The Association of Police Authorities (APA) today welcomed the encouraging improvements in police performance shown in the Police Performance Assessments.
Bob Jones, APA Chairman said:
"As police authorities, it is our job to monitor force performance and keep local people informed of how well their police force is doing. These assessments will help us give our communities a better picture of how their force compares with others like it. We are pleased to see that yet again the picture shows continuing improvements, particularly in reducing crime and bringing offenders to justice. We are also pleased to see that satisfaction with the police service is higher than for most services at 78%.
The APA has worked closely with the Home Office and other partners to develop the assessment framework. This is a major step forward in bringing together both HMIC's professional judgements and the national police performance indicators. We are particularly pleased that the framework now includes performance on local policing - how well our forces are tackling what local people say matters to them.
But the report also shows that there are areas where we need to do much better, such as in tackling race and diversity issues, ensuring a fair service for all and in how we respond to the public and keep them informed. Police authorities will want to work with their forces to drive up improvements in these areas and provide a better service to all our diverse communities."
Notes for Editors
The Association of Police Authorities (APA) represents all police authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as the British transport Police Authority Local police authorities, along with the Home Secretary and chief officers of police, make up the tripartite relationship which is responsible for the governance of policing in England and Wales.
Police authorities are made up of local people. Police authorities are responsible for:
- setting the budget for their police force, including the levels of council tax;
- determining the strategic direction for local policing through 3 year and annual plans;
- consulting local people about what they think are the most important things the police should be doing and setting local policing priorities in light of that consultation;
- setting their force challenging targets to drive performance higher; and
- continuously monitoring force performance against those targets and regularly report to local people on how well the force is doing.
