Single national police agency needed to better support frontline policing, says new report

It says current approaches to national action in policing are often “ad hoc, undermining efficiency and effectiveness”.

For example, the report from the Police Foundation and Leapwise Advisory says chief constables have to drive progress on big issues such as police adoption and use of new technologies alongside running their local forces, usually with very limited staff and budgets to assist them.

Important programmes, for example to improve forensic services, are only funded a year at a time, making it difficult for them to recruit and retain high quality staff, it adds.

Organisations such as the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), College of Policing, Police Digital Service, the Home Office and Bluelight Commercial often have overlapping responsibilities – leading to duplicated activities or important issues falling between the cracks.

“The Government’s Safer Streets mission will be near-impossible to deliver without changes to the current governance and institutional frameworks, and reform is long overdue,” says the report.

Published on Tuesday (November 19), the report – ‘Fit for the future: The case for a reformed national policing landscape’ – presents a strategic roadmap for a renewed centre with a national police agency at its heart.

“National solutions – whether that means shared technology platforms or simply common procedural standards – can enable or undermine the quality of policing at the neighbourhood level,” the report says.

“What happens at the centre will shape outcomes on the frontline, and better organisation of the police landscape is essential to improving the efficiency of policing.”

Dr Rick Muir, director of the Police Foundation and author of the report, said: “Where police forces face common problems, it can often be more efficient to design solutions once, at a national level.

“A revised national landscape that addresses key gaps and builds lasting capabilities to drive lower crime, higher public confidence and improved efficiency and only be achieved by a strong strategic and operational centre in policing.”

Drawing on insights from individuals at a national and local level including chief constables, heads of national policing agencies and Home Office officials, the report makes three recommendations for fixing national structures to deliver better decision-making and improved operational support and enabling services.

1. A new approach to national decision-making: a majority voting system within the NPCC and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners would enable the system to drive its own decision making avoiding the need for 43 police forces and 43 police and crime commissioners (PCCs) to agree unanimously on every national decision. The report also recommends much greater direction setting from the Home Office, which appears to be forthcoming, and clarity on long-term budgets to enable forces to make multi-year investments that deliver sustainable payoffs.
2. A new national police agency: this would have four main functions: oversight of all key national operational support functions; commissioning and delivery of national enabling services (eg, for technology and national procurement); operational leadership for national priorities and strong strategic and planning capability. The agency would have a complete picture of future demand, crime threats and capability gaps nationally and locally to support sound funding and planning discussions.
3. Three options for national reorganisation: the national police agency could sit alongside a streamlined College of Policing or it could co-exist with a strengthened Royal College of Policing or alternatively, it could be merged with the College.

The authors argue that implementing the report’s recommendations would provide efficient and effective policing. It would also ensure better funding decisions and enhanced resources for specialist capabilities and other functions that sit outside the 43 forces in England and Wales.

Tom Gash, managing director of Leapwise Advisory said: “Our recommendations are all focused on getting frontline officers the technology, equipment, training and support they need to face 21st century policing challenges.

“Local policing tailored to community needs is and should remain the bedrock of UK policing, but we can’t afford to carry on with the current approach where 43 chief constables and 43 PCCs need to unanimously agree to every change in national police technology or operational support arrangements, and we can’t afford to design police improvements 43 times in the current financial climate.

“The current system is just too slow and fragmented, so has to be reformed to ensure the government can deliver on its Safer Streets mission.”