GMP makes good progress but more work is needed

INSPECTORS SAY FORCE HAS MADE 'SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS' THOUGH IT 'NEEDS TO DO BETTER'

- PAUL BRITTON

GREATER Manchester Police has made 'significant improvements' with no areas of policing now deemed to be 'inadequate' - but there are still a number of key priorities where the force 'needs to do better, inspectors have said.

A 'backlog' in visits to registered sex offenders and assessments of the potential risks they pose, running to 1,490 individuals, was flagged by the force during an initial inspection in April, but GMP was said to have 'responded very quickly' to put a new plan in place.

His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) which today published its report arising from its latest force-wide inspection - said by the end of its inspection period, there were 163 'overdue registered sex offender visits! Examples, however, were found where managers 'missed' visiting 'high-risk' offenders within the appropriate time, the report reveals.

Home visits and risk assessments, said HMICFRS, are carried out to accurately assess risks posed by registered sex offenders. As a result, inspectors said GMP 'needs to review how it monitors its requirement to visit registered sex offenders to make sure it quickly manages risk?

That area of policing was graded as 'requires improvement' - as it was two years ago. Overall inspectors said GMP has 'achieved improved judgment grades' since its last inspection in 2021, but noted a number of concerns.

GMP was placed in special measures in December 2020 after a report revealed an estimated 80,000 crimes had not been properly recorded, a scandal which led to a new chief constable, Stephen Watson replacing Ian Hopkins in May 2021.

But inspectors have found gradual improvement ever since, with the force being removed from the status last year.