Inspections And Audit
Jump to: Police Performance | Annual Audit Letter | Inspection of Police Custody Suits | HMIC Inspections
Police Performance - 2008/09
Analysis of Policing and Community Safety (APACS) is an annual assessment developed by the Home Office with support from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), the Association of Police Authorities, the Association of Chief Police Officers and other stakeholders that reports data against a series of performance indicators. For 2008/09, the Home Office set a single performance target for the APACS indicator relating to public confidence.
Annual Audit Letter 2008/09
The Annual Audit Letter provides an overall summary of the Audit Commission's assessment of the Police Authority, in relation to the accounting period ending 31 March 2009.
Audit of the accounts
A most favourable, ie an unqualified opinion on the Police Authority's accounts was issued in July 2009. This means there was no area which the accountant wished to draw to the Police Authority's attention.
Value for money conclusion
The Police Authority has adequate arrangements to secure economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the use of resources.
Police Use of Resources scores
West Mercia was rated as one of the top 8 police forces in England and Wales in the independent Police Use of Resources Evaluation (PURE).
| THEME | Assessment |
| Managing finances | 3 |
| Governing the business | 3 |
| Managing resources | 3 |
Level 1 Performs poorly - does not meet minimum requirements
Level 2 Performs adequately - meets only minimum requirements
Level 3 Performs well - exceeds minimum requirements
Level 4 Performs excellently - significantly exceeds minimum requirements
Click here to view the full audit letter .
In their annual report "Auditing the accounts 2008/09", the Audit Commission congratulated West Mercia Police Authority on being the only police authority in the country where they were able to issue their opinion by 31 August 2009. The Commission stated "This demonstrates what can be achieved when an authority gives appropriate priority to financial reporting."
Inspection of police custody suites in West Mercia - December 2009
Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary conducted a joint inspection of custody facilities in West Mercia looking at force-wide strategies, treatment and conditions, individual rights and healthcare.
The inspection identified much good practice but also highlighted some significant areas of concern. The report, which was published in February 2010, included a number of recommendations. These have been responded to constructively by the Force and built into an Action Plan that is currently being progressed.
Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) Inspections
1. Delivering the Policing Pledge (published October 2009)
During 2009 Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) visited all 43 police forces in England and Wales to review how well forces were delivering the standards they promised the public within their Policing Pledges.
In October 2009 West Mercia Police was awarded an overall grade of "good", one of only 8 forces to achieve this grade.
Of the ten pledge standards, the Force was assessed as ‘good' for seven and ‘fair' for the remaining three. As well as reporting on the force's delivery of each Pledge standard, HMIC also assessed and graded the efforts being made to improve performance.
| Surveys and management meetings were being used to improve performance; public satisfaction and confidence data were taken into account. | FAIR |
| The force had identified deficiencies in its delivery of the Pledge and was taking action in those areas. | GOOD |
| Implementation was led by the force's senior team, the Police Authority was involved, staff were being trained and the Pledge was communicated to staff and the public. | GOOD |
2. Police Report Card (published March 2010)
Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) assessed the performance of all 43 police forces in England and Wales rating them as ‘poor', ‘fair', ‘good' or ‘excellent' in 18 areas of service delivery.
West Mercia Police was rated as 'good' for ‘Local Crime and Policing' and ‘Confidence and Satisfaction' and ‘fair' for ‘Protection from Serious Harm'.
Within these domains, the force was graded as ‘excellent' for preventing knife crime and received a ‘good/excellent' grading for comparative satisfaction of our BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) community.
West Mercia received no ‘poor' grades and HMIC also commented that, by national standards, West Mercia Police is a low-cost force.
All of the 18 categories showed a direction of travel, relative to previous assessments, that was either stable or improving.
We are pleased that HMIC has recognised West Mercia Police as one of the better performing forces in the country; however we are constantly seeking to improve our service and intend to put in place measures to address those aspects of performance graded as ‘fair'.
The full report can be viewed at: West Mercia Police Report card.
Helpful links: Index page | Next page | Previous page | Glossary
Bookmark with: