My Commitments as PCC

Hold all agencies to account for delivery of an effective and efficient criminal justice system

Kent Police: One of my key duties is to secure an efficient and effective police force by holding the Chief Constable to account.

This accountability is underpinned by a range of effective governance arrangements. However to build and maintain public trust and confidence, these arrangements must be visible and accessible. Therefore, they are outlined below:

As my principle means of holding the Chief Constable to account, Performance and Delivery Board meetings were held on 7 June, 13 September, 29 November and 28 February 2024. Examples of topics discussed include:

Neighbourhood Policing Review: In light of the financial challenges and changes to the policing landscape and core neighbourhood policing (NHP) guidelines, the Chief Constable determined it was the right time to remodel NHP in Kent.

The force conducted extensive consultation and engagement with officers and staff, and the Business Case was one of the largest and most impactive on the workforce for many years. The new model saw an uplift in police officer numbers and a reduction in police staff posts.

The new model consists of the following: Beat Officers, Neighbourhood Taskforces, Child Centred Policing Teams, the Rural Taskforce, and a Prevention Hub. At its heart is early intervention and effective engagement with every Ward having a named police officer.

The force formally moved to the new model on 7 June 2023, and to avoid impacting on other functions aims to be up to establishment by September 2024.

Throughout the review I took a particular interest in the welfare of those officers and staff affected, and since implementation have received regular updates on progress. This will continue in 2024/25 as the force moves to a fully resourced model.

Call handling: In 2022/23, Kent Police’s 101 non-emergency call handling performance deteriorated, with an increase in unanswered calls and the time callers were waiting. The force took immediate action to address this, and also developed a longer term programme of strategic transformation. Whilst by March 2023 performance had improved, I made it clear to the Chief Constable that I expected 999 and 101 call handling performance to be maintained and would continue to receive updates at my Performance and Delivery Board.

In 2023/24, the average abandonment rate for 999 calls was 0.35%, a marked improvement compared to the previous year’s 1.29%. The average time taken to answer also steadily improved over the course of the year and for the month of March 2024 was 2 seconds. As a result, Kent Police’s ranking nationally also improved: in April 2023, it was 28^th for average answer time and calls answered and in March 2024 it was 1^st and 2^nd respectively.

Similarly, 101 performance improved significantly with 91.25% of calls answered compared to 66.61% in 2022/23. The average time to answer also improved, reducing to 1 minute 6 seconds from 7 minutes 19 seconds the previous financial year.

I would like to congratulate Kent Police for making a real step change in performance and thank all the officers and staff involved for their hard work .

PEEL 2023-25: In holding the Chief Constable to account I am not solely reliant on data, but also consider other feedback, including independent assessments of performance.

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) independently assesses and reports on the efficiency and effectiveness of police forces and fire & rescue services in the public interest. In November 2023, HMICFRS published the Kent PEEL 2023-25 inspection report – this is an overview of the graded judgements:

I was pleased HMICFRS found that solved rates were increasing, and whilst Responding to the public was graded ‘Requires improvement’, it was evident at the time of the inspection that 999 and 101 call handling performance was already improving.

HMICFRS also agreed that 14 of the 19 Areas for Improvement (AFIs) issued in the previous PEEL inspection could be closed, with the remainder being superseded.

Overall it showed a more positive outlook for Kent Police, but two areas being graded ‘Requires improvement’ was disappointing and the force clearly needed to do more to improve outcomes for victims.

In response to the 14 AFIs issued by HMICFRS, the force developed an Improvement Plan and I received regular updates on progress at each Performance and Delivery Board.

Over the course of the year the Force made good progress in addressing the AFIs, self-assessing a number as discharged. Moving into 2024/25, this work continues.

Further information about my Performance and Delivery Board can be found on the OPCC website.