HMICFRS report praises Welsh police forces

The HMICFRS has praised the four Welsh police forces in its latest report.

The PEEL Spotlight Report ‘The Hard Yards’, which looks at collaboration between the UK police forces, recognises that strong relationships between forces in Wales, supported by an alignment of the Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners, is enabling efficient and effective decision making across the country.

Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent, Jeff Cuthbert, said: “This report highlights the good work that we are doing here in Wales.

“The four Commissioners and Chief Constables have worked hard to ensure that the right processes and procedures are in place to deliver the very best service for the people of Wales and I am delighted this good work has been recognised at the highest level.”

Chair of the Welsh Chief Officer’s Group, North Wales Police Chief Constable Carl Foulkes said: ‘I welcome today’s HMICFRS report on collaboration between police forces.

“Whilst it identifies several areas where the police can improve the effectiveness of the partnership concept, I am encouraged that the all Wales group received particular praise for identifying a clear purpose for collaborations, our work towards reducing bureaucracy, and improving efficiency.”

He continued: “At the heart of all our collaborations is the desire to improve policing for the whole of Wales, and it was pleasing to see this recognised in the report.

“Through close working between senior officers and Police and Crime Commissioners, we have been able to effect a positive change in three key areas: the streamlining of IT services, recruitment and HR, as well as a better alignment of cross-force policies and procedures.

“These improvements will allow us to deliver on our primary objective, which is to provide the best possible service to the people of Wales, and we will seek to implement the recommendations of this report to ensure our success in this regard.”

Rt. Hon Alun Michael, Chair of the Wales Policing Group and Police & Crime Commissioner for South Wales said: “The report is a welcome endorsement of the way we have worked in recent years.

“It recognises that cooperation, or collaboration requires good planning, clear objectives and a shared set of objectives and is not a magic wand. So it is very satisfying that the report states that the way we have worked together as four Commissioners and four Chief Constables in Wales has been highly effective.

“It states explicitly that we “recognised that having a clear purpose for collaboration was important and invested time and effort in getting this right.” It is clear that this contributed to creating momentum.

“It also recognises the benefits from the way we have managed our meetings so that leadership by Chief Constables and Commissioners are complementary and support each other. This has not happened by accident, and while this report is specifically about police-to-police collaboration, it is connected to the way in which we have sought to work with both devolved and non-devolved bodies and agencies that work across Wales in order to develop deliver the best possible criminal justice system for the public we serve.”