Recommendation 39

HM Government Accepted

The Government and the policing sector both have a role to play to ensure that racism stays out of policing. Much is already being done to provide ongoing scrutiny over the sector’s performance and how it is building trust with the public. The Home Office has fundamentally reformed its governance and oversight of policing. In 2019, the Home Secretary set up the National Policing Board to bring partners together to provide strategic direction and strong national grip over the law enforcement system. The Board is chaired by the Home Secretary, who has established four strategic policing priorities where we want to see improvement—this includes being trusted by the public to work together as one. Whilst policing is rightfully independent of the Government to ensure a fair and impartial criminal justice system, the Home Secretary uses the National Policing Board and its sub-governance to hold the sector to account for delivery of these priorities and to ensure we are collectively delivering what matters to the public. Through the National Policing Board and its sub-governance, we are providing strong leadership on key strategic priorities. We recognise that disparities faced by ethnic minorities are unique, but that there also can be interconnectivity between protected characteristics, such as gender. Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), diversity and trust in policing have been at the centre of recent agendas with updates expected later this year. The Home Secretary has driven strong action across government and policing to work together on co-ordinated and strategic activity to build back trust in policing in light of recent events across all communities. The NPCC continues to ensure that policing leaders and partners coordinate operations, improvements and reforms across forces. The Government also expects the College to continue improving its offer to provide those working in policing with the skills and knowledge necessary to prevent crime, protect the public, and secure public trust. HMICFRS independently assesses, and reports annually on, the effectiveness and efficiency of the 43 territorial forces in England and Wales, to promote improvement in policing. HMICFRS’ independent inspection reports are vital tools in providing the public with the information they need to hold their PCC to account, and for ensuring PCCs are able to effectively hold Chief Constables to account for force performance. HMICFRS’ inspections, thematic reports, and local monitoring of forces help provide transparency to the public, including on what forces are doing to improve police legitimacy. PCCs across England and Wales are locally elected and directly accountable to the communities they serve. They hold Chief Constables to account for tackling crime in their force area and ensuring community confidence is secured and strengthened. Since their inception in 2012, PCCs have brought real accountability to how Chief Constables and their forces perform, including on community relations, and will continue working hard to ensure that local communities have a stronger voice in policing. Collectively, there is strong governance and oversight of policing to ensure transparency, delivery and accountability of the shared aim to improve confidence of all communities. This oversight has been further strengthened by the National Policing Board and therefore we do not consider that a new Commissioner, as recommended by the Committee, is necessary. The Home Office expects the best from our police forces and bodies and have made great progress over the years. However, we know that more needs to be done, and the Home Office will continue to prioritise tackling negative disparities faced by ethnic groups and deliver meaningful results.