South Yorkshire Police "acting on report’s criticisms"

Michael Cunningham, Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary, said he had “serious concerns” about the force’s performance after it was rated as “requires improvement” in three key areas — its effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy in fighting crime and keeping people safe.

But a police spokeswoman pointed out the annual report was based on the findings of surveys throughout the past year and the force had “already taken action to address the concerns raised”.

The new policing model was among several areas highlighted by the HMIC report.

Changes to the system meant staff were “regularly taken away from preventative neighbourhood work to cover more reactive duties”, Mr Cunningham said.

The force needed to be more consistent in how investigations were supervised, he said, and there was “a significant backlog” of digital evidence to be examined.

South Yorkshire Police had made progress in keeping vulnerable people safe but further improvements were needed, the inspector said.

While good at identifying signs of vulnerability and better at handling calls reporting domestic abuse, the force made poor risk assessments over domestic abuse incidents, the HMI found.

He added: “I am also concerned about the quality of the force’s investigations of more complex crimes, and in particular those involving vulnerable victims.”

The force had “a very limited understanding of the current and likely future demands for its services”, Mr Cunningham said.

He added: “The force urgently needs to develop a more comprehensive understanding that includes so-called hidden demand, under-reporting of crimes, and the consequences of partner organisations changing the services they provide. 

“The force needs to work with partner organisations to develop a shared understanding both of the services that will be provided by individual organisations and of those that will be provided through joint working arrangements, such as safeguarding vulnerable people.”

The force’s current operating model was built on a limited understanding of the demands for its services, the inspector said, adding: “This has contributed to the inconsistent service the force is providing to the people of South Yorkshire.”

South Yorkshire Police was criticised for its lack of a comprehensive workforce plan meaning its understanding of its workforce’s capability and capacity was poor. 

One area praised was the tackling of serious and organised crime, with “good processes for gathering intelligence and mapping organised crime groups” highlighted and praise for the way officers prioritise and tackled organised crime.

Mr Cunningham added: “It also has effective measures for deterring people from becoming involved in organised criminality.”

He also said the force had taken steps “to understand and reduce the wasteful use of its resources arising from inefficient working practices” but these measures needed to be extended.

More needed to be done to seek feedback from the public and police staff and understand public perceptions “of what constitutes fair and respectful treatment”, the inspector said.

He concluded: “I do not underestimate how much improvement is needed for the force, led by its new chief officer team, to provide a consistently good service to the people of South Yorkshire.”

The police spokeswoman said: “We have already taken action to address the concerns raised, such as having a clear focus on the management of domestic abuse and vulnerability. 

“We are working urgently to address these issues and have introduced a process to improve the accountability of our safeguarding arrangements to victims. 

“We are also working closely with victims and their feedback is invaluable in helping to improve the service we provide.  

“We also recognise the issues around neighbourhood policing and are currently developing a new policing model which will reflect our commitment to neighbourhoods. 

“Whilst we recognise the urgency of this work, we must get the new model right. 

“Hence our investment in a rigorous research phase prior to implementation, during which we will consult with partners and members of the public at a series of consultation events with the Chief Constable. 

“The views and concerns captured at these consultation events will mark the start of a programme of ongoing engagement and will inform the assessment into the force’s neighbourhood service, before changes are agreed and implemented.”