Sir Tom Winsor: ‘Policing must rebuild public trust’

15 March 2022

Sir Tom Winsor has signalled that forces must work together and standardise best practice in his final State of Policing report for England and Wales.

With his appointment as Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary due to conclude on 31 March, his annual report covering 2021 also adopts a 10-year perspective covering his time in the role.

Sir Tom takes aim at the 43-force model in his report, pointing out that it was “devised in 1962, implemented in 1974” and is “very far from fit for purpose in the 2020s”. His comments stop short of suggesting that forces should be merged, for example combining the four forces in Wales along the Police Scotland model but he suggests that the College of Policing should set the standard that all 43 English and Welsh police forces adhere to.

“By pooling their respective sovereignties in this way, policing and law enforcement will create not only the conditions for consistent, stable, efficient and effective policing decisions, but also their reality,” he says.

“As I explained in State of Policing 2020, the removal of complexity and the establishment of reliability and certainty of decision-making in the things which need to be harmonised or standardised is overdue.

“There are two alternatives. The first is to carry on with the present fragile structure which is prone to partial and unpredictable collapse; that is not sustainable. The second is the Home Secretary’s use of reserve powers under section 53A of the Police Act 1996. I believe policing and law enforcement should prefer their own mechanism with appropriate checks and balances, to political and external administrative impositions.”

Nicky Ryan, the Police Federation’s Welsh lead, has welcomed the report, and says Sir Tom’s views should also be considered in conjunction with the publication of the Strategic Review of Policing by the Police Foundation and the debate on the devolution of policing in the Senedd last week.

“I think it is a very challenging period for the police service,” says Nicky, “Everyone in policing should take an interest in what Sir Tom has to say but what I would really like to see is the views of police officers being taken into account.

“Only those who work in the police service can truly convey the realities of policing right now. Officers – and staff – will have a good take on what is working and what isn’t. If we are to have police reform then I hope the Government is prepared to properly engage with police officers, police staff, the Police Federation, the Superintendents’ Associations and the unions representing police staff.”

Sir Tom highlights the increased demand on policing created by the shortage of good quality mental health service provision, alongside unacceptable delays in accessing it. This had only got worse during the pandemic, he said.

Currently, a third of people in police custody have mental ill-health, as do 48 per cent of men and 70 per cent of women in prison.

“These statistics speak for themselves,” said Sir Tom. He added that it is: “unrealistic to expect the police to make significant progress as long as the public provision of treatment for mental ill-health continues to be chronically insufficient.”

So, the report also calls for closer cooperation between police and the wider protective services particularly, noting that: “Each service must fully and properly discharge its responsibilities, rather than abdicate them at the expense of the one public service which will never say no.”

Highlights of the report include:

• Online crime is now by far the most prevalent type of crime; fraud has exploded, eclipsing all other crimes in volume;
• Total demand and public expectations cannot be met without sufficient funding and the public must decide how much threat, harm and risk they are prepared to tolerate; and
• The rapid advancement of technology has provided opportunities for both criminals and the police, but policing has struggled to keep pace;
• The load placed on the police by the chronically insufficient public provision of treatment of mental ill health is unjustified;
• The need for improved vetting of officers and staff;
• The 43-force model, born in 1962, is no longer fit for purpose.

Sir Tom praised the strong, pragmatic, can-do attitude of rank-and-file officers during his 10 years and said the public should be reassured by this commendable aspect of police culture. And that this extends to the families of police officers and the major sacrifices they make to support their partners, sons and daughters who serve.

Read the full report.