About the reducing bureaucracy programme
Find answers to questions you may have about the reducing bureaucracy programme and the work of the programme board.
It's all very well that the Home Office is changing central policy, but how will that make a difference if police forces don't make local changes?
The Home Office is keen to challenge the leadership of each police force to take responsibility in reducing bureaucracy, as much has been generated locally, sometimes as a result of the tendency to collect information and monitor it, even when no longer required to do so.
Officers all too often collect information just in case it is needed, rather than being able to apply a 'common sense' approach.
This culture change will need to be supported and embedded by chief officers giving consistent messages to their forces about the information they need to collect and what is not needed.
Without a national target, how will the Home Office measure police performance?
The Home Office will no longer directly measure police performance. We are bringing in police and crime commissioners who will be responsible for challenging performance at local level and ensuring the police are delivering the priorities of the local community. Their role will be to hold the police to account.
Won't forces just set their own targets?
It will be for forces to determine how best to deliver their priorities at a local level. Police and crime commissioners and local communities will be able to hold local forces to account to ensure they are delivering the priorities of local communities. We are clear we do not want to tie forces up in centrally driven targets, which is why we have scrapped the policing pledge and the confidence target.
What will the professional body's role be in reducing bureaucracy?
It will develop the skills and expertise that are needed to enable officers and staff to use their discretion and remove bureaucracy that prevents them from doing so. It will support the education and development of police officers and staff, and will equip them with the skills needed to confidently fight crime and protect the public.
Won't the introduction of police and crime commissioners make for more layers of bureaucracy?
No. In fact the directly elected individuals will help release chief officers from centrally imposed bureaucracy, and help make forces accountable to the right people - the public.
