner to investigate vetting in their force.

We anticipate that the Home Secretary, the Mayor of London, other mayors, and police and crime commissioners will commission further inspections over the period covered by this programme. We will carry out all Home Secretary commissions and consider all other commissions through the usual process.

Back to publication

Annual review of the 2022–25 policing inspection programme and framework