Gloucestershire Police chiefs surprised at inadequate ratings, panel told

Gloucestershire Constabulary chiefs have said a report last year rating the force as inadequate in five out of 10 areas came as a “surprise” and “shock”.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) raised concerns after an inspection last year.

Police and crime commissioner (PCC) for the area, Chris Nelson, elected in May, said it was a “surprise to me”.

He changed his budget to recruit more staff to deal with the issues, he said.

Conservative Mr Nelson told the police and crime panel on 4 February the report findings came as a shock to himself and Chief Constable Rod Hansen.

The report also rated the force as inadequate in how it protected vulnerable people and said the force was not able to respond effectively to calls to the control room or when it deployed officers to incidents.

Domestic abuse crimes were also “of particular concern” with 77% of a sample of 30 cases closed due to lack of evidence or victims withdrawing.

“When I took over the appointment I had a very critical report from Her Majesty’s inspectorate which concerned my predecessor’s time in office,” Mr Nelson said.

“And that was really very critical. Five areas inadequate, the lowest level of performance. It led to the chief declaring a critical incident within the force.

“That was a complete surprise to me. The extent of how bad the HMICFRS report was going to be.”

Mr Nelson told the panel it was a “shock” to the chief constable as well, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), before he added: “It’s as a consequence of a lack of investment over the last few years.”

Independent councillor Philip Burford suggested a better approach would be to “concentrate on the day job better” rather than to “expect more money to be thrown into the pot”.

“Twice the commissioner has said the HMICFRS report was a shock to the chief,” he said.

“That’s probably the most worrying phrase I’ve heard in this meeting since I’ve been a member of it. Because, frankly, if the chief doesn’t know that he’s got a problem, we’ve all got a massive problem.”

Mr Nelson agreed it was not all about “throwing money at the problem”.

According to Mr Nelson: “One of the reasons why it was a shock to the chief was that it was a brand new method of assessment.

“The force, due to a lack of investment, did not have sufficient auditing capability. We are increasing the amount of audit staff going forward.”

The PCC is increasing tax by 3.7% for 2022/23. This rise will add £10 to a band D householder’s annual bill and raise an extra £3.1m.

Mr Nelson said the constabulary would increase in size over the next two financial years by about 400 personnel, split roughly 50:50 between full-time and volunteer officers and staff.

Last week, he said he could not deliver on his manifesto promise of recruiting 300 extra full-time police officers and 150 volunteer special constables in the next three years, due to financial pressures.