The Chair of Cleveland Policing Authority has welcomed the findings of a major inspection report, but stressed today that ‘the real test of how well we are performing is our continuing success in bringing down crime and improving the quality of life for the communities we serve.’
Councillor Dave McLuckie was commenting after the publication of the independent inspection report carried out by the Audit Commission and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary which found that overall the Authority was ‘performing well’ in ensuring that local people have an efficient and effective police service.
The inspection team concluded that the Authority provides strong and visible leadership and works well with the Force, listens to local communities and ensures their concerns are given equal weight with regional and national objectives.
The report says the Authority has helped Cleveland Police to become one of the top performing forces in the country over recent years, with crime in 2009 at the lowest level for 19 years.
Said Councillor McLuckie “Obviously it is pleasing to have a clear vote of confidence from the inspection team. My only quibble would be that, when by their own recognition we have become one of the best performing forces in the country, when crime is at a record low and when we consistently achieve a high level of public confidence, we should have been awarded the top ‘excellent’ rating.
“Of course, one of the problems with a report of this kind is that it is inevitably somewhat behind the times which means, for example, that it has not been able to fully reflect the measures we are taking to meet the financial challenges ahead—for instance our ground-breaking agreement with our private sector partner Steria for the delivery of support services, which will provide improved services for the public, protect jobs and achieve millions of pounds of savings over the period of the contract.
“This report may well be one of the last of its kind given that the Government has announced that the Audit Commission is to be abolished. How future inspection regimes will operate remains to be seen, but it has to be recognised that the process involved in preparing this report has involved a huge amount of time and effort on the part of both the inspection bodies and the authority.
“Certainly our costs will have run into tens of thousands of pounds and we had no choice but to comply with the process—whether that represents good value for money is open to question.”