Another Good Rating for Gwent Police

12th December 2017

The Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent, Jeff Cuthbert, has once again praised the efforts of Gwent Police after it maintained its ‘good’ rating from inspectors for the way it keeps people safe and reduces crime.

The latest inspection by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) specifically looked at how legitimate Gwent Police is at keeping people safe and reducing crime and assessed the quality of leadership at the service. HMIC considers a police force to be legitimate if it has the consent of the public, and if those working in the force consistently behave in a way that is fair, ethical, and within the law.

To assess this, HMICFRS inspected how well Gwent Police treats the people it serves; ensures its workforce acts ethically and lawfully; and treats its workforce with fairness and respect.

Gwent Police received an overall rating of ‘Good’ (the second highest grade possible) and the report highlights how the service:

  • · Is good at keeping people updated on the progress of their complaints;
  • · Has effective knowledge and processes in place to identify, respond to and investigate allegations of discrimination;
  • · Leaders provide a range of channels to seek feedback and challenge from its workforce and the service takes action in response to issues raised, and informs the workforce accordingly;
  • · The service has a well-established and effective health and wellbeing strategy that is supported by a range of practical measures to promote physical and psychological wellbeing, and to take preventative and early action to address wellbeing concerns; and
  • · The service has an established process for identifying high-potential candidates, based on line manager support, application forms and interviews, and is in the early stages of identifying high-potential members of the workforce.


Inspectors also highlighted areas for improvement, which Gwent PCC Jeff Cuthbert said he would now actively look to address with the Chief Constable of Gwent Police.

Some of the areas outlined for improvement include:

 

  • · Gwent Police should regularly and frequently review Body Worn Video footage as part of its scrutiny process for improving the way it uses stop and search;
  • · The service should put in place independent external scrutiny of its use of stop and search and ensure reviews are conducted more frequently;
  • · Gwent Police needs to comply fully with the national recording standard on the use of force; and
  • · The service should ensure that it has specific literature in police stations and other public places on how to make a complaint in line with IPCC statutory guidance. In particular this should focus on communities with less confidence in the police.

Last month, the Commissioner praised the service for maintaining good ratings across the board in a report, which demonstrated that Gwent Police provides an efficient service for the public.

Whilst acknowledging the areas for improvement highlighted by HMICFRS in today’s report, Gwent PCC Jeff Cuthbert said that he was positively encouraged by the performance of Gwent Police overall: “I was pleased to see Gwent Police maintain its good grading overall despite the well-known challenges around budget cuts in particular we have faced over the last seven years,” said Mr Cuthbert.

I am encouraged by the performance of Gwent Police and I know that the service is in a well-placed position to meet both current and future demands. In the last three years, Gwent Police has gone from requiring improvement across the board to being one of the most improved police services in England and Wales.

I will continue to work with the Chief Constable and our partners to ensure that people who live in, work in or visit Gwent are safe and that policing and crime services are delivered demonstrating value for money. I also want to ensure that my office and Gwent Police are employers that people want to work for.”

Mr Cuthbert added: “I would like to thank the inspectorate for their scrutiny and for also highlighting areas of improvement which we will now actively seek to address.”

Commenting on the publication of the HMICFRS report, Julian Williams, Chief Constable, Gwent Police, said: “It’s very pleasing that HMICFRS continues to rate Gwent Police as ‘good’ in relation to Police legitimacy and leadership. It is vital the public views us as meriting the powers invested in us and I am committed to ensuring we provide a fair and impartial service to all communities. We will now be reviewing HMICFRS’ report and recommendations in detail to ensure we address areas where performance can be improved.”

For further information and to access the full report visit www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk