MPS must work harder to comply with National Crime Recording Standard says MPA

96/04
21 December 2004

The Audit Commission’s inspection of the MPS crime reporting systems has identified that further work is needed to comply with the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS). Whilst acknowledging that the MPA was fulfilling its remit to scrutinise and challenge the MPS, the Audit Commission commented the MPS should be challenged more robustly about its approach and performance in dealing with incident and crime reporting.

Richard Sumray, Chair of the MPA Planning Performance and Review Committee, said:

“The MPS still has a long way to go to fully implement the National Crime Reporting Standards. The Audit Commission has emphasised the importance of training and good management in implementing the new system. The MPA remit to ensure an effective and efficient police service means that we must scrutinise ever more stringently NCRS training, processes and reporting. There are a number of anomalies in the system which we are concerned about but it is essential that the MPS is compliant.

“Key policy changes such as NCRS take time to filter through to day-to-day policing because of the sheer size and complexity of the MPS. However, major resources have been invested in the MPS new central communications command unit, C3i. This will significantly change incident and crime recording and we are ensuring that NCRS is fully integrated into this.

“At the time of the Audit Commission inspection, we had already recognised that the training that had been put in place had not been given the priority it needed. Moreover the necessity to train around 20,000 people was not going to work effectively. We therefore asked the MPS to look at the implementation of a centralised inputting unit which, in our view, would be more likely to be effective. We are currently awaiting an evaluation of this proposal from the MPS. This has not been reflected in the Audit Commission report.”

The MPS gained an ’amber’ assessment for the priority crimes burglary and motor vehicle crime and improved its service to Londoners in specific areas, illustrating our commitment to increase community confidence and trust in the MPS. Good practice highlighted included language translation facilities, third party reporting systems and the use of volunteers

Notes to editors

1. The Audit Commission’s national inspection of all constabularies’ crime reporting systems forms part of the Home Office strategy to put in place National Crime Recording Standards (NCRS). The aim of NCRS is to focus more closely on the victim’s needs and expectations when reporting a crime, and promote a consistent approach to recording crime across the country.

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