Merseyside Police left cell door safety issue unresolved for six months
A health and safety issue with cell doors at Merseyside Police went unresolved for more than six months despite being raised with senior managers, a report by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services has found.
The finding forms part of a wider criticism in the inspectorate’s PEEL assessment of the force, which rated Merseyside’s custody provision as adequate overall. Inspectors found that custody staff and officers had limited contact with senior leaders and that communication on safety issues was not effective or consistent, meaning problems were not always understood or acted on.
Staff and officers gave examples of raising concerns or suggesting improvements to senior managers, but told inspectors these were often not listened to, addressed or acted on. The cell door issue was cited as a direct example: it remained unresolved throughout the inspection period, more than six months after it was first raised.
Inspectors also found potential ligature points in some custody suites, linked to the design of toilets and poorly fitted cell doors. Custody officers and staff carry out daily cell checks in line with authorised professional practice, but the force does not always deal with repairs quickly. Inspectors described the custody environment as generally safe.
The report found that the force’s monthly and quarterly performance meetings provide some oversight but do not always give staff and officers a clear route to raise concerns or track progress on issues once flagged.
HMICFRS said Merseyside Police should improve these arrangements, with senior leaders asked to seek out and act promptly on feedback from custody staff, to help the force identify issues earlier and respond more effectively.
The report also found Merseyside Police requires improvement at investigating crime, the only one of nine graded areas to receive that rating. Inspectors said the force does not consistently achieve appropriate outcomes for victims — an area for improvement first identified at the force’s 2023 PEEL inspection that remains open.
The proportion of positive outcomes assigned to victim-based crime was 10.4 per cent, below the 12.3 per cent median for forces in England and Wales, though this marks an improvement from 7.9 per cent in 2023.
Investigator numbers were a recurring theme. As of December 2025, the force had 463 accredited PIP 2 investigators in post against a requirement of 832, a fill rate of 55.6 per cent. Even accounting for 273 trainees currently working toward accreditation, the force would still face a shortfall of 96 investigators once they qualify. Inspectors found crime was allocated to an investigator promptly in only 72 of 85 cases reviewed, and that investigations were appropriately supervised throughout in just 42 of 64 cases, with high workloads cited as the cause of both delays.
Chief Constable Rob Carden said: “We recognised the areas for improvement before HMICFRS published its findings and have addressed these challenges since September last year. So, whilst the grading for Investigations is disappointing, areas such as solving crime has, even before the report was published, increased significantly and we are now one of the top three performing forces in the country for crime outcomes.
“Response – graded as Adequate in the inspection – remains a priority for the force. Our priority response performance has improved significantly and since the force restructure (which went live on 29 March) we have consistently achieved our target of over 90 per cent (within 60 minutes) for the first time in 12 years.”