Force and Police Board welcome encouraging Audit Scotland Best Value review report
Issued by Northern Constabulary and the Northern Joint Police Board
Northern Constabulary and its governing authority, Northern Joint Police Board, have been praised in Audit Scotland’s Best Value Review for displaying elements of best value and sound partnership working practices.
The Best Value Audit and Inspection of Northern Constabulary and the Northern Joint Police Board is the second national report on a Scottish police force and joint police board.
It provides an overview of how both these bodies are meeting their best value duties and is a joint report from the Accounts Commission and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland (HMICS).
HMICS’s performance assessment of Northern Constabulary shows that it has low crime rates and high detection rates in comparison to the Scottish average.
Audit Scotland has suggested some areas for future improvement, including performance monitoring and information sharing. The Force and the Board are already considering the improvements and will produce an action plan to ensure the issues are addressed effectively and efficiently.
The Accounts Commission also highlighted that the Board has a strong awareness of its role and effectively scrutinises the force and holds the chief constable to account.
Both the Force and Northern Joint Police Board today welcomed the Best Value Audit Report (published 7 April).
NJPB Convener Norman M MacLeod said: “This is a very positive report which reflects the excellent working relationship between the Board and Northern Constabulary.
There is very active Board member engagement, ensuring accountability even in the remotest parts of the Force. Northern Constabulary is a smaller force, but successfully policing the largest geographical area in the UK, with low levels of crime and amongst the highest detection rates in Scotland. This demonstrates that a small force with a strong focus on improvement and a commitment to community policing can be very effective in responding to current policing challenges.
“There is strong evidence of effective scrutiny and challenge. We are a Board which is actively involved in influencing and setting the strategic priorities for the Force and which constructively challenges the executive team across a range of working areas, linking into the community planning process. Board Members are assured that the Force has strong financial control and has a good record of achieving efficiency targets and these are communicated well with a clear vision both with internal and external audiences demonstrating openness and transparency.”
The Convenor went on to say: “Although this is a very positive report we cannot be complacent and we must continue to strive towards improvements which will ensure best value and best practice. We fully support the Chief Constable and his team and have every confidence in the Force being very well placed to meet all the challenges facing sustainable policing services over the coming years.”
Northern Constabulary welcomed the report by Audit Scotland and her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland. Chief Constable Ian Latimer said: “We are committed to continuous improvement and any external scrutiny which helps us to focus on potential issues to our benefit. We are also committed to continually improving services and reflecting the needs and views of the communities in which we serve.
“This is a very positive report. It shows Northern Constabulary to be very high performing and cost effective when compared to other Forces. Our crime rate is low, our detection rates are high and we cost significantly less per head of population than the national average. In short, it show that we provide Best Value.
“The report highlights the challenges of providing an effective policing service in such a large, predominantly remote and rural area with island communities and reflects our commitment to a visible community policing model. Forward planning and restructuring has resulted in a significant shift in resources into front-line policing, with the capacity to deploy specialist resources across area commands on demand and concentrate police resources at core times. Our ability to move substantial resources to more remote areas was demonstrated in 2009, when we speedily deployed a full murder investigation team to the remote island of Sanday where they successfully detected and reported this serious crime. We also regularly deploy resources throughout the Force and have been very successful in interrupting drug related activity across our Force area.”
He went on to say; “The report makes reference to our Force Review which transferred £.6million from back office to front line policing services and allowed us to go from a strength of 700 officers in 2008 to 800 officers in 2010. Whilst the Force Review was a major piece of work, it was just one element in a long programme of Best Value Reviews looking at all aspects of our policing model. This programme is ongoing and currently we are actively pursuing opportunities for sharing services with other public sector bodies. Everyone talks about reducing bureaucracy and putting more bobbies on the beat and this report shows that Northern Constabulary is doing just that.
"We value the contribution made by all of our staff in achieving the results we do. With the support of the Board, we have also invested in a long-term programme of substantial investment in infrastructure, upgrading police stations to ensure they are modern and fit for purpose. We are also investigating opportunities for shared premises with our partners where this is appropriate.
“The report, whilst extremely positive, does make a number of recommendations for minor improvements and these are already been addressed by the Force, together with the input of the Board and substantial progress has already been made.”
Ends