Memorandum of understanding: College of Policing and HMICFRS January 2024

Introduction

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) and the College of Policing Ltd (the College) have complementary statutory purposes and different powers by which those purposes are to be achieved. Together they are engaged in promoting the continuous improvement of policing in England and Wales, to ensure public safety and confidence.

HMICFRS oversees, inspects and reports on the efficiency and effectiveness of all Home Office police forces, as well as other forces and agencies by statute or invitation, assessing and reporting on their efficiency and effectiveness. His Majesty’s Inspectors of Constabulary and His Majesty’s Inspectors of Fire & Rescue Services (HMIs), including His Majesty’s Chief Inspector (HMCI), are appointed by the Crown under section 54 of the Police Act 1996.

The College is the professional body for everyone working across policing. The College is responsible for setting standards for key areas of policing, providing training to support professional development, and sharing knowledge and good practice. The College is an operationally independent arm’s-length body of the Home Office and is led by a chief executive of chief constable rank.

Both organisations are independent of each other, and of Government and of the police.

The aim of this memorandum of understanding is to specify how both organisations intend to work together to support the joint aim of improving policing. This includes, but is not limited to:

• working together as part of a smarter system
• adopting a smarter systems approach to inspection – working together to tackle difficult problems in policing
• identifying and sharing valuable information about promising and innovative practice with the police – including through the College’s practice bank
• working together to investigate super-complaints from organisations designated by the Home Office

Both organisations are committed to working together constructively and positively, in particular through: consulting each other on areas of mutual interest; sharing information and analysis as appropriate; and working together where there is a common aim or wider benefit for the policing sector.

This memorandum of understanding will be reviewed and updated regularly.

Working together as part of a smarter system

One of the roles of the College is to set standards in policing. In its assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of policing, HMICFRS will have due regard to the standards the College has established.

HMICFRS will engage at the early stages of an inspection with the College to identify standards and evidence around practice that have been found to work, as well as promising and new or innovative practice. Where they exist, HMICFRS will use these standards and evidence to develop their inspection processes and criteria. Where appropriate, HMICFRS will consult the College on inspection criteria before inspecting against them. Where relevant and appropriate, sufficient time will be allowed for the College’s evidence and improvement resources to be made available to forces and acted on.

Any recommendations made by HMICFRS that affect the College will be consulted on as soon as practical ahead of publication.

HMICFRS and the College will work together, where possible, to identify shared priorities, to promote improvements in policing and to tackle difficult problems. This includes, but is not limited to, attendance of HMICFRS and College representatives at the Strategic Policing Partnership Board (SPPB), Police Systems Working Together group (PSWT) and Policing Strategy Partnership group (PSP).

Points of contact at a senior level will be established and maintained to promote a positive and effective working relationship between the two organisations.

A smarter systems approach

As part of the smarter systems approach, HMICFRS and the College will work together. This will usually be on thematic areas for inspection that are a shared priority and have been identified as particularly suitable for systems working. In these inspections, HMICFRS and the College will align their efforts to tackle difficult problems in policing together. Other bodies such as the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) will also be included in the smarter systems approach, as appropriate.

The smarter systems approach includes, but is not limited to:

• identifying what is already known about tackling the problem being considered and identifying any gaps in knowledge
• developing tools and guidance to assist in the tackling of the problem being considered, for use by police forces and other relevant bodies
• promoting the tools and guidance developed to tackle the problem being considered
• inspecting police forces and other relevant bodies
• promoting inspection findings, including recommendations for improvements or any smarter practice found during the inspection

HMICFRS and the College will agree specific arrangements of the smarter systems approach on a case-by-case basis.

If evidence of potential ‘smarter practice’ is identified during an inspection undertaken using a smarter systems approach, and agreed through the College’s process for identification of smarter practice, the College will assess that evidence and add the smarter practice to their practice bank where found to meet the criteria.

Promoting promising and innovative practice

It is agreed that HMICFRS will adopt the College’s labelling scheme, terminology and definitions for promising and innovative practice.

HMICFRS inspectors will work to identify promising and innovative practice on each inspection. Whenever the HMI responsible for the inspection report decides that promising or innovative practice has been found during an inspection, this practice will be highlighted in the inspection report. HMICFRS inspection reports are published on the HMICFRS website.

All individual promising and innovative practice examples published by HMICFRS will be invited for inclusion on the College’s practice bank, which is easily accessible and searchable on the College website.

HMICFRS will inform the police force, or other relevant body concerned, that their practice example has been highlighted by inspectors as promising or innovative and therefore suitable for entry onto the practice bank. HMICFRS will invite the force to provide more details of their practice example via the College’s practice bank form. The College will maintain the practice bank and regularly review content, and the process for preparing the content, to ensure that entries meet the required quality standard.

HMICFRS and the College will work together to communicate to the policing sector about promising and innovative practice. To do this, the communication teams in each organisation will meet on a regular basis to share upcoming communication plans and products. They will also identify opportunities to maximise communications about promising and innovative practice in the policing sector.

Working together to investigate policing super-complaints

HMICFRS, the IOPC and the College are jointly responsible for determining whether a super-complaint is eligible for investigation, investigating eligible super-complaints and writing reports which detail the outcome of super-complaint investigations.

Additionally, HMICFRS is responsible for acknowledging receipt of super-complaints, providing interim reports to those who have made eligible super-complaints and arranging for the publication of final super-complaint reports. It works in partnership with the IOPC and the College when exercising these duties.

HMICFRS and the College are committed to working cooperatively to ensure that arrangements for the investigation of super-complaints work efficiently, effectively and to the benefit of the public and policing.

This memorandum of understanding is signed by the heads of both organisations.

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Memorandum of understanding: College of Policing and HMICFRS January 2024