Commissioner comments on HMIC Efficiency report

Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner Keith Hunter has commented on today’s release of Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary’s (HMIC) report into Efficiency. The report examines the extent to which Humberside Police is efficient at keeping people safe and reducing crime.  

The Efficiency report is one of three major inspections, known as ‘PEEL Assessments’ HMIC carries out on all 43 forces in England and Wales every year, the other reports cover Effectiveness and Legitimacy. There are four possible grades; ‘Outstanding’, ‘Good’, ‘Requires Improvement’ and ‘Inadequate’. The Efficiency inspection into Humberside Police was carried out in May this year and the report published today has graded the Force as ‘Requires Improvement’, a grade higher than last year’s Efficiency assessment of ‘Inadequate’.

Keith Hunter said: “When I was elected in May I said I wanted to see a plan from Humberside Police to turn the Force’s performance around and I’m encouraged to see an improvement over last year’s efficiency inspection by HMIC.

“Measuring police performance is not all about the HMI reports, they are just one component in a much bigger picture, but if this report had indicated that in their view there had been little progress since they were last here, then that is something I would have found extremely concerning.

“In the six months I have been in office I have had the opportunity to examine more closely how Humberside Police has reacted to that previous assessment and form my own views on how the force is developing. I have identified a number of the same issues identified by HMIC and have been working with the Chief Constable to reassure myself that plans are being developed to address deficiencies. It is important that I encourage a long term programme of continuous improvement and not a series of knee-jerk reactions to new initiatives or thematic reports.

“That is important because the residents of the Humberside Police area deserve a police Force focussed on delivering to them the service they want and need, so I am after an incremental, sustainable improvement. This report is a first small step, there is still some way to go but I do think the Force are planting the right seeds and my assessment into the future will be based on how they cultivate those.”

To hear an interview with Keith Hunter CLICK HERE

The full report can be read on the HMIC Website at http://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmic/humberside/ where there is also information on the other inspections carried out each year.