Improving productivity could create equivalent of 30,000 more police officers and staff
As many as 60 million policing hours could be freed up over a five-year period, according to recommendations made in the independent Policing Productivity Review, which concluded on Monday (September 30).
This equates to the equivalent of around 30,000 more police officers and staff.
Lead reviewer Alan Pughsley QPM said: “The size of the potential savings may raise eyebrows, but our recommendations are practical and grounded in the realities of policing.”
He added: “Policing productivity matters because it means getting the best possible service from the resources available.
“It’s about having more officers on the street, more officers and staff responding to incidents and investigating crime, all of which mean better outcomes for the public.
“The Review team has spent time with officers and staff across the country, exploring the challenges they face and seeing examples of good practice in action that could have a huge impact if adopted more widely.”
The independent review of policing productivity in England and Wales was commissioned by the Home Office in August 2022. This was against a backdrop of government investment in the Police Uplift Programme, significant challenges to trust and confidence in policing, and greater expectations and demands of the police service.
A team comprising policing experts and other subject matter specialists carried out extensive fieldwork, visiting all 43 forces in England and Wales. Criminal justice partners, charities, and public bodies that have a relationship with or interdependency with policing also participated.
Initially commissioned for 12 months, the Review was extended to two years after phase one of its work was completed and its associated recommendations accepted in full. This first phase considered barriers to productivity, including mental ill health demand, Home Office counting rules, and criminal justice processes, as well as the benefits of a model process and a police endowment fund. The resulting report was published in November 2023.
The second phase of the Review focussed on custody, the police response to missing people, officers and staff on restricted duties, and artificial intelligence. The team reported its findings and recommendations to the Home Office in April 2024.
Today, the report from the third and final phase of the Review has been delivered to the Home Office. The team has considered the potential for productivity improvements in the areas of police investigations, neighbourhood policing, and how forensic accreditation and regulatory frameworks affect police productivity.
Mr Pughsley said: “The Review has already enabled improvements to be delivered which are having a positive impact on the productivity of the front line. These include police responses to mental health [Right Care Right Person], how crime and incidents are recorded [Home Office Counting Rules], and the use of technology to improve productivity, such as auto-redaction tools.
“The Review has also played a pivotal role in unlocking HM Treasury funding as part of a wider package of improving public sector productivity, which includes the creation of a new Centre for Police Productivity sitting within the College of Policing.
“There is excellence in every force, in every area of policing, and most importantly there are excellent people doing their best to serve our communities.
“To make the most of this there needs to be greater consistency from force to force, swifter adoption of proven good practice, and above all for work on productivity to be continued in a robust manner.”