How We Measure Our Performance
West Mercia has a range of measures to monitor performance. These are made up of Assessments of Policing and Community Safety (APACS) Indicators (set by the Home Office) and Performance Indicators (chosen by ourselves). Performance indicators are assessed on an ongoing basis and are reviewed formally at a monthly meeting of Chief Officers and Senior Managers.
Our primary Performance Indicators (PIs) for 2008/09 are:
Satisfaction and Confidence
| Ref No. | Description | Target or method of monitoring |
| P1 | User Satisfaction - Percentage Satisfied with Whole Experience | 84% or higher Satisfaction |
| P2 | User Satisfaction - Percentage Satisfied with Follow Up | 70% or higher Satisfaction |
| P3 | Confidence in Local Police | 53% or higher Confidence |
| P4 | Perception of Anti-social behaviour | To be monitored by Police Authority |
| P5 | Perception of Local Drug Use / Drug Dealing | To be monitored by Police Authority |
Promoting Community Safety
| Ref No. | Description | Target or method of monitoring |
| P6 | Anti-social Behaviour Management | To be monitored by Police Authority |
| P7 | Assessment of PACT engagement activity including schools / youth activity | To be monitored by Police Authority |
| P8 | Percentage of Local Policing Actions completed in target time | 80% or above within target time |
Tackling Crime
| Ref No. | Description | Target or method of monitoring |
| P9 | Domestic Burglary - Volumes | Less than 3,550 per annum. (This equates to less than 7.2 Burglaries per 1,000 households) |
| P10 | Domestic Burglary - Sanction Detection Rate | 21% or above |
| P11 | Serious Violence Against the Person & Sexual Offences - Volumes | To be monitored by Police Authority |
| P12 | Serious Violence Against the Person & Sexual Offences - Sanction Detection Rates | 35% or above |
| P13 | All Other Offences - Volumes | Less than 67,850 per annum. (This equates to less than 57.4 offences per 1,000 population) |
| P14 | All Other Offences - Sanction Detection Rate | 32.5% or above |
Protecting the Public
| Ref No. | Description | Target or method of monitoring |
| P15 | Support National Counter Terrorist Activity by engaging in full range of national and regional terrorism policing activities | To be monitored by Police Authority |
| P16 | Improve our 2007 performance and support the National Asset Recovery Strategy by maximising every opportunity to confiscate assets including cash derived from criminality | To be monitored by Police Authority |
| P17 | Enhance our approach to the protection of vulnerable people by taking a positive approach towards dealing with domestic abuse, child abuse, hate crime and missing persons | To be monitored by Police Authority |
| P18 | Under the Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA), exchange appropriate information with partner agencies about dangerous offenders and manage the risk they pose | To be monitored by Police Authority |
| P19 | Repeat Victimisation - Domestic Violence Offences | To be monitored by Police Authority |
| P20 | Number of people killed or seriously injured in Road Traffic Collisions | 800 or fewer. (Govt year 2010 target) |
Other
| Ref No. | Description | Target or method of monitoring |
| P21 | Police Officer Sickness - Working Days Lost | 9 days or less |
| P22 | Police Staff Sickness - Working Days Lost | 9 days or less |
The Police Authority is regularly informed of force performance across a range of matters including the PIs set out above and the statutory performance measures set out in Appendix 1. Members receive monthly monitoring reports and review performance in detail at scheduled Force Performance Monitoring Panel meetings. In addition members attend confidential performance management meetings conducted by the force's command team. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) also conducts performance assessments which are reported to Police Authority members and published.
Attached at Appendix 1 is a detailed breakdown of our statutory measures showing projected results for 2007/08. Our final results for 2007/08 will be published by 30 June 2008.
External assessments of our performance
Policing Performance Assessment Framework
The Policing Performance Assessment Framework (PPAF) incorporates performance outcomes relative to a range of statutory performance indicators together with qualitative information contained within Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary Inspection Reports (see below). It is monitored and published jointly by the Police and Crime Standards Directorate of the Home Office and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary.
Police forces are all assessed in seven key performance areas: Tackling Crime; Serious Crime and Public Protection; Protecting Vulnerable People; Satisfaction & Fairness; Neighbourhood Policing; Resource and Efficiency and Local Priorities. Gradings are given in relation to levels of overall service, together - where comparison with the previous year's grading was possible, with an indication of “direction of travel”.
The most recent PPAF assessment of West Mercia Constabulary (published in October 2007) was extremely good, with the following grades being awarded:
| Performance Area | Delivery | Direction |
| Tackling Crime | Excellent | Stable |
| Serious Crime and Public Protection | Good | none stated |
| Protecting Vulnerable People | Good | none stated |
| Satisfaction & Fairness | Good | Improved |
| Neighbourhood Policing | Good | none stated |
| Resource and Efficiency | Good | Improved |
| Local Priorities | Good | none stated |
The commentary included within the PPAF publication indicated that:
Significant progress has been achieved in Protecting Vulnerable People. Good practice is particularly evident in domestic violence, where both specialist and non-specialist officers have recently received training. The force also displays good practice in the investigation and management of missing persons, where there is clear accountability, ownership and priority given to such reports. The force continues to have excellent performance management arrangements, encompassing Level 2 activity and support departments as well as volume crime. Volume crime reduction has remained stable. Volume crime investigation has improved, with increases in offences brought to justice and sanction detections. User satisfaction has improved. A major achievement in 2006/07 was the investigation into the murder of two women in Shrewsbury; this was a major investigation involving search teams, forensic investigators, multimedia liaison, CCTV analysis and extensive use of the HOLMES capability. At the conclusion of the trial, both the QC and the judge commended the high standard of the investigation.
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Inspection of Neighbourhood Policing, Protecting Vulnerable People and Performance Management 2007
HMIC undertook an in-depth inspection of these three areas and their report was published in October 2007.
| SUMMARY OF JUDGEMENTS | GRADE |
| NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICING | GOOD |
| PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT | EXCELLENT |
| PROTECTING VULNERABLE PEOPLE | |
| GOOD |
| GOOD |
| FAIR |
| GOOD |
These results again reflect the high performance of the Constabulary. With regard to Protecting Vulnerable People, in 2006 together with many other forces in England and Wales, the Constabulary's performance was assessed as "Poor". For 2007 individual grades were awarded for each category of Protecting Vulnerable People and the 2007 assessment reflects the commitment the Constabulary has made to improve its performance in those areas.
The inspection also identified a number of areas for improvement, which are now being addressed. The details of these are available on request.
Progress against audit and HMIC recommendations are monitored by the relevant Police Authority Panel via their annual work programm.
Corporate Governance
Auditor’s Report for 2006/07
In December each year the Police Authority’s auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers, issue an audit letter to the Police Authority reporting on the previous year’s financial position and management by the Authority. In summary, the audit letter for 2006/07 states:
- We issued an unqualified audit opinion on the Authority’s 2006/07 financial statements on 28th September 2007
- We identified no material weaknesses in the Authority’s accounting and internal control systems during our audit.
- We identified no matters of irregular expenditure or evidence of fraud or misconduct, or poor standards of financial integrity.
Police Use of Resources Evaluation (PURE)
The PURE framework assessed the arrangements of all police authorities in the following five areas:
| THEME | SCORE | |
| FINANCIAL REPORTING | 3 | Consistently above minimum requirements performing well |
| FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT | 3 | Consistently above minimum requirements performing well |
| FINANCIAL STANDING | 4 | Well above minimum requirements performing strongly |
| INTERNAL CONTROL | 3 | Consistently above minimum requirements performing well |
| VALUE FOR MONEY | 4 | Well above minimum requirements performing strongly |
West Mercia achieved an overall PURE score of 4, one of only seven police forces/ authorities in the country to achieve this top rating.
Auditor’s Report on the 2007/08 Performance Plan
The Authority’s Best Value Performance Plan is audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers to ensure it complies with statutory requirements in respect of the preparation and publication. Their letter of December 2007 stated:
“We are pleased to note that we did not identify any matters of concern to include in our statutory report.”
Click here to read the full audit letter.
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