Areas of concern addressed by West Midlands Police

The inspectorate had raised concerns in four areas of force performance in December. Three of these causes of concern were that the force:

• Needed to make sure that its multi-agency risk assessment conferences (MARACs) work effectively to keep vulnerable people safe;
• Did not manage the risk posed to the public by registered sex offenders effectively; and
• Did not manage the risk posed by online child abuse offenders effectively.

In May and June 2024, HMICFRS revisited the force to scrutinise the progress made against these three causes of concern.

HMICFRS found the force has successfully addressed the backlog of high-risk cases for discussion at MARACs.

It said: “The force uses criteria to determine which cases are appropriate for the MARACs and we found that supervisors accurately follow the force’s guidance for this screening process. There are clear strategic and operational governance arrangements in place to support MARACs across the West Midlands.”

“But we did find that the force needs to make sure that members of the MARAC from other organisations understand the force’s MARAC criteria clearly, so they can have confidence in them.”

Regarding risks posed by registered sex offenders, the inspectorate found that the force’s operating model now supports the effective management of registered sex offenders. The force has also allocated more resources to this work.

Managers have better information available to help them manage performance and risks effectively. They allocate cases appropriately and support the wellbeing of sex offender managers. The force has now trained most of these staff to national standards.

However, HMICFRS said the force would benefit from a better understanding of how effectively its sex offender managers use digital tools to detect offending. And it needs to make sure that all registered sex offenders who are the subject of an order that requires them to have monitoring software installed comply with this condition.

The force has addressed the increased demand for support from its online child sexual exploitation team (OCSET).

HMICFRS said it has reduced the backlog of cases awaiting assessment, and improved the way it manages intelligence and surges in demand. It prioritises enforcement action and uses warrants frequently to secure evidence. Officers share information with partner organisations at an early stage to safeguard children, and they follow established principles on suicide risk management.

The force is now uploading more images to the national Child Abuse Image Database, and its digital forensics unit is supporting investigators and prioritising cases well.

The force provides support to its OCSET staff who view child abuse images in the course of their work, but it must continue to monitor their wellbeing.

HM Inspector Lee Freeman KPM said: “I am pleased to confirm that, following these sustained improvements in the force’s performance, these three causes of concern are now closed.

There is one cause of concern remaining. This relates to how the force carries out effective investigations leading to satisfactory results for victims.

“I recognise the effort the force is making to resolve this outstanding cause of concern and will review the force’s progress later this year.”

Chief Constable Craig Guildford said: “I would like to thank everyone who has worked so hard to achieve this success in the quickest time possible. These improvements are testament to the hard work of our officers and staff plus some excellent leadership across the force.

“We are continuing to work hard to address the final cause of concern flagged by HMICFRS around our investigations. It is really pleasing to know that inspectors have recognised the progress already made to resolve this and we look forward to this area being formally reviewed in September.

“I am thrilled to also reveal that alongside making these improvements HMICFRS has also been impressed by the improvements the force has made to its custody processes. Four long standing areas of concern in this area have also been successfully concluded.

“These changes have been made while WMP has achieved the largest reductions in crime across England and Wales, with there being 44,600 fewer victims or 12.1 per cent less crime.

“Last week, HMICFRS released the latest report on the ‘State of Policing’ which documented poor outcome rates for victims. This was data from 2022/23 and certainly doesn’t reflect our current outcome rate of 12 per cent, which equates to 6,600 detections of crime over the last 12 months. I’d also like to echo His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary’s points within this report that clearly recognise the ‘outdated and unfair’ funding distribution for forces that needs addressing to enable the effective delivery of policing in the future.”

He said many of the issues identified in the police efficiency, effectiveness and legitimacy (PEEL) inspection of WMP last year had developed as a result of the previous operating model, and statistical findings are largely drawn from old datasets that pre-date the launch of WMP’s new operating model in April 2023.

Mr Guildford added: “When I joined WMP in December 2022 I set some clear priorities as I recognised there needed to be a significant improvement in the force’s performance, the number of arrests, crimes we investigate, offenders brought to justice and the overall service we provide to local communities.

“It was for this reason that I implemented a rapid overhaul of the operating model and in April 2023 we created seven new Local Policing Areas, each of which has local responsibility for responding to calls for service and investigating offences. Since implementing this new model, changing Force Contact and opening two more custody suites, our arrest rate has doubled as has the number of offenders brought to justice.

“As a result of these rapid changes we are now the best performing force of our most similar group when it comes to solving burglary, robbery and homicide. The number of rapes we solve has nearly doubled, such that we have now surpassed the national average.

“We have gone from being one of the worst call-handling forces to one of the best in less than a year. We currently answer 70,000 999 calls each month in an average of five seconds. Our 101 performance now averages 72 seconds which has also seen dramatic improvements from nearly 18 minutes. On average we now attend emergency incidents in 11 minutes and priority incidents in 39 minutes (against a 15 minutes and 60 minutes target).

“We are answering more calls from the public, responding quicker to those calls for help and investigating more crime. We look forward to delivering against the Government’s plans for crime set out last week, especially their commitment to fund more police officers.

“We remain focused on doing our very best to keep the public safe and bring offenders to justice. I pay testament to all the hard work of my officers, staff and volunteers in delivering these excellent improvements on behalf of the public we all serve.”

West Midlands police and crime commissioner Simon Foster said he was “pleased with the action taken to ensure sustained improvements have been made” in the past seven months.

He said “action has been taken, is being taken and will continue to be taken” to address the remainingg cause of concern and HMICFRS will review the force’s progress later this year.

Mr Foster said: “This is a matter I have treated with the utmost seriousness and as a top priority.

“I have been committed to holding West Midlands Police to account and working with the chief constable, HMICFRS and other relevant partners to ensure the action was taken to address the four causes of concern.

“I am pleased that, as a consequence of the action taken, HMICFRS has acknowledged sustained improvements in the force’s performance, regarding three of the four causes of concern. I will continue to hold West Midlands Police to account, to ensure sustained improvements in the investigation of crime.

“I am committed to constant and unremitting action, to ensure the people of the West Midlands receive the service from West Midlands Police, that they are entitled to.”