The newly-published Police and Justice Bill is set to have a considerable impact on police performance. In a new monthly column, Dave Meaden, managing director of public services for Northgate Information Solutions. assesses the challenges facing the services.

How will the recent Police and Justice Bill affect police performance?

The Police and Justice Bill introduces a range of measures designed by the government to meet its objective of 'sustaining further improvements in performance, at neighbourhood, BCU, force, national and international levels.'

Within the Bill are some major changes to the powers of the Home Secretary to take action against underperforming police forces. At the moment the Home Secretary can only take measures against a force once the Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of the Constabulary (HMIC) has conducted an inspection. The Bill would allow the Home Secretary to take information from public inquiries or national performance assessments in making his decision as to whether to take action against an underperforming force.

The other major change which will directly affect how police perform will be the formation of a single Inspectorate for Justice, Community Safety and Custody. This new single inspectorate will bring together the work of the five bodies which currently inspect the police. In its proposals for the new inspectorate the government has said that it will have a role to play in ensuring community safety. In addition other bodies, notably local authorities, will play a wider part in the inspectorate’s work.

This leads directly into the most important proposal facing police on the ground – the government’s proposal which will enable communities to ‘trigger’ action through a new ‘Community Call for Action’. This will ensure that the police and Crime and Disorder Partnerships respond to a request by the local community for action on community safety issues.

Whilst community involvement is something to be welcomed, in it unclear at present the extent to which these proposals will actually affect police forces on the ground. All police forces will need to take appropriate measures to ensure they are able to adequately measure their own performance. Effective performance management involves understanding what has happened and managing what will happen. By taking action through analysis and feedback to proactively manage events rather than be led by them, real operational improvements can be made.

Dave Meaden, Northgate Information Solutions.

Northgate Information Solutions plc (www.northgate-is.com) is a leading UK supplier of specialist software and IT services for the Human Resource and Public Service markets.

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