THAMES Valley Police says it is committed to “protecting communities” following the publishing of the latest Police Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Legitimacy (PEEL) report.
The report from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire Services (HMICFRS) follows an inspection back in July into the effectiveness of policing in the force.
It assesses 12 different areas of policing: service to victims, data recording, powers and fair treatment of the public, crime prevention, response to the public, crime investigation, protection of vulnerable people, managing offenders, disruption of organised crime, workforce management, leadership, and vetting and counter-corruption.
Assessments were not made in the latest report regarding service to victims or data recording for Thames Valley, and results have not been released regarding disruption of organised crime or vetting as of December 2023.
In the remaining eight categories, Thames Valley Police was rated as “good” in only one: fair and respectful treatment of the public.
Its prevention and deterrence performance was rated as “adequate,” as was its support and protection of the workforce itself.
Response to the public, investigation, management of offenders, and leadership were rated as needing improvement.
TVP’s protection of vulnerable people was rated as inadequate.
The inspector’s summary of the report said that they were: “Satisfied with some aspects of the performance of Thames Valley Police in keeping people safe, reducing crime and providing victims with an effective service, but there are areas in which the force needs to improve.”
It goes on to explain: “It needs to make sure it has effective and consistent processes in place to protect vulnerable victims and share information promptly with other safeguarding agencies.
“I do not underestimate how much improvement is needed. I am pleased that there have been improvements since our inspection, but these need to be sustained and accepted by everyone.”
It continues: “The force should also improve the number of non-emergency calls that it answers promptly.
“The time taken to answer 101 calls has been increasing, and the abandonment rate is too high. The force also needs to improve the time it takes to attend urgent calls.”
The report did concede that the change in leadership in the months prior to the inspection in the summer, and noted that the new leadership of the force “has a clear purpose that it has communicated well, which focuses on building trust, serving victims, fighting crime and valuing the workforce.”
It comes after analysis of police funding compiled by UNISON back in June which showed forces across England and Wales could face a funding shortfall of more than £700 million by 2026.
The figures examined medium-term financial plans from individual police forces, and cited fewer police staff to investigate cases and smaller numbers of police and community support officers patrolling local neighbourhoods.
While Statista figures show that government spending on policing reached its highest ever amount, just under £25.3 billion, it represented a proportional increase of just 1.6%.
The previous two years saw an increase of around 15% in spending per year, and is the lowest proportional increase in spending since 2016/2017.
Thames Valley Police’s Chief Constable Jason Hogg said: “I am pleased the report has recognised our commitment to protecting our communities and serving victims.
“It acknowledges improvements in many areas made since our last inspection, such as a significant decrease in homicide, recognised by the Home Office as a positive example of tackling the deaths of young men on our streets.
“It also references our work on domestic abuse and the success of our specialist operations to safeguard victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation and reducing the risk of re-offending by registered sex offenders.”
He continued: “In the last six months, we have responded to more than half a million contacts from the public and attended 81,143 incidents, which represents an incredible demand on our 8,400 officers, staff and volunteers.
“We have an incredibly committed workforce who protect our communities 24-7–they are often working in highly complex and demanding circumstances, and I would like to thank them for all they do.”
