Warwickshire Police has been sharply criticised by government inspectors over its performance in several key areas of policing, especially for being too slow in responding to emergency calls from the public.
Warwickshire’s low funding leads to officer shortage
The county’s Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe has blamed the situation on a shortage of officers caused by the force receiving one of the lowest amounts of central government funding in the country.
The report, by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, graded Warwickshire as “good” for tackling antisocial behaviour, supporting victims and recording crime data but identified protecting vulnerable people, building and supporting the workforce and leadership and force management as needing improvement.
The report said bluntly “the force needs to improve how quickly it attends incidents”.
In 2022, the inspectors found that Warwickshire police was neither attending incidents within its own target times nor updating victims about delays. The inspectors also found that the force met its attendance times in only 33 of 68 relevant cases. It informed callers of delays in only 15 of 31 relevant cases.
Overall decline in police performance
Force data showed an overall decline in performance for both emergency and priority incidents. However, the force had neither complete data, particularly in relation to priority incidents, nor were arrival times always recorded.
The report recommends that within six months the force should meet its targets for attending calls and ensure it tells victims of unavoidable delays.
HM Inspector Les Freeman said: “I have concerns about the performance of Warwickshire Police in keeping people safe, reducing crime and providing victims with an effective service. And I have serious concerns about how quickly the force responds to calls for service from the public.”
He noted that the force had made sustained improvements in both 999 and 101 call handling. The force now answers most calls quickly. It has also improved the use of evidence-based policing and reduced reports of crime and antisocial behaviour in targeted hotspot areas.
Significant delays in response to vulnerable people
Inspectors also found that inefficient processes and under-resourced departments were contributing to significant delays in the progression of investigations. Freeman expressed concern about: “… the effectiveness of the governance structures that oversee how well the force protects vulnerable people. It is evident that the force is committed to achieving this”. He recognised that the scale of the project would take some time.
Responding, Mr Seccombe said: “The report acknowledges the good progress that has been made in how the force answers 101 and 999 calls in a timely fashion. Since the inspection period, the force has continued to sustain these improvements, despite increases in demand.”
Warwickshire’s grading is disappointing
He said it was disappointing that the force overall was graded as inadequate for public contact, with the main issues revolving around how quickly officers were taking to respond to calls once they had been received.
“The force has been working to change the way it responds and investigates crime, with additional officers brought into teams. This is starting to show improvement, but clearly there is still some way to go before we can be fully sure of lasting improvement”, he said.
The commissioner insisted that many of the issues highlighted in the report came down to an overall lack of people to meet the increased demand or process investigations more quickly and effectively. The level of resource needed to fully meet this challenge was simply not available.
Unfair funding may make achieving targets difficult
Mr Seccombe continued: “Warwickshire Police receives among the lowest amount of central government funding per head of population of any force and similarly ranks among the forces with the lowest numbers of officers compared to the population it serves.”
He called for “a fundamental review of the funding landscape for policing.” The current reliance on local taxpayers to fund an ever-larger share of budget through Council Tax was increasingly unfair, with an out-of-date central funding formula. He made a plea to the government to address Warwickshire’s issues in its Comprehensive Spending Review for him to be able to provide a service for the public as recommended in the report.
