Police face league tables to rate performance in tackling crime

Police face league tables that will rate their performance in bringing criminals to justice under plans to be signalled this week.

Boris Johnson will set out a Beating Crime plan that is expected to propose "score cards" that could rate how quickly criminals are brought to justice, the proportion of people charged and how victims are treated.

The plan for "score cards" has already been laid out for rape and sexual offences, where ministers aim to increase charging rates from the current record low of three per cent to 13 per cent.

It is understood a series of high-level criminal justice working groups have been set up by the Government to develop the plans that are designed to build on the Prime Minister’s 2019 manifesto pledge to reduce crime.

The moves were signalled yesterday by Kit Malthouse, the policing minister, who has previously suggested forces could be judged on their ability to reduce homicide, serious violence, drug supply, neighbourhood violence and cybercrime.

“One of the things that will be in this plan that we are launching later this week will be this idea of scorecards in the criminal justice system so that people can see how for timeliness and outcomes different parts of the criminal justice system are performing,” he said.

“It is quite a big machine to get a handle on and unless you can see how the constituent parts are slotted together, it can be difficult to get an overall assessment of how it is working.”

A new set of league tables will also be published on police forces’ response times to 999 and 101 calls. “At the moment, it is a bit unclear how different forces are performing in responding to the initial call,” Mr Malthouse told Times Radio.

Previous analysis has shown that the proportion of 999 calls being answered within target waiting times can vary between 75 per cent and more than 95 per cent depending on the police force.

Every victim of crime will be given a named police officer they can call or email about their case under the Beating Crime plan which will be set out by Mr Johnson on his first day out of self isolation tomorrow, and Priti Patel, the Home Secretary.

He will also pledge to intensify the Government’s war on county lines drugs gangs by “putting a ring of steel around the affected towns until we throttle the life out of the gangs.”

Right to be kept informed

Victims’ rights will be enshrined in a victims’ law later this year, including a right to have a police officer record a crime “as soon as possible” after the offence and to be informed of the progress of the investigation and prosecution throughout the process.

“Really great policing is based on a solid relationship with the British public. Those people who are served by the police have some basic expectations about what they want to see from the police,” Mr Malthouse said.

“If they are burgled, they want an investigation. They would like to be visited. If they ring up and give evidence, they would like to know what is done with it and that it is followed up. They would like a call back.”

The plan comes just days after the Police Federation, representing rank and file officers, declared they had no confidence in Ms Patel over their pay freeze.

Its chair, John Apter, said: “This is the first I’ve heard about the Beating Crime plan. We don’t need gimmicks, we need genuine investment for the whole of the Criminal Justice System. Without that, this is setting us up to fail.”

Meanwhile, Michael Gove, the Cabinet office minister, has held talks about using existing powers to set minimum standards for police handling allegations of domestic abuse and sexual violence against women.