Source · HMICFRS

PEEL Assessment 2023-25: South Yorkshire Police

23 July 2025 PEEL Force Inspection 16 areas for improvement

PEEL 2023-25 inspection findings for South Yorkshire Police

Applicable forces

Areas for improvement

AFI The force should make sure that it records and analyses its reviews of stop and search and use of force The force doesn’t gather information from supervisors’ reviews of stop and search and use of force. Information about the quality of each interaction would help the force to better understand its use of powers. This could help improve officers’ performance and increase public confidence as a result. Sergeants are required to review all of their officers’ stop and search and use of force records. They carry out the reviews by looking at both the written reports and the body-worn video footage. But the records of these reviews contain very limited information about what the reviewer found and the quality of the interaction. The force should make sure that supervisor reviews record enough information to allow the force to identify trends or patterns of behaviour across the workforce. The force holds internal scrutiny panels for both stop and search and use of force every four to six weeks. These panels of officers from across the force review both the written records and the body-worn video for randomly selected cases. As a group they note their review of how the officers performed and any good or poor behaviours. These notes are given to the officers involved and used to identify training needs for the whole force. The force told us that during 2024 it reviewed 32 stop and search and 48 use of force incidents in this way. South Yorkshire Police

AFI The force needs to understand its workforce’s well-being challenges and improve governance to provide consistent well-being support The force needs to do more to understand the factors that have positive and negative effects on its workforce’s well-being. This includes areas of high demand and those areas that present high risk to workforce well-being. The officers and staff we spoke to felt the force didn’t understand their role and the stresses placed on them. Officers and staff told us that they felt unable to cope with their high workloads and that this had affected the quality of their safeguarding activity and investigations. Officers and staff across the force, in particular sergeants, reported having to take work home as they didn’t have enough time to complete it within their normal hours. From 11 November to 9 December 2024, we sent a workforce survey to the force. Of those who responded, 70.5 percent (1,013 of 1,436 respondents) agreed that they achieve a good balance between their work and private life. But when looking only at police and student officers, this decreases to 54.9 percent (348 of 634 respondents). The force should improve its understanding of demand pressures on officers and staff so that it can provide better support to those in high-demand roles. The force’s well-being structure appeared to be in a state of transition, with several changes proposed but not yet fully put in place. The force’s people board meets quarterly to oversee well-being. We found that the board doesn’t have enough well-being information, so it is often unaware of data or trends. There is also a force-wide well-being board that meets every two months. But it told us that it doesn’t record any formal minutes or actions. Neither meeting considers data or performance information relating to workloads. Specific data and information isn’t provided, analysed or discussed in order to help the force to understand what factors have positive and negative effects on its workforce’s well-being. The force’s occupational health unit (OHU) isn’t represented in either the people board or the well-being board. Instead, OHU data is sent to the (acting) well-being lead who then presents generic information to the people board. The force isn’t using up-to-date information to identify threats and risks to the workforce and to develop approaches to improve well-being. The force told us that it last carried out a well-being survey in 2023. It presented the results in the local people plans but didn’t develop them into a force plan. The force decided not to carry out a survey in 2024. It will carry out the next all-staff survey sometime in 2025. At the time of our inspection there was a vacancy for the role of well-being lead. As a result, other personnel were taking on some of this work, but they lacked the capacity to focus on well-being issues. Officers and staff told us that some well-being challenges weren’t being addressed as a result. Shortly before our inspection, a superintendent strategic lead for well-being was appointed. They will hold that responsibility alongside their operational role. South Yorkshire Police

AFI The force needs to make sure that its occupational health service effectively supports its workforce’s well-being The force’s occupational health service provides a range of support and interventions for officers and staff. In the year ending 31 March 2024, South Yorkshire Police had 1,413 referrals to the occupational health unit (OHU). This equates to 24.1 occupational health referrals per 100 employees. This is within the normal range compared to other forces in England and Wales. The OHU received mixed reviews from the workforce. Those officers who used its services were satisfied with the support they received. But others reported long waits for appointments. In the 12 months before our inspection, the OHU had vacancies and had been relying on agency staff to cover appointments, which has led to delays. The OHU has 30 full-time roles. At the time of our inspection ten of those roles were vacant, including the force medical examiner. The OHU hasn’t fully met the Occupational Health Foundation Standards, which require 40 separate criteria to be achieved. At the time of our inspection, we found that several of these hadn’t yet been met. The Oscar Kilo Foundation Occupational Health Standards for Police Forces is a set of occupational health standards to make sure that the force supports personnel’s health and well-being. The compliance date for meeting these standards was March 2022. Shortly before our inspection, the force had reinstated clinical governance meetings to meet some of the outstanding criteria. The force has introduced a tracker for the foundation and enhanced standards which acts as an improvement plan. The OHU has a target of providing an appointment within 16 days. The force told us that in February 2025 the average wait time was 35 days. But several officers and staff said that they had to wait much longer for appointments, with some saying that it was around ten weeks before they received support. The force would benefit from a self-assessment to better understand where it needs to improve its occupational health provision. This would make sure that the workforce receives timely support. South Yorkshire Police

AFI The force needs to better understand why officers and staff, and in particular new recruits, wish to leave the force During our inspection, we found that the force only had partial processes to interview officers and staff who leave the organisation. When the force is made aware that an officer or member of staff is leaving, it sends a questionnaire to the relevant district or department to carry out an interview. Ideally, the process should be independent from the management chain to allow honest, open feedback. We were told that few people complete exit interviews. As a result, the force doesn’t have comprehensive data to help it understand why people are leaving. In relation to student officers, the force’s central assessment and practice educator inspector speaks to all students who submit a leaver’s form. This provides some information regarding why they had decided to leave. The force told us that in the 12 months ending 10 February 2025, 45 student officers left South Yorkshire Police. We found evidence that the force had consulted officers and responded with change to the student officer journey. The force used information from exit interviews, end of course reviews and district command teams to inform a review of the student programme. This resulted in a new timetable, consolidated academic phases and reduced movement between teams. Several officers we spoke to told us they planned to leave the force because of difficulty achieving a healthy work-life balance. In our workforce survey, we found that 8.4 percent (121 of 1,436 respondents) said they want to leave South Yorkshire Police as soon as possible and 8.2 percent (118 of 1,436 respondents) want to leave within the next 12 months. The force needs to review and improve processes to monitor personnel satisfaction and to understand why people leave. It needs to use this improved data and information to identify patterns and trends. This will allow it to better support the workforce. Which in turn should help to improve satisfaction and retention. South Yorkshire Police

AFI The force needs to do more to support the development and career progression of people from under-represented groups The force has a positive action strategy but it needs to be clearer how it will achieve its objectives. The force’s own police race action plan acknowledges that some of its Black and Black heritage officers and staff feel unsupported, and at times alienated within the organisation. We found that officers and staff from under-represented groups didn’t always feel supported to take up opportunities to develop their careers. Some that we spoke to said that diversity and cultural competence is improving. But there is a perception that some leaders in the workforce don’t fully understand diversity. This meant that officers and staff weren’t confident in approaching some leaders to address issues of inequality caused by diversity. During our inspection, some officers and staff told us that the force didn’t have an inclusive culture. An inclusive culture is one where every member of the workforce feels valued, respected and empowered to contribute regardless of their background. We were told that the force still had some negative behaviours. And we found a disconnect between what force leaders felt prevailing cultures were and what some officers and staff felt them to be. The force needs to reassure personnel that it identifies and challenges those attitudes and behaviours that reduce inclusivity in the workplace. South Yorkshire Police

AFI The force should make sure its governance processes support a consistent approach to providing services and managing performance During our inspection, we found the force was focused on improving performance and that this was producing positive results. But we found inconsistent performance in some of the areas we inspected. Officers and staff reported concerns that local processes were leading performance. These weren’t always clearly aligned with force priorities and created some inconsistencies. The force has four separate districts, and each has different processes for the management and allocation of work. For example, the force has a crime allocation policy, but we found it didn’t give decision makers clear guidance. This has created inconsistencies in the approach taken to investigating crimes. Some districts create different teams to deal with their crime demand. This also creates difficulties in measuring and managing performance effectively. Which could lead to unintended consequences, such as the public receiving varying levels of service in each district. Strategic leaders need to address this. The force needs to make sure that senior leaders have effective oversight of force performance by making sure that its strategic plans and priorities align with all departmental plans and operational models. The force should also review its performance management framework to make sure it clearly aligns with its strategic plans so they are informed by accurate and trustworthy data. Innovative practice South Yorkshire Police

AFI The force needs to make sure that its senior leaders are more visible and connected with the workforce During our inspection, we found chief officers were committed to communicating with the workforce in a variety of ways on a regular basis. But staff and officers in each district and various departments told us that they didn’t see their senior leaders regularly. Some told us that they felt disconnected with senior leaders and they weren’t being listened to when raising issues of concern to them. Effective police leadership is important to make sure the force has a well-led, fully informed and a motivated workforce who perform well. Improving communication with the workforce will make sure they understand the reasons for strategic decisions and what the force’s plans are. The workforce will then be more able to help achieve them. The force should make sure all staff and officers have access to senior leaders who are visible on a regular basis and work with them in a meaningful way. By improving how it listens to its people, the force will get a better understanding about issues that affect performance. This will help it to make improvements in a consistent and sustainable way across all areas of the force. South Yorkshire Police

AFI The force has a sophisticated analytics process which helps it predict future demand and develop its long-term plans and strategies The force has an effective approach to help it understand and predict future demand through its ‘futures thinking’ process. This combines force data with other external information which it uses to inform its long-term planning and strategies. For example, the force uses data on new housing developments to predict the demands created from them, and their effect on future traffic congestion which could affect force performance. The force uses this insight to inform other strategic planning processes, such as the force management statement (FMS). The FMS is a self-assessment that each force prepares and submits to us each year. We found the FMS had a good level of data to support its statements, assumptions and projections about the current and future risks it had identified. This is important data as it helps the force to understand its current position and to make plans for the future. South Yorkshire Police

AFI The force needs to make sure that call takers give appropriate advice on preserving evidence and preventing crime Not all victims are given advice on preventing crime or preserving evidence when they contact the force. This may lead to the loss of evidence that could support an investigation, and the force missing opportunities to prevent further crimes against the victim. We identified this as an area for improvement in our last PEEL inspection of the force. The force has worked to address this, introducing an improved quality assessment process with quicker, focused feedback to officers and staff, training and visual reminders within the control room. But in our victim service assessment, we found that call handlers gave appropriate advice about preserving evidence in only 26 of the 35 relevant cases we reviewed. And that call handlers gave appropriate advice about crime prevention in only 32 of 38 relevant cases. Force trainers and crime scene investigators gives call takers training and guidance about evidence preservation. Call handlers also receive training on how to provide appropriate crime prevention advice. And to reinforce this information, call handlers also send a link to a video that gives more detailed prevention and preservation guidance. But the force needs to do more to make sure that all callers receive helpful and appropriate advice when contacting the police. South Yorkshire Police

AFI The force doesn’t consistently achieve appropriate outcomes for victims The force doesn’t consistently achieve acceptable outcomes for victims of crime. The number of crimes it solves following investigations is low. It needs to understand why this is the case and to work to achieve better outcomes for victims. In the year ending 30 September 2024, South Yorkshire Police recorded 125,472 victim-based crimes. Only 10.9 percent of these recorded offences were assigned an ‘offences brought to justice’ outcome. This was within the normal range compared to other forces in England and Wales. Table 1: Percentage of victim-based crime recorded by South Yorkshire Police and all forces in England and Wales by selected outcome types in the year ending 30 September 2024 Outcome types Force outcome rate England and Wales outcome rate 1 – Charged/summonsed 7.8% 6.4% 2 & 3 – Caution – youths and adults 0.6% 0.7% 8 – Community resolutions 2.1% 1.8% 9 – Prosecution not in the public interest (Crown Prosecution Service decision) 0.0% 0.0% 10 & 21 – Prosecution not in the public interest (police decision) 0.3% 0.8% 14 – Evidential difficulties (suspect not identified but the victim declines or is unable to support) 3.0% 5.9% 15 – Evidential difficulties (suspect identified; victim supports police action) 10.5% 12.7% 16 – Evidential difficulties (suspect identified; victim doesn’t support or withdraws support) 26.5% 21.1% 17 – Prosecution time limit expired 0.1% 0.3% 18 – Investigation complete – no suspect identified 46.1% 42.6% 20 – Action undertaken by another body/ agency 0.6% 1.5% 22 – Diversionary, educational or intervention activity 0.2% 0.4% Source: Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables from the Home Office South Yorkshire Police

AFI The force should make sure investigation plans are followed, and are properly supervised The force doesn’t always make sure that there is effective supervision of crime investigations. Which may mean that some evidential opportunities are lost at the start of investigations. As part of our victim service assessment we found that some supervisor reviews could have contained more information and clearer rationale for decisions. If this had happened, investigations may have progressed quicker and been more effective. In our victim service assessment, we found that 51 out of 82 investigations had effective supervision. Evidence of investigation plans was found in 69 out of 80 relevant cases and investigation plans were followed and updated in 56 of 70 relevant cases. Only 63 out of 86 relevant finalised crimes had effective supervision. We also found that there were unjustified delays in investigations in 16 out of 100 cases. During our inspection, we found the supervisory oversight, quality and timeliness of investigations to be inconsistent. Many supervisors told us that they were unable to complete investigation plans and to carry out monthly reviews of their officers’ crime investigations due to a lack of time and capacity. They said that they were affected by high workloads and dealing with daily demand. Lack of oversight can result in investigations being less effective. In our audit we found that the force’s investigations weren’t always effective. Only out of the 100 cases reviewed as part of our victim service assessment had an effective investigation. We also found that investigative opportunities weren’t always taken. Of the cases we audited, we found evidence that officers had taken all appropriate investigative opportunities in 56 out of 85 cases. The force only requires supervisors to review the investigations that their officers are carrying out after 28 days. During our inspection we found that some carried out earlier reviews, but this was inconsistent across the force. The force has also removed the requirement for inspectors to review investigations and their supervisors’ actions. Instead, inspectors carry out monthly dip samples of crimes under the investigation quality review system. But these are often reviews of investigations from across the force and not those of their own teams. Inspectors’ reviews of their officers’ crimes improve the quality and supervision of investigations and give supervisors greater support. South Yorkshire Police

AFI The force needs to make sure that the requirements of the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime are complied with Under the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime (‘the Victims’ Code’) all victims of a criminal offence are entitled to a needs assessment. This assessment identifies at an early stage what measures can support them throughout the investigation and whether a victim is entitled to an enhanced level of service. In our victim service assessment audit we found that victim needs assessments were recorded in 54 of 73 relevant cases and that an entitlement to an enhanced service was recorded in only 20 of 46 relevant cases. This means that some victims may not have received the support they needed. South Yorkshire Police

AFI The force should have reliable processes to monitor protective orders and make sure it prioritises the safeguarding of victims The force uses preventative orders (also known as ancillary orders) to reduce the risk of re-offending and increase safeguarding for victims. These include Domestic Violence Protection Notices (DVPNs), Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs) and Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs). Officers dealing with incidents involving these types of abuse should consider applying for such orders as part of their support for victims. But in our victim service assessment we found that this happened in only 8 of 13 cases where it would have been appropriate. In the year ending 30 September 2024, the force recorded 38,395 domestic abuse-related incidents, which equated to 27.3 such incidents per 1,000 population. This was higher than the average rate across all forces in England and Wales of 20 domestic abuse-related incidents per 1,000 population. During the same period, the force made 558 DVPO applications at court. This equated to DVPO applications being made in 2.37 percent of the recorded domestic abuse-related crimes. The force has increased its use of Stalking Prevention Orders and requires offenders to complete a Compulsive and Obsessive Behaviour Intervention programme. It makes good use of a Power BI dashboard to monitor performance in relation to most ancillary orders. The force’s protecting vulnerable people (PVP) performance and governance team monitors domestic abuse cases where there is no recorded consideration for a DVPN. But the force doesn’t have effective processes in place to check that protective orders are being complied with by the perpetrators. Proactive compliance checks on people subject to these orders, and welfare checks on those they live with, aren’t carried out consistently. During our inspection, we spoke to officers and staff from different teams and districts across the force and found that there was confusion around compliance checks. Officers in one area told us that domestic abuse teams oversaw DVPOs within their area. And they allocated regular checks to neighbourhood teams. But the neighbourhood teams told us they were rarely able to carry out the checks due to other demands. And that these checks weren’t seen as a priority. Other areas of the force told us directly that compliance checks on ancillary orders weren’t being carried out. We found that some officers who deal with victims and perpetrators weren’t aware of the force’s expectations in relation to the monitoring of orders. Response supervisors told us that they have had little training in either the use of or monitoring of DVPOs. We found that officers responsible for VPNs and VPOs aren’t proactively monitoring compliance. This means vulnerable victims have to report breaches themselves. The force should make sure that all officers and staff are aware of what it expects of them in relation to compliance checks. It should also and monitor their completion. South Yorkshire Police

AFI The force should align its central and local governance arrangements to improve the service vulnerable people receive While protecting vulnerable people (PVP) performance is centrally governed, the force has locally based vulnerability teams within districts, with only limited centrally controlled vulnerability functions. During our inspection we found that this sometimes led to different approaches to vulnerability across different parts of the force. There are monthly force-level PVP performance and governance (PVP PAG) meetings that oversee performance across the force’s vulnerability teams. These meetings discuss reports on how the force is performing and analysis of emerging issues. The PVP PAG unit examines national best practice, carries out regular audits of PVP working practices and manages the force’s Domestic Abuse Risk Assessment process. While the PVP PAG unit oversees performance and encourages best practice, it is the geographical districts of the force that control the resourcing of local domestic abuse teams and direct what investigations they take on. During our inspection we found that there were differences in how PVP teams, child exploitation teams and domestic abuse teams operated across the four districts. In some areas of the force PVP teams focused on rape and serious sexual offences, while in others they were also required to routinely investigate domestic abuse cases and other crimes. We found that in three of the four districts, standard and medium-risk domestic abuse investigations were retained by response teams. While in the other district they only retained standard domestic abuse investigations. The rest were investigated by the local PVP team. The officers that we spoke to told us that this had resulted in response officers becoming de-skilled in investigating domestic abuse. And that as a result response officers within that area submitted fewer Domestic Violence Protection Notice applications than their colleagues elsewhere in the force. The force told us that it supported these different, locally based models and that they reflected the different local authority structures and crime profiles. But PVP officers and staff told us that they were often frustrated in their efforts to support vulnerable victims and deal with serious offenders by competing demand and inconsistencies in approach across districts. Multi-agency risk assessment conference (MARAC) meetings are well established, and risk is managed through partnership working. In the year ending 30 September 2024, South Yorkshire Police discussed 3,668 cases at MARAC meetings, which was above the number (2,280) recommended by SafeLives based on the size of the population. MARAC cases should be heard within four weeks. But in one district we found long delays of up to 11 weeks. In October 2023, SafeLives published a report on the Sheffield MARAC, within which it identified a backlog of cases awaiting MARAC. The force discussed this backlog of around 200 cases with the local authority. But despite increasing staffing of the MARACs to allow more meetings to take place, the backlog remained in October 2024 when the assistant chief constable executive lead for vulnerability became involved. During our inspection, we found that the backlog had risen to 318 victims whose cases were awaiting review at MARAC. The force was trying to mitigate the risk by reviewing the risk each case presented. But it is concerning that this matter wasn’t brought to the attention of the executive lead earlier. Once they knew about the issue, they put improvement plans in place and added more MARAC meetings. But the force should make sure that its governance arrangements are aligned to identify and address long-term or major localised issues that affect the service to vulnerable victims. Innovative practice At the time of our inspection, the force didn’t have a central MARAC steering group. Such a group could discuss emerging issues across districts of the force and may have helped to identify this backlog to senior leaders at an earlier stage. South Yorkshire Police

AFI The force makes good use of a violence against women and girls independent advisory group to help it develop training for officers and staff and support for victims South Yorkshire Police has established a violence against women and girls independent advisory group (IAG) which meets quarterly. Panel members are victims and survivors, academics, partner organisations and police. The force uses the lived experiences and knowledge of the group to help it shape new initiatives to make sure that it supports victims of sexual or domestic abuse throughout investigations. During our inspection, we attended one of the meetings. The group discussed force functions and ways of working and gave challenging opinions on them that made sure that the victims were considered at every stage. The attendees were a mix of people who identified as survivors of violence against women and girls and representatives of support groups and services. They have a diverse range of experiences and expertise within the subject area. The force told us that there are over 50 members of the IAG, with around half attending each meeting. As well as the quarterly meetings, the group often meets to address a particular issue or to help the force understand the victim’s perspective of a new initiative or challenge. When necessary, the IAG forms sub-groups to examine specific issues. For instance, to address a specific issue, an honour-based abuse group met to provide the force with insight and understanding that it couldn’t get elsewhere. South Yorkshire Police

AFI The force should make sure that its internet child abuse investigation teams have enough capacity and can manage images of online child abuse within nationally recognised risk assessment timescales The force has a team dedicated to dealing with high and very high-risk investigations into images of online child abuse. Medium and low-risk cases are dealt with by protecting vulnerable people teams and in one district by the criminal investigation department. During our inspection we found that the dedicated team was understaffed, and that officers felt overworked. The Kent internet risk assessment tool (KIRAT) is used to identify the level of risk posed by people suspected of accessing indecent images of children. This assessment determines the timescale in which the force should take action against a suspect, such as making an arrest or executing a search warrant. South Yorkshire Police