Government inspectors have today hailed significant improvements over the last year at North Yorkshire Police.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services questioned the force’s ability to keep people safe and reduce crime in a highly critical report a year ago following an inspection in October 2022. It also criticised the speed of handling 101 and 999 calls.
But a new HMICFRS report, published today, found the constabulary was good in five areas of policing and adequate in four. Last year it was told it required improvement in four areas.
Michelle Skeer, HM Inspector of Constabulary, said in the Police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy report:
“I am pleased with the performance of North Yorkshire Police in keeping people safe, reducing crime and giving victims an effective service.
“I have been impressed with the force’s response to the findings of our last inspection in 2022. The force has worked quickly to improve the policing service it provides to the communities of North Yorkshire.
“Because of this, it has made progress in all the areas of improvement identified in our last inspection.”
Key findings
The inspection graded 10 areas of policing either outstanding, good, adequate, requires improvement or inadequate. Unlike last year, North Yorkshire Police was not assessed to be inadequate or requires improvement in any areas.
It received good assessments for preventing crime, recording data about crime, police powers and public treatment, protecting vulnerable people and managing offenders.
It was graded adequate for investigating crime, responding to the public, developing a positive workplace and leadership and force management.
Inspectors also check the effectiveness of services to victims but do not make a graded judgment for this.
They hailed “significant investment in the force’s control room” after last year’s report revealed only 41.9 percent of 999 calls were answered within 10 seconds.
Ms Skeer said:
“The force has also improved how quickly it arrives at emergency and priority incidents. It should continue to focus on making improvements in these areas.”
The force’s investigations were found to be mostly effective but the number of crimes solved is low.
Ms Skeer concluded:
“Chief officers have made well thought out changes and investments to make sure the force has the resources to meet the public’s demands. The force’s leadership and management have significantly improved its services to the public.
“There are still areas in which North Yorkshire Police must do better. However, I am optimistic that the force’s leadership and management will continue to build on the improvements that we have seen during this inspection.”
‘Transformative year’
Speaking about the latest report acting chief constable Elliot Foskett (pictured above) said it had been a “transformative year for policing in North Yorkshire”.
He said the force had “fully embraced” last year’s feedback, adding:
“We put in place our improvement plan, which was challenging and tough for everyone in the force. We told you that the leadership team had a grip on the issues and that we would manage the plan tightly. We moved at a pace and have delivered on all fronts.
“We have worked hard over the past 12 months to bring the force to a level where the Inspectorate told us that the change has been phenomenal.”
ACC Foskett said a significant investment in the force control room had seen the average answer time for 999 calls fall from 16.2 seconds in January 2023 to 10.2 seconds in January 2024. He added:
“We are one of the safest counties in England and this inspection report shows that we are also now one of the best forces in England.
“The public of North Yorkshire and York deserve a police force they can trust and have confidence in. Policing has moved on and we needed to rebuild our foundations – they are now in place.”
Commissioner hails ‘phenomenal progress’
Zoe Metcalfe
Zoe Metcalfe, the North Yorkshire police, fire and crime commissioner, said she was “beyond disappointed” after last year’s report was published and pledged to hold the chief constable “robustly to account”.
Today Ms Metcalfe, whose role will be subsumed by the new mayoral combined office for York and North Yorkshire in May, hailed the “phenomenal progress that the force has made in such a short space of time”.
She added:
“I am pleased to see a much-improved increase in the performance of customer contact and the reduction in waiting times for both 999 and 101. Call answering times has been high on the public’s list of priorities and my own. I have invested £2.4m in the force control room, however, the force still needs to improve on how they record the information and the actions they take following the call.
“The report also recognises that North Yorkshire Police is good at recording crime and highlights areas where improvements need to be made. It is imperative to victims that when they report a crime it is recorded correctly and dealt with appropriately and I will be looking for improvements in this area immediately.
“The progress North Yorkshire Police have made over the past 12 months, and to have their cause of concern lifted is great news.
“This is a good report and lays the foundations for North Yorkshire Police to become an “outstanding” force, which is what I expect them to achieve at the next inspection.
“On the March 25 at 2pm I will be holding an online public meeting with North Yorkshire Police to look at this report in detail and to hear their plan of action to tackle the areas for improvement identified in the report.”
The meeting will be held here.
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