The IPCC is responsible for producing annual reports on police complaints statistics for each financial year. However, a need was identified for more frequent information on police complaints at a local level and in March 2008, the performance framework project was set up with the aim of providing consistent and meaningful data at a force level.
Since then, a joint project board of key stakeholders (for example, representatives from the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Home Office) was established to oversee the project. The IPCC has worked with the project board and police forces to design and implement a performance framework for the police complaints system to enable assessment and comparison of performance at system, force and IPCC levels. The framework covers all 43 police forces, the British Transport Police and the IPCC.
The project is made up of two parts:
The police complaints system
Since April 2009, the IPCC has collected data from police forces after the end of every quarter*, and used it to produce a report, called a ‘Police Complaints Information Bulletin’. These Bulletins show the force data against a number of indicators that have previously been agreed and tested with forces and policing organisations. Following a trial period, these Bulletins are now being made publicly available - to view the latest force Bulletins, please scroll down to ‘Police Complaints Information Bulletins’.
At the end of each year, the IPCC also uses the data collected to produce an annual Police Complaints Statistics report for England and Wales. This report assesses how well the police complaints system is working overall.
The IPCC
Information about how well the IPCC is performing is reported at IPCC Commission meetings. The reports can be found in the Commission meeting papers as part of the Chief Executive’s Report. These reports show IPCC performance against a number of indicators and compares the data against key targets and performance in the same month(s) of the previous year.
Please select a region to view the Bulletins for the forces listed in that region. Please note: British Transport Police can be found under ‘Bulletins for Wales and South West region forces’.
Cheshire ConstabularyCleveland PoliceCumbria ConstabularyDurham ConstabularyGreater Manchester PoliceHumberside PoliceLancashire ConstabularyMerseyside PoliceNorth Yorkshire PoliceNorthumbria PoliceSouth Yorkshire PoliceWest Yorkshire Police
Bedfordshire PoliceCambridgeshire ConstabularyDerbyshire ConstabularyEssex PoliceHertfordshire ConstabularyLeicestershire ConstabularyLincolnshire PoliceNorfolk ConstabularyNorthamptonshire PoliceNottinghamshire PoliceStaffordshire PoliceSuffolk ConstabularyWarwickshire PoliceWest Mercia PoliceWest Midlands Police
Avon and Somerset ConstabularyDevon and Cornwall PoliceDorset PoliceDyfed-Powys PoliceGloucestershire ConstabularyGwent PoliceNorth Wales PoliceSouth Wales PoliceWiltshire PoliceBritish Transport Police(this force covers the whole of England and Wales but their lead IPCC office is Wales and South West)
City of London PoliceHampshire ConstabularyKent PoliceMetropolitan Police ServiceSurrey PoliceSussex PoliceThames Valley Police
Counting rules and calculations – sets out how the data reported against each indicator used in the force Bulletins and annual report is calculated. The counting rules and calculations in this document are consistent with the Guidance on the Recording of Complaints Under the Police Reform Act 2002 outlined below.
Guidance on the Recording of Complaints Under the Police Reform Act 2002 – this guidance forms part of the revised IPCC Statutory Guidance, which was implemented on 1 April 2010 (annex A). It provides definitions for terms used in relation to police complaints and outlines measures of timeliness for complaint activity.
Glossary – provides a full list of definitions used in the force Bulletins and the annual reports, including those listed elsewhere (for example, in the Guidance on the Recording of Complaints Under the Police Reform Act 2020, outlined above).
Stakeholder implementation briefing note – provides further information on the performance framework project and its implementation, and answers key questions expected or asked by forces and other stakeholders.
List of Most Similar Force groups - provides a list of the most similar force groups for each police force that reports in the performance framework. The average results for these groups are used in the Police Complaints Information Bulletins - please refer to the glossary for more information about most similar force averages.
If you have any further queries about the Performance Framework, you can contact the team at performance.framework@ipcc.gsi.gov.uk.
Footnotes: *quarters run as follows: 1 April - 30 June, 1 July - 30 September, 1 October - 31 December, 1 January - 31 March
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