‘Urgent improvements’ needed at North Yorkshire Police to reduce crime and keep people safe

North Yorkshire Police has been told it must make urgent improvements to help keep people safe and reduce crime.

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) said it has “serious concerns” about the force’s strategic planning and organisational management which need to be addressed so it can reduce crime effectively.

The inspectorate said North Yorkshire’s performance requires improvement in terms of

• responding to the public
• investigating crime
• protecting vulnerable people
• and building and developing its workforce.

And the force’s value for money, strategic planning and organisational management was graded inadequate.

The report also pointed out that the force was well below the national standard for answering and responding to emergency calls, with only 41.9 percent of 999 calls being answered within ten seconds when it was inspected.

Inspector of Constabulary Roy Wilsher said: “I have concerns about the performance of North Yorkshire Police in keeping people safe and reducing crime.

“In particular, I have serious concerns about its strategic planning and organisational management.

“Senior leaders in the force need to ensure they have effective oversight of its enabling services, such as IT and HR functions. Failures in these areas impact the service the force provides.”

The report said: “Until the force improves its strategic oversight and implements its performance framework, it will not be able to reduce crime effectively.”

North Yorkshire chief constable Lisa Winward acknowledged that the report highlighted a significant number of areas that require improvement relating to the “corporate capacity and capability of the organisation”.

Ms Winward said: “They told us that while the right actions might be taking place on the ground by our people, they were not able to find sufficient evidence of how this was directed and overseen through our governance structure.

“The inspectors told us that every single person they spoke to was committed, fully engaged in their work and doing a really good job in difficult circumstances.”

She said the force has been through a significant period of change since the last inspection, in 2018, and said a major control room investment had already seen a stark improvement in the percentage of 999 calls being answered within 10 seconds.

Ms Winward said: “As the safest place in the country, I can assure the communities of North Yorkshire and the City of York that we remain absolutely committed to keeping you safe, and feeling safe.”