SURREY Police has been rated as one of the top forces in England and Wales in the national performance assessments published by the Home Office on Tuesday. But praise from the Surrey Police chief for the achievement by officers and staff has been coupled with a forthright attack on the assessment system. Chief Constable Bob Quick says it has skewed the force's priorities in order to chase government targets and fails to recognise the financial straits the county's police face. "We are at risk of claiming statistical success when real operational and resilience issues remain to be addressed," he said. In a statement, the force has indicated that by re- prioritising, Surrey Police had substantially improved its detection rates to meet government targets. However, meeting the targets owes more to penalty notices and cautions for 'soft' offences, than criminals being brought to justice in more difficult cases. For while detection rates have risen, conviction levels have remained relatively low. "The decision on whether a case proceeds to court remains with other criminal justice bodies such as the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) which has its own targets to meet on successful prosecutions," the statement points out. "This sets up a potential disincentive to prosecute more difficult cases and criminals and can produce greater reliance on softer detections such as penalty notices and cautions." Another example of "perverse incentives" involves the comparative satisfaction of ethnic minority groups - the only sub-heading in which Surrey was ranked "poor". For although 72.7 per cent of ethnic minority victims were satisfied with the overall service provided by Surrey Police, this compared unfavourably with 79.3 per cent of white victims who were satisfied. Perversely, a force which achieves equal satisfaction levels, but of only 50 per cent for both victim groups, would score an excellent grading because of the apparent "fairness". In five out of seven headline performance areas Surrey Police was graded as "excellent", with one "good" grade and one "fair". "Excellent" was achieved for neighbourhood policing, serious crime and public protection, protecting vulnerable people, tackling crime and resources and efficiency. Performance in delivering local priorities was graded "good", with satisfaction and fairness achieving Surrey's lowest grading - "fair" but "improving". The grades were determined through a regime of on-site inspection by Her Majesty's Inspection teams and the results analysis of statutory performance indicators. "In Surrey we have achieved an excellent assessment and our 'spend' per head of population is less than the national average. While this shows we are using resources well, the force is suffering significant overstretch," said the Surrey Police statement. "The force is funded like a rural force and yet is over 50 per cent urban and borders London, a world city which generates significant additional demand and risks not recognised by the funding formula. "The result is a degree of risk and overstretch not identified by the assessment. Levels of cross border serious crime, security issues and traffic volumes demonstrate some of this." Mr Quick described the gradings achieved as "a testament to the hard work and dedication of our staff" but added: "The assessments were helpful a few years ago but the point of diminishing returns has long since passed." The chief constable said that despite securing more than £50m of "efficiencies" over the last 10 years, the Surrey force is on the brink of making damaging cuts to work within a budget reduced in real terms. "The force continues to modernise but significant bureaucratic and regulatory barriers are yet to be overcome. "The assessment process is now under review and the temptation will be for the new assessment to measure what can, rather than what should be measured. "I believe it is imperative that the new assessment better reflects outcomes such as confidence and satisfaction, relative funding, risks and threats that form the operating context for forces, value for money issues and the contribution of all statutory authorities in reducing crime and protecting the public." The chairman of Surrey Police Authority, Jim Smith, also thanked officers and staff for their efforts in achieving the high gradings. "We agree with the chief constable that some aspects of the assessment methodology could be improved so that they are easier for members of the public to understand and we will continue to make the Home Office aware of our concerns," he added.
