New figures show North Yorkshire ‘safest place in England’

North Yorkshire is the safest place in England, the county’s acting chief constable has said after new crime figures were released.

Elliot Foskett made the claim after three-year crime trend figures showed North Yorkshire has a lower crime rate than the England and Wales average in all but one of 15 categories. Bicycle theft was the exception.

The figures were revealed during an online public meeting yesterday (March 25) held by North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoe Metcalfe.

Temporary assistant chief constable Catherine Clarke said the figures, for the period from March 2021 and Feb 2024 showed all areas of crime were lower than in recent years with the exception of the period during covid.

Acting chief constable Foskett then said:

“This for me is the big one. This makes North Yorkshire the safest place in England.”

He said crime levels usually rose during summer but the trend last year from May to August was “significantly flat”, adding:

“What this means at the end of the day is fewer victims of crime. I don’t want to underplay this because I think it is such a huge thing for this county.

“Everytime I go out speaking to people in the street or in the community, sometimes they don’t realise just how safe it is here.”

A slide from the meeting showing crime levels.

Temporary ACC Clarke’s presentation also said the response rate for answering  999 calls was “vastly improved”.

The national target for police forces is to answer 90% of calls within 10 seconds. In February this year the figure in North Yorkshire was 89%, she said.

The response time for answering non-emergency 101 calls has also improved but remains below the target of 90% of calls being answered in 120 seconds.

North Yorkshire Police is currently achieving 75%, with the longest wait for a 101 call being one hour 23 minutes.

Yesterday’s public meeting was the first since the publication of a report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services recognising significant improvements in North Yorkshire Police after a highly critical previous inspection in October 2022.

It was also the last police public meeting chaired by Ms Metcalfe before her role is taken over by whoever is elected Mayor of York and North Yorkshire on May 2.

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North Yorkshire gets new interim chief constable

An interim chief constable has taken charge at North Yorkshire Police.

Elliot Foskett, who was previously the constabulary’s assistant chief constable, succeeds Lisa Winward.

Ms Winward officially retires from the £154,000 a year role at the end of March but worked her last day on December 22. Her early departure is believed to be due to the amount of unused leave and additional hours accrued.

Lisa Winward

Lisa Winward

Mr Foskett will hold the reins until a full-time successor is appointed.

Zoë Metcalfe, the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for York and North Yorkshire, announced this month that Tim Forber,  the current deputy chief constable of South Yorkshire Police, was her preferred candidate to become the next chief constable. His appointment has yet to be ratified so no starting date has been set.

The appointment has been mired in controversy because Ms Metcalfe’s role will be taken over by whoever is elected Mayor of York and North Yorkshire in May 2024. It means the new mayor will inherit a chief constable they didn’t appoint.

Mr Foskett posted on X, formerly known as Twitter:

“What a complete privilege to lead this amazing force until our new chief arrives. I feel very proud of our brilliant people and I know the new chief, Tim Forber, will love it here.”

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Police defend decision to end Remembrance Day traffic management

North Yorkshire Police has defended its decision to stop providing Remembrance Day traffic management.

Thirty-two smaller Remembrance Day parades in the county will be affected annually from this year.

They include the one organised by Knaresborough Royal British Legion, whose vice-chair David Houlgate warned this week it could prevent the town’s annual parade going ahead.

Assistant chief constable Elliot Foskett said it was a “difficult but lawful decision”, adding:

“Under the Traffic Management Act 2004, which placed the responsibility on the local authority and event organisers, the larger Remembrance Day events in our area have utilised traffic management companies to ensure public safety.

“However, for many years, North Yorkshire Police has continued to provide a traffic management function to the smaller Remembrance Day events.”

ACC Foskett said the force was acting on legislation as well as guidance from the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing that policing should not take responsibility for closing roads or managing traffic, other than in an emergency.

He added:

“This is to make sure police resources remain focused on tackling crime and anti-social behaviour.

“With immediate effect, North Yorkshire Police has repositioned to fully comply and will not be undertaking routine traffic management for any Remembrance Day events in 2023 and in subsequent years.”

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ACC Foskett said police were “working closely with North Yorkshire Council and City of York Council to assist the affected event organisers to put in place the necessary arrangements in time for November, including obtaining a Temporary Traffic Regulation Order”.

The senior police officer, who is also a forces veteran, added:

“The upset caused by this change is fully understandable, but it is categorically wrong to suggest North Yorkshire Police no longer supports Remembrance Day.

“We simply could not continue to act outside of the legislation and national police guidance.”

He said officers would still lay wreaths at services and were “proud to pay our respects as we have throughout our history”.

Harrogate and Knaresborough Conservative MP Andrew Jones said he was “surprised and disappointed” by the decision and has called for a rethink.

Scrutiny of North Yorkshire Police use of force ‘not good enough’, say inspectors

Scrutiny of North Yorkshire Police’s use of force in custody is “not good enough”, say inspectors.

An inspection report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services found that scrutiny and quality assurance could not show that force used was “necessary, justified and proportionate”.

Inspectors also found that recording in custody records was “often poor” and important information, including reasons for decisions such as the removal of clothing, is “sometimes missing”.

They added that a review of CCTV found that incidents “weren’t always managed well, and techniques weren’t always used correctly”.

In a report published today, inspectors said:

“The force’s governance and oversight of the use of force in custody isn’t good enough.

“Although there is some scrutiny and quality assurance of incidents, the information that supports this scrutiny is inaccurate.

“This means North Yorkshire Police can’t show that when force is used in custody it is necessary, justified and proportionate.”

However, the report did find that officers interacted respectfully with detainees and were “patient and reassuring”.

It also found that the standard of care offered by custody staff to detainees was “very good”.

The inspection was carried out into the force’s custody suites during June and July this year. There are custody suites in York, Harrogate and Scarborough

In the report, inspectors raised two causes for concern which included scrutiny of use of force and managing detainee risk.

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Recommendations were made to improve scrutiny of use of force and to mitigate the risk of detainees in custody.

Police response

elliot foskett

In response to the report, Elliot Foskett, North Yorkshire’s assistant chief constable (pictured above), said:

“We welcome the HMICFRS report, as it helps us to further understand how we can continue to improve our custody provision here in North Yorkshire Police.

“Working within the legislative framework, our absolute priority is the safety and welfare of detainees, avoiding any adverse level of risk.

“It is acknowledged that some processes, such as the recording of information, are not of the highest possible standard and this is something we have already started to look at.

“We are pleased the HMICFRS has recognised we have good measures in place to oversee the safe and respectful provision of custody.

“It’s also good to see the acknowledgement of the good work of our custody staff in relation to how they deal with detainees respectfully, patiently, and reassuringly, recognising the array of diverse needs.”