North Yorkshire Police told to make "urgent improvements" by inspectors
The force are still taking too long to answer 999 calls
North Yorkshire must make improvements to help keep people safe and reduce crime, the police inspectorate has said.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) graded North Yorkshire Police’s performance across eight areas of policing and found the force was ‘inadequate’ in one area, ‘requires improvement’ in four areas, ‘adequate’ in two areas and ‘good’ in one area.
HMICFRS said the areas requiring improvement included responding to the public, investigating crime, protecting vulnerable people, and building and developing its workforce. The inadequate area was its use of resources.
His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Roy Wilsher said:
“I have concerns about the performance of North Yorkshire Police in keeping people safe and reducing crime. In particular, I have serious concerns about its strategic planning and organisational management.
“Senior leaders in the force need to ensure they have effective oversight of its enabling services, such as IT and HR functions. Failures in these areas impact the service the force provides.
“North Yorkshire Police also needs to improve the speed with which it answers and responds to emergency calls. The force is well below the national standard, with only 41.9 percent of 999 calls being answered within 10 seconds.
“However, we did find that the force works well with partner organisations to safeguard vulnerable people. We found good examples of the force working with other organisations to divert young people away from offending and to reduce the vulnerability of people who may become victims of crime."
Commenting on the report Lisa Winward, Chief Constable, said:
“The publication of the HMICFRS PEEL inspection report shares the findings of an independent and detailed audit of the force and I value and welcome the scrutiny of the inspectors and thank them for their work. The report highlights a number of areas that the force delivers well but also reports on a significant number of areas that require improvement. A number of these relate to the corporate capacity and capability of the organisation linked to workforce planning, governance, performance management, financial planning, and the overall efficiency and effectiveness of our shared enabling services.
“They told us that while the right actions might be taking place on the ground by our people, they were not able to find sufficient evidence of how this was directed and overseen through our governance structure. The Inspectors told us that every single person they spoke to was committed, fully engaged in their work and doing a really good job in difficult circumstances. They told us that our people take pride in being part of North Yorkshire Police and that there is a strong sense of belonging in the force.
“Since we received the hot debrief from HMICFRS in October 2022, we have been working at a pace to address the issues that they have raised so we can focus on our core responsibilities to the public.""