Policing reforms aimed at restoring public confidence

The home secretary is set to unveil a string of major reforms and half a billion pounds in extra funding in a bid to reverse the collapse in public confidence in police forces.

- AMY-CLARE MARTIN

Yvette Cooper will lay out details of a new Police Performance Unit that allows her to closely monitor standards and performance at forces, in a speech at a major policing conference today.

Described as a “fundamental reset” of government and police relations, the shake-up will see the Home Office take a more active role in police oversight. This will include a new central database of force-level data tracking local performance in priority areas like knife crime and violence against women and girls, which Labour has promised to halve in a decade.

Ministers will work with police inspectors, the College of Policing and Police and Crime Commissioners to ensure there is effective intervention when forces are failing. A new Police Performance Framework will be drawn up between policing and the Home Office to make sure standards are upheld across the country.

In addition, forces will receive an additional half a billion in funding to support Sir Keir Starmer’s Safer Streets Mission to tackle neighbourhood crime and antisocial behaviour.

Ms Cooper, who insists she has the backing of police leaders for the widespread reform, will share the details in her first major speech at an annual conference hosted by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) this week.