Source · HMICFRS
PEEL Assessment 2023-25: Lancashire Constabulary
5 December 2024
PEEL Force Inspection
8 areas for improvement
PEEL 2023-25 inspection findings for Lancashire Constabulary
Applicable forces
Areas for improvement
AFI
The constabulary needs to improve how it records equality data
The constabulary’s data for victims of crime shows that age and gender are well recorded. But ethnicity is less well recorded and other protected characteristics aren’t well recorded. The constabulary should be collecting this information to understand the extent to which crime affects each protected group, how this differs from those without the protected characteristics and whether a different response is needed for these victims.
Lancashire Constabulary
AFI
The constabulary needs to improve how it records crime when antisocial behaviour personal is reported
The constabulary is failing to record all crimes and tackle problems when victims report antisocial behaviour personal. We examined 50 incidents. Of these, 13 crimes should have been recorded, but only 4 were actually recorded. Victims of antisocial behaviour are often subjected to abuse and torment for substantial periods of time. This crime is often committed by their neighbours. Failing to record crimes effectively can mean victims live in fear in their own homes.
Lancashire Constabulary
AFI
The constabulary needs to effectively risk assess reports made on its public engagement portal, and deal with them in a timely way, to safeguard vulnerable victims and record crimes within 24 hours
In addition to calling emergency and non-emergency numbers, the public can contact the constabulary through its online public engagement portal. It is easy to access and monitored 24 hours a day. The force crime management unit prioritises contacts that relate to certain crime types. It records high-risk contacts without delay on the command and control system and sends them through to the dispatch team for deployment. We examined online reports and found that the constabulary isn’t managing all of them effectively. On 24 July 2024, there were 242 outstanding records. The force crime management unit hadn’t transferred any of them to the command and control system or recorded them as crimes. The team had triaged the records – as high, medium or low risk – but this didn’t identify and manage all risk. It hadn’t used a risk assessment model, such as THRIVE+. And it sometimes failed to carry out checks to establish whether the person was a repeat caller. Some contacts were vulnerable, despite being assessed as low risk. These included repeat victims of harassment and stalking. This means not all vulnerable victims are adequately safeguarded. With outstanding records up to nine days old, the constabulary isn’t complying with the national crime recording standard in these cases. And any delay in allocating investigations may lead to a loss of evidence. The constabulary told us that by 1 August 2024 the backlog had reduced to 94. It told us it is working on technical improvements to highlight when contacts awaiting action need further triage. But this doesn’t remove the need to accurately risk assess online reports, prioritise vulnerability and meet crime recording requirements.
Lancashire Constabulary
AFI
The constabulary needs to address the backlog in crimes awaiting quality assurance so investigations are appropriately allocated to the investigating officer and victims receive timely justice
Force crime management unit officers speak directly to victims. This is a positive development by the constabulary. As investigators, these officers are in the best position to gather initial information and make decisions about whether a crime can be filed at source or if it needs to be allocated for further investigation. The constabulary told us it expected a backlog in crime allocation while this change took place. During our fieldwork, we found 2,364 crimes in the force crime management unit awaiting quality assurance processes before onward allocation to an appropriate investigator. Immediate response officers can record details of a crime when attending incidents. But more information is sometimes needed to make sure the correct details are recorded and the crime is reallocated to an investigator with the right skills. A large backlog delays further investigations. The constabulary is planning to take an automated approach to correct recording errors and gaps in crime information. But it should also effectively monitor the quality assurance process to avoid delays in the further investigation of crimes and to make sure victims receive timely justice.
Lancashire Constabulary
AFI
The constabulary doesn’t consistently achieve appropriate outcomes for victims
The constabulary doesn’t always achieve positive outcomes for victims of crime, and it can improve the number of crimes it solves. In the year ending 31 March 2024, Lancashire Constabulary recorded 113,752 victim-based crimes. Of these recorded offences, 13.5 percent were assigned an ‘offences brought to justice’ outcome. This was higher than expected compared to other forces in England and Wales, which had an average of 9.8 percent. revised since. British Transport Police and City of London data are excluded from the England and Wales rate. Total police-recorded crime includes all crime (except fraud). For a full commentary and explanation of crime and outcome types please see the Home Office statistics. revised since. Victim-based crimes are defined as all police-recorded crimes where there is a direct victim, such as an individual, an organisation or corporate body. Between the years ending 31 March 2023 and 31 March 2024, the proportion of victim-based crimes assigned outcome 15 (evidential difficulties: suspect identified, victim supports police action) by Lancashire Constabulary decreased from 9.9 percent to 8.8 percent. Both of these values are lower than expected compared to other forces in England and Wales during the same time periods.
Lancashire Constabulary
AFI
The constabulary needs to respond to challenges relating to vulnerability, including gaps in training, and to oversee the effect these challenges have on the way it serves its communities
Vulnerability has a detective chief superintendent lead, with a centralised vulnerability governance unit. Portfolios are split between adult and child safeguarding arrangements in each basic command unit. The constabulary has invested in more senior detectives to create additional leadership at chief inspector level in its vulnerability investigation teams. We found that some arrangements can be improved. Not all staff working in the Accrington multi-agency safeguarding hub have had recent training. Supervisors usually provide this training, but a reduced number of supervisors means there is limited capacity. As a result, new staff don’t have all appropriate training and support. There is a reliance on online training, which means detectives don’t always receive face-to-face training. Continuing professional development opportunities are available. But some detectives told us they can’t always attend due to staff shortages or demand on the day. We also found some people in other roles who hadn’t received the right training or didn’t have the appropriate background for their role. This included people from response teams, who were attending strategy discussions without training, as well as people from the vulnerability governance unit and child exploitation teams. The target operating model implementation has had an impact on learning and development for vulnerability. It is important that all staff are suitably trained and have the safeguarding skills and experience for their role. The constabulary needs to have effective arrangements to oversee this.
Lancashire Constabulary
AFI
The constabulary should make sure it has sufficient resources for the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, to make sure disclosures are made within statutory timeframes and meet victims’ safeguarding requirements
The constabulary has a backlog of Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS) applications. It isn’t always complying with the 2 -day timescale to review and respond to these applications. As at 24 July 2024, it had 40 V S ‘right to know’ and ‘right to ask’ applications at various stages. The oldest dated back to 1 April 2024. It had 266 applications that were over 28 days old. At the time of our inspection, the constabulary was reviewing DVDS applications and had a plan to manage the backlog. But we found a lack of clarity on both the resource needed and the time it will take to address it, with no quality assurance to see if this is workable. We also found a lack of Police National Database training in the team. This affected capability, as these checks should be completed in a timely way to safeguard victims well. The constabulary was also contacting victims awaiting disclosure to ask if they were still in the relationship. If not, it closed the case. We asked the constabulary to review this, as possible reconciliation is a consideration in the disclosure process. The constabulary has now amended its practice. The constabulary doesn’t track if a further incident occurs while a V S application is pending. So the DVDS team may not know if a new incident has taken place. The workforce needs to be aware of any change to risk, so it can make appropriate decisions. The constabulary’s approach is likely to lead to missed opportunities to make disclosures and safeguard vulnerable victims. The constabulary should address this.
Lancashire Constabulary
AFI
The constabulary needs to make sure it manages risk assessments and referrals of vulnerable adults and children to partner organisations promptly, so they are adequately protected
Two of the constabulary’s three multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH) arrangements manage referral demand well. This ensures timely intervention and safeguarding in these areas once they receive referrals. The Lancashire County Council (LCC) MASH prioritises high-risk referrals, which is also positive. But we found it had significant queues of medium and standard-risk referrals. LCC MASH receives around 200 to 250 referrals a day. The constabulary has sufficient resource to manage daily demand, but it is insufficient to manage periods of increased activity or holidays. This results in backlogs. The constabulary doesn’t have a co-ordinated plan to manage this risk or to prioritise those referrals to partners or safeguarding processes, such as a multi-agency risk assessment conference. Constabulary data indicates queues above the daily level for months, with few exceptions, reaching a peak of 1,143 in June 2024. On 24 July 2024, the medium and standard-risk queue contained 697 referrals, with the oldest dating back to 16 July 2024. The team approaches the queue from the oldest first, and the limited triage isn’t sufficient to fully understand risk or to prioritise well. Staff working in the other two MASHs offer support when they can, but this isn’t enough to address the backlog. Performance dashboards are limited to the crime recording system, with insufficient demand profiling, tracking of re-grades, or capacity to record themes and provide feedback. There is no local governance meeting for reporting performance and problems to senior leaders. We found the team was struggling with daily demand, which had a significant detrimental effect on its well-being. The constabulary plan to deal with the queue is broadly in line with daily activity and is having limited effect on backlogs. The plan lacks the focus to reduce backlogs to manageable levels. It needs to make sure the resourcing model and arrangements for LCC MASH are appropriate for demand. Without clear governance, performance data, adequate resource and an appropriate plan, this situation is likely to continue, and the well-being of the team will remain affected.
Lancashire Constabulary