Staffordshire Police Federation chair Lee Robinson has warned that the impact of cutbacks and under-funding in policing over the last decade is still being felt today.
Lee spoke out after His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) report on police performance found officers were increasingly under-resourced and under-skilled, with forces not doing enough to understand why such a large proportion of its workforce are leaving and having any plans in place to tackle it.
The report found members of the public were suffering as a result with too many people being failed at the first point of contact.
Lee said: “The policing models used up and down the country today were shaped during the years of austerity and that is bound to have an effect on the service we provide.
“Staffordshire Police has taken steps to improve things over the last year by changing the way we do things and I think it’s fair to say that some aspects of that have seen improvements while others probably need tweaking a bit more and have perhaps not worked as well as planned.
“We are aware of the challenges faced by policing but trace them back to the years of austerity when we suffered huge cuts to funding and resourcing.
“Staffordshire Police has never fully recovered from thost cuts and is one of the forces which still has fewer officers than it did in 2010, despite the Police Uplift Programme.
“Our officers work extremely hard, often in difficult and challenging circumstances, to deliver the best possible service and they deserve recognition for that.
“But there is no doubt that public trust and confidence has suffered over the last few years and it will take a long time to rebuild those damaged relationships.”
Lee said years of real-terms pay cuts had affected officer morale and left members feeling undervalued and had also led to the departures of many experienced officers.
“The long-running pay issue has also had a massively negative impact on policing in terms of officers morale but also in terms of recruitment and retention,” he said.
“Our members deserve to be properly rewarded and recognised for the difficult jobs they do.”
Lee’s comments came in response to the HMICFRS report which brings together significant findings from the 2021/22 police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy (PEEL) inspection programme.
The report highlighted police forces’ progress in recording crime, increasing from an estimated 80.5 per cent of all crime being recorded (excluding fraud) in 2014 to 92.4 per cent at the end of 2021/2022 inspections.
It found:
- Too many forces make decisions based on poor data or insufficient analysis of data;
- Forces too often have knee jerk reactions to long term problems and don’t work proactively enough to prevent issues arising in the first place;
- First-line supervisors are critical to improving performance and developing the right culture in forces, but they are not getting the investment and support they need;
- The public is too often being failed at the first point of contact, with long call delays, in particular non-emergency 101 calls; and
- The workforce is increasingly under-resourced and under-skilled, with forces not doing enough to understand why such a large proportion of its workforce are leaving and having any plans in place to tackle it.
Andy Cooke, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary, said: “We found a wealth of examples where police forces are performing well. Forces must learn from each other and should consider if the positive practice described in this report can be applied in their own area.
“But the public are still being let down too often by policing, and there are several improvements that forces need to make. One of the first things forces need to do is to get better at understanding and managing their own performance. Without this, forces cannot aspire to provide the high level of service that the public deserves.
“The public’s trust and confidence in the police are at an all-time low, so it is vital that forces take heed of our findings and work quickly to rectify the issues highlighted.”
Tiff Lynch, deputy chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW), said: “There is a common thread throughout this report that links the red flags PFEW have been highlighting repeatedly – a severe lack of funding leaving police forces up and down England and Wales struggling with demand, and officer levels. This is further leading forces to use outdated, cumbersome, and poorly understood systems and processes.
“If our members are to give the public the service they deserve, then long-term, sustained investment in policing must be the Government’s top priority.
“Only proper investment in the service will allow all the service to implement the procedures and training that are vital to improving policing and regaining public confidence and trust
“This report rightly adds more pressure on the Government to take urgent action, invest in policing, improve police pay and officer morale, and restore policing to the respected and trusted public service it should be.”
