Lancashire Constabulary ‘outstanding’ at preventing and deterring crime but must improve protection of vulnerable people

Chief Constable Sacha Hatchett said: “I believe the force has made significant improvements across many areas since the last inspection in 2022 and I want to thank my staff, partners and the public of Lancashire for their support in this process.

“We are one of only two forces in the country to be judged as ‘outstanding’ for ‘preventing and deterring crime and anti-social behaviour (ASB), and reducing vulnerability’.

“This is absolute recognition that our approach to protecting communities, deterring crime and putting problem-solving at the centre of what we do is paying off.

“Every neighbourhood in the county has a dedicated team of officers and staff who are there to serve and protect them, and reducing harm in our communities remains our priority.”

HMICFRS also rated the force ‘good’ at recording data about crime; police powers and treating the public fairly and respectfully; managing offenders and suspects; building, supporting and protecting the workforce; and leadership and force management.

However, it ‘requires improvement’ in protecting vulnerable people and was only ‘adequate’ at responding to the public and investigating crime.

Michelle Skeer, HM Inspector of Constabulary, said: “I congratulate Lancashire Constabulary on its performance in reducing crime and giving victims an effective service. But to provide a consistently good service, it needs to improve in some areas.

“Lancashire Constabulary has diverse communities, including some areas with high levels of deprivation, four of which are among the 20 most deprived areas in England.

“The constabulary has reviewed its operating model to make sure it keeps improving its service to the whole community now and in the future.

“The constabulary has been responsive to the areas for improvement we found in our last inspection and it remains on a generally positive trajectory. The leadership of performance management is strong, and the constabulary’s plans are clearly linked to set priorities. This supports the consistent performance we saw in other parts of our inspection.

“I am particularly pleased to see the progress the constabulary has made since our last inspection in preventing and deterring crime and ASB. This is outstanding. We saw several examples of promising and innovative practice in this area, including a new problem-solving system. The constabulary has also taken a robust approach to managing offenders, using effective local processes to manage them. It has also improved the quality and timeliness of investigations its workforce carries out to bring justice for victims.

“It makes excellent use of robotic process automation and understands how this has brought efficiency to administrative processes. It uses evaluation to show the benefits.

“But the constabulary needs to focus on its approach to keeping some vulnerable people safe from further harm. We found delays in some services, including the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS) and referrals to multi-agency partnership arrangements. I am confident that Lancashire Constabulary will take swift action to address these delays, and I will continue to monitor the way the constabulary responds and takes steps to improve these areas.”

Ms Hatchett said: “The inspectorate has highlighted many areas of promising and innovative practice, including our approach to tackling anti-social behaviour – Operation Centurion. In the past 12 months we have seen a 13 per cent reduction in ASB in hotspot areas and a five per cent reduction across the rest of Lancashire. We have also issued over 300 ASB civil orders against the most prolific offenders.

“Our targeted operation to tackle and reduce shoplifting – Operation Vulture – has also been highlighted as having a real impact with more than 640 arrests since March.

“We have made significant improvements in responding to the public through changes to our force control room. Every day we are now answering more calls, more quickly and responding faster to crimes and incidents. Our service levels for responding have improved dramatically with the new operating model and we are therefore providing a much-improved service to the people of Lancashire.

“Of course, there are always things we can do to improve further, and we will need to reassure ourselves that we are doing everything we can to protect vulnerable people by safeguarding those who need us most. We have already made some positive changes, and we are seeing the benefits of these.

“Finally, this report reflects the hard work and dedication my officers and staff put in every day to deliver policing services to the highest standards. We are your force, and we will put the safety and protection of the good people of Lancashire first.”