PEEL Assessment 2023-25: Gwent Police

The force should make sure it can effectively monitor and understand the use of force Gwent Police’s coercive powers board provides governance and oversight of the use of force. It scrutinises a wide range of data to consider performance themes. But the force’s recording of this power is not always accurate. So the board is using data that isn’t always reliable. In the year ending 31 March 2024, Gwent Police recorded 6,331 use of force incidents. This is 3,223 fewer incidents than we estimate it should have recorded, based on the number of arrests in the same period. This could mean that officers and staff aren’t recording all occasions when they use force. The force told us it has been educating staff and officers about their obligations to report use of force. But it also told us that 13.9 percent fewer use of force forms were submitted in the year ending 30 September 2024 compared to the year ending 30 September 2023. The force explained that if multiple officers use force on a person, they may each submit a separate form to record this. But the duplicates may not mention relevant factors influencing their use of force, such as the person’s mental health. This suggests that recording hasn’t yet improved. People from ethnic minority backgrounds account for 5.8 percent of the Gwent population, but for 9.0 percent of use of force incidents and 8.8 percent of arrests. The force has amended its use of force reporting form to accommodate the self-defined ethnicity of subjects. But it doesn’t yet have a clear process to compare officer-defined and self-defined ethnicity. So the force can’t yet be confident that it knows if, and how much, officers use force disproportionately. The force has established quality assurance processes to review the use of conducted energy devices using the National Police Chiefs’ Council use of force criteria. It shares each review with the regional lead for added scrutiny. However, scrutiny and quality assurance for other use of force is inconsistent and incomplete. In August and September 2024, we jointly inspected Gwent Police custody facilities with the Health Inspectorate Wales. Inspectors found little quality assurance of incidents or monitoring of the use of force at a strategic or operational level. The inspectors concluded that Gwent Police couldn’t show that when it used force or restraint in custody, it was necessary, justified and proportionate. Some sergeants told us that they review all use of force by their staff, but that they don’t review body-worn video footage. This means they can’t comment definitively upon whether the use of control and restraint techniques is appropriate. Sergeants also told us that they wouldn’t necessarily know about use of force during incidents occurring outside custody centres. This is because its crime and incident recording system (Niche) doesn’t automatically notify them. Gwent Police can’t yet be confident that every incident where its officers and staff use force is appropriately quality assured. The force reviews dip samples of records internally to scrutinise use of stop and search powers, but it doesn’t do the same for use of force. Gwent Police should make sure that the oversight of use of force is robust. Encouragingly, as part of its new operating model, the force has created a new chief inspector post. This post oversees the operational leadership of three newly appointed inspectors, dedicated to overseeing stop and search, use of force and working with communities. The force told us the new structure would be in place from January 2025. Gwent Police

The force should increase its use of preventive orders to safeguard vulnerable people in all appropriate cases In the year ending 30 September 2024, Gwent Police made 99 Domestic Violence Protection Order (DVPO) applications and recorded 8,936 crimes related to domestic abuse. This means that, on average, the force applied for DVPOs in 1.1 percent of recorded domestic abuse related crimes. This was within the normal range compared to other forces in England and Wales. However, the number of DVPOs the force applied for as a percentage of recorded domestic abuse related crimes has declined each quarter since the year ending 30 September 2023. Additionally, in the year ending 30 September 2024, only 81.8 percent of DVPO applications were successfully granted at court. In the year ending 30 September 2024, the force used arrest to help it to investigate domestic abuse or to protect victims in 34.2 percent of cases. This is lower than the England and Wales rate of 43.4 percent. In the year ending 31 March 2024, Gwent Police recorded 1,982 stalking offences, which equated to 3.3 offences per 1,000 population. Despite this, the force applied for only one interim and one full Stalking Protection Order. We also found that the force hasn’t secured any Sexual Risk Orders (SRO). Courts impose SROs to protect the public from the risk of sexual harm by placing restrictions on a person’s behaviour. We learned that the force’s previous eight applications for an SRO had been unsuccessful. The force is working with its legal services department to improve the quality of its applications. Vulnerable victims can’t yet be confident that the force effectively uses protective tactics and orders to keep them safe. The force should make sure it uses the full range of powers available to it to protect victims. Gwent Police

The force needs to make sure that it has enough suitably trained and skilled staff to effectively carry out its safeguarding roles and functions The Gwent Police public protection unit is responsible for investigating offences against children and for safeguarding children. We found that most staff had completed or were undergoing the initial crime investigators development programme and the specialist child abuse investigators development programme. But we found that supervisors and staff working in safeguarding hubs were from a range of backgrounds. Their deployment isn’t based on specific skills, experience or aptitude. The force doesn’t yet provide a structured programme of induction or training for these staff. The force expects staff to research sometimes complex information about the neglect or abuse of vulnerable people. And it expects them to effectively participate in multi-agency discussions and safety planning. But most staff do so having learned on the job, rather than being trained to have a sound working knowledge of relevant legislation and procedures. There is also no structured mentoring process or continuing professional development programme. The force should make sure that staff are suitably skilled and supported to effectively manage the risk posed to vulnerable victims. Gwent Police

The force needs systems which provide reassurance that it takes appropriate action to safeguard adults and children at risk of harm The force doesn’t have enough staff in its safeguarding hubs to meet demand. In January 2025, the Eastern hub had just one of an intended three detective sergeants to participate in strategy discussions about individual cases. And, for the previous three months, it had a maximum of two decision-makers instead of three. The hub was also operating with three researchers instead of four. In January 2025, the force only had the capacity to attend 14 of 18 strategy discussions scheduled for a particular day, even without any urgent and unexpected requests for meetings. The force told us that, where possible, detective sergeants from other public protection departments, such as the child abuse investigation team and the child exploitation team, would help. But this would affect their own supervisory workloads. We saw a force spreadsheet which showed that, in December 2024, the force couldn’t hold 81 percent of strategy discussions within 24 hours because police representatives weren’t available. Staff told us that they often needed to do their own research into cases while participating in strategy discussions. Gwent Police

The force should make sure it uses bail and released under investigation effectively to protect victims and prevent interference with investigations In the year ending 30 September 2024, 23.7 percent of pre-charge bail for domestic abuse offences lapsed into released under investigation (RUI). This is the highest rate of all forces in England and Wales. It means that some victims lose the protection of bail conditions before the investigation into the suspected perpetrator has concluded. We found that the force doesn’t have a policy, procedure or governance structure to make sure that it uses bail and RUI appropriately. The force is still refreshing and disseminating its written guidance on this issue. The force has a bail team, which prompts investigators to provide timely updates about the progress of their investigation. The team will also, where necessary, request that bail remains in place to protect victims. Despite this, in most cases we audited, bail had lapsed into RUI with little or no action from officers or supervisors even when they were prompted to provide updates. Most investigations hadn’t been progressed or supervised effectively enough. In some cases, sergeants and inspectors commented in reviews that investigations were being done promptly and diligently. But in fact, the investigators had failed to take meaningful actions, sometimes for weeks or months. 1.4 23.7 74. RUI PCB lapsed into RUI PCB used only Gwent Police

The force should make sure it understands the factors affecting sickness to improve the well-being of its workforce Our 2022 PEEL inspection found that the force had a high number of full-time equivalent police officers on long-term sickness absence compared with other forces in England and Wales in the same year. This was an area for improvement for the force. The force worked to improve its understanding of the causes of sickness. It now produces detailed data covering the most common types of short and long-term sickness affecting the workforce. The force also uses information held by its employee assistance programme to understand the demographics of staff most likely to use the service. The force identified it needed to improve: • attendance management; • return to work; • mitigation of stressors; and • one-to-one supervisory meetings. It assigned senior leaders to track progress of these key indicators. In the year ending 31 March 2024, Gwent Police had a 2.6 percent rate of long-term sickness absence. This was within the normal range compared to other forces in England and Wales. It indicates that the force was effectively mitigating factors contributing to sickness. Gwent Police

The force should make sure it is effectively managing demand and has the right resources, processes and plans in place to keep communities safe During our 2022 PEEL inspection, we found the force lacked understanding of how it could make best use of its capability and capacity. This affected how it managed demand. In January 2025, the force began to move to an operating model which provided policing services to the public aligned to specific functions. This means that response, neighbourhood policing and criminal investigation departments now have their own dedicated and centralised leadership. This is the case, even where some services, such as neighbourhood policing, are carried out locally. The force has started analytical work, including modelling using ‘Process Evolutions’, to help it to respond to demand in this new model. But we found previous analysis was limited. This meant the force lacked understanding of ongoing and sometimes hidden demand, particularly in its neighbourhood policing, response and public protection teams. For example, the force has created an IT Portal so that officers and police community support officers can record their work with local communities. It also has a reporting tool that staff should use to record when and why the force requires them to carry out duties which take them away from their core roles. But many staff told us they don’t fill in the information. And the force told us that it hasn’t analysed this information yet, either to assess the effects of diverting neighbourhood policing officers away from their main duties or to identify protective or problem-solving work it should be doing based on its work involving communities. We also learned that investigators, response and neighbourhood policing officers worked unrecorded overtime to meet demand. Some sergeants told us that they retain criminal investigations rather than overload their staff. As a result, the true numbers of investigations officers are allocated isn’t always immediately apparent. Supervisors within public protection teams told us that they also have to support work within the understaffed safeguarding hubs. This means they can’t quality assure the work of their own staff or check that serious risk is identified and acted upon. This lack of skilled staff means the force can’t yet be confident it is effectively identifying and managing demand, in relation to protecting vulnerable people. The force should make sure its operating model is aligned with its capacity and capability. And it needs to make sure it has enough appropriately skilled staff to provide services to the public in every department. Gwent Police

The force should make sure it effectively communicates organisational change to the workforce The force has begun to introduce a new operating model. But we learned of a lack of clear and timely communication between senior leaders and officers and staff regarding these changes. Officers and staff told us that leaders don’t explain strategic decisions about organisational change programmes clearly enough, or far enough in advance. These decisions were communicated by email and have subsequently been explained through chief officers’ roadshow presentations. But little information was given about these changes and staff were unclear about the effect such changes would have on them. The force’s internal employee opinion survey, concluded in December 2 24, showed that only 44.6 percent of respondents felt that the force managed change well. Additionally, only 51.3 percent of respondents felt that the force kept them informed about matters which affected them. These results are similar to those from our PEEL workforce survey. In our PEEL workforce survey, only 39.1 percent of respondents (221 of 566 respondents) agreed that change is managed well in Gwent Police. Only 52.8 percent of respondents (299 of 566 respondents) felt Gwent Police keeps them informed about matters that affect them. The force should improve its ability to communicate with and listen to its workforce, particularly regarding changes to their working practices. It should provide context and clarity regarding the reasons for its strategic decisions. Gwent Police

The force should make sure its neighbourhood policing model is sustainable to achieve positive long-term solutions to community problems Neighbourhood policing officers are responsible for problem-solving and getting local communities involved in crime prevention. But the force often diverts neighbourhood policing officers away from this important work to other duties. Reasons for this include providing support to response policing by attending emergency or priority incidents During our inspection, we learned of many examples of neighbourhood police officers being regularly diverted from their duties, both to emergency incidents and wider duties. Examples included collecting drugs seized at ports and airports well outside the force area, dealing with reports of illegal possession of XL Bully dogs and acting as detention officers in custody suites. The force also often requires crime and disorder reduction officers to support court hearings for Domestic Violence Protection Orders at short notice, which they don’t feel trained for. These commitments often mean cancelling planned work with communities and partner agencies. Police community support officers (PCSOs) told us that the force sent them to incidents they aren’t trained or equipped to deal with. These included road accidents, reports of domestic abuse or of people threatening violence, sometimes with weapons. Very often, the force control room assigns tasks to PCSOs via email, rather than through the force’s command and control or crime recording system. This means that neighbourhood policing leaders are unaware whether PCSOs are being assigned appropriate tasks. Many neighbourhood policing staff reported low morale and infrequent contact with sergeants and inspectors. From January 2025, neighbourhood policing forms one of the three pillars of Gwent Police’s new operating model. At the time of our inspection, the force had yet to decide the optimum number of skilled staff required. It is too early to judge how effectively its new structures will translate into stable and consistent neighbourhood policing. The force should make sure that it can effectively understand why officers in neighbourhood teams are being diverted away from their duties or assigned inappropriate tasks and mitigate against this. Gwent Police

The force’s systems and management processes need to support effective problem-solving Gwent Police has a dedicated member of staff responsible for reviewing and quality assuring problem-solving plans, providing tactical advice and sharing good practice. Several neighbourhood policing staff told us senior leaders promote the use of problem-solving. They also told us that they had received problem-solving training as part of their All-Wales neighbourhood policing course. The force stores successful problem-solving plans as examples of good practice on its intranet. But we found the approach to problem-solving is inconsistent. We learned from staff within problem-solving hubs that although they focus on crime prevention, they have little involvement in problem-solving. We audited problem-solving plans and found that some were well researched and used a partnership approach. But too many lacked evidence of multi-agency involvement, with little analysis to justify creation of a plan. Gwent Police

The force needs to attend calls for service within its published attendance times, effectively supervise incidents and update callers if there are delays During our 2022 PEEL inspection, as part of a wider cause of concern, we recommended that the force needed to attend more calls for service within its published time frames. The force still needs to improve the time it takes to attend calls for service. During our 2024 victim service assessment, we found that the force’s attendance was within the required time in only 51 of the 86 cases we examined. The force has a target to attend 80 percent of emergency calls within 15 minutes and 80 percent of priority calls within one hour. It told us that it attended 73.5 percent of emergency calls within 15 minutes in November 2024, 77.9 percent in December 2024 and 77.5 percent in January 2025. It attended 86.1 percent of priority calls within an hour in November 2024, 89.7 percent in December 2024 and 90.5 percent in January 2025. Our findings and the force’s own data demonstrate an improvement since our 2022 inspection. But the force needs to sustain this improvement and consistently attend more incidents within its published time frames. We also found that, in most cases, it takes the force longer to attend domestic abuse related incidents than other types of incidents. The force doesn’t yet have a clear understanding of what factors are affecting this. In our victim service assessment, we found that the force updated callers about delays in attendance in only 8 of 36 relevant cases. If the force doesn’t attend incidents within its target times and doesn’t inform victims about delays, victims may lose confidence in the police and disengage from the process. Delayed response can also result in missed opportunities to safeguard people or collect evidence to prosecute on behalf of victims who are too intimidated to support an investigation. We found that effective supervision of response and deployment of officers was evident in only 23 of the 47 cases we reviewed. Gwent Police

The force needs to make sure that officers and staff assess and report the risk of harm to children and adults thoroughly and promptly The force has provided guidance and training to officers and staff to help them recognise when adults and children are at risk of harm, including from domestic abuse. Force policies define their obligations to notify internal experts and safeguarding partner agencies promptly. The force has created a vulnerability app to help officers to complete and submit public protection notices (PPNs) to children’s social care services without returning to the station. Internal processes mean that it shouldn’t be possible to close incident reports without completed PPNs. However, these processes alone don’t make sure that officers submit PPNs promptly. During our victim service assessment, we found that risk assessments had been completed when required in only 38 of 48 cases we examined. The force has reminded officers and staff about how to complete and submit PPNs. It explained to them that many referrals aren’t reaching social services at all or are late enough to delay safeguarding work. The force policy requires officers and staff to submit domestic abuse, stalking and harassment (DASH) risk assessments either by the end of their shift or within 24 hours. In January 2025, the force told us that 76.1 percent of DASH assessments were completed and submitted when required. But this compliance rate relates to whether a DASH has been completed throughout the entire course of an investigation, which could be weeks or months long. Gwent Police

The force should make sure it takes all investigative opportunities by creating plans and improving supervision During our victim service assessment, we found that only 64 of 73 cases we examined had investigation plans which met national standards. The force had taken appropriate investigative opportunities in only 71 of 99 cases. This means that realistic lines of enquiry which may have resulted in offenders being identified, apprehended or brought to justice, weren’t always followed. And we found that only 65 of 93 cases were effectively supervised. Many sergeants and inspectors in response teams, neighbourhood policing teams, and criminal investigation departments told us that caseloads were too large. They said they couldn’t effectively oversee every investigation. We found several examples of sergeants supervising high numbers of cases. For example, in November 2 24 the force’s operational effectiveness board was told that 36 sergeants were overseeing more than 100 criminal investigations each. One response policing sergeant was responsible for 247 cases. In the force’s virtual response team, one sergeant was responsible for supervising 336 cases. The force told us that, in October 2024, 238 out of 938 open cases required additional supervisory work prior to being finalised. We also found several cases of rapes, assaults and sexual offences against children which hadn’t received any apparent supervisory action for weeks at a time. The force should make sure that it effectively supervises criminal investigations and sets investigation plans. The absence of effective planning and supervision makes it less likely that the force can achieve justice for victims. And it may give offenders the opportunity to commit further or more serious crimes. Gwent Police

The force should make sure that it allocates investigations to officers and teams that have both the capability and capacity for timely and thorough investigations Specialist investigators across the force told us that their workloads were high but manageable. This was the case even when they were still working toward being fully qualified to professionalising investigations programme (PIP) level 2 standards. This is the minimum level of competence for investigators of serious and complex crime, recommended by the College of Policing. But we also found that some response officers are investigating too many crimes while also being responsible for attending emergency calls. We found one officer was responsible for 64 cases, 38 of which should have been finalised. We found too many examples of investigations into serious and complex crimes allocated to staff without the necessary training. For example, we learned of neighbourhood policing officers investigating drugs supply, conspiracy and importation offences, related to organised crime. They had no oversight or supervision from PIP level 2 investigators. Similarly, we found investigation hub staff and response officers investigating domestic abuse, stalking, sexual and serious assaults, fraud and aggravated burglaries. A number of front-line supervisors told us they hadn’t been trained to supervise these offences. We also found that the timeliness of investigations could improve. In November 2 24, the force’s operational effectiveness board heard that response officers, neighbourhood officers and investigators in the force’s investigation hub were taking substantially longer to investigate offences. When compared to the median investigation length between July 2023 and September 2 24, response officers’ investigation times had lengthened from 26 to 36 days. Those of neighbourhood officers had lengthened from 30 to 38 days. And those of the investigators in the investigation hubs had lengthened from 28 to 52 days. The force should make sure that investigators and supervisors are allocated offences which they are suitably trained to deal with. It should also make sure that they have capacity to investigate promptly. Gwent Police

The force must consistently achieve appropriate outcomes for victims Gwent Police solves an unacceptably small number of crimes following investigation. The force needs to understand the issue and work to achieve better outcomes for victims. In the year ending 30 September 2024, Gwent Police recorded 47,234 victim-based crimes. Of these recorded offences, 9.0 percent were assigned an ‘offences brought to justice’ outcome. This is within the normal range compared to other forces in England and Wales. been revised since. British Transport Police and City of London data are excluded from the England and Wales rate. Total police-recorded crime includes all crime (except fraud). For a full commentary and explanation of crime and outcome types please see the Home Office statistics. been revised since. Victim-based crimes are defined as all police-recorded crimes where there is a direct victim, such as an individual, an organisation or corporate body. Additionally, between the year ending 30 September 2023, and the year ending 30 September 2024, the proportion of victim-based crimes assigned Outcome 15: ‘Evidential difficulties suspect identified; victim supports action’ by Gwent Police decreased from 25.8 percent to 18.6 percent. Both values are higher than expected compared to other forces in England and Wales. The force also has a high number of victim-based offences which haven’t been assigned an outcome. In the year ending 30 September 2024, 24 percent of victim-based crime investigated in Gwent was yet to have an outcome assigned. This was higher than expected compared to other forces in England and Wales. This means that victims are waiting for investigations into crimes committed against them to be finalised. 31 Mar 2 15 3 un 2 15 3 Sep 2 15 31 Dec 2 15 31 Mar 2 16 3 un 2 16 3 Sep 2 16 31 Dec 2 16 31 Mar 2 17 3 un 2 17 3 Sep 2 17 31 Dec 2 17 31 Mar 2 18 3 un 2 18 3 Sep 2 18 31 Dec 2 18 31 Mar 2 1 3 un 2 1 3 Sep 2 1 31 Dec 2 1 31 Mar 2 2 3 un 2 2 3 Sep 2 2 31 Dec 2 2 31 Mar 2 21 3 un 2 21 3 Sep 2 21 31 Dec 2 21 31 Mar 2 22 3 un 2 22 3 Sep 2 22 31 Dec 2 22 31 Mar 2 23 3 un 2 23 3 Sep 2 23 31 Dec 2 23 31 Mar 2 24 3 un 2 24 3 Sep 2 24 Gwent Police

The force needs to make sure it complies with national guidance for the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, including meeting disclosure timescales During our 2022 PEEL inspection, we found many Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS) applications which were outside disclosure timescales. This was an area for improvement for the force. In July 2024, the force estimated that it met the statutory 28-day completion period 57 percent of the time. But it can’t be confident that its data is accurate. For example, the force has a dashboard to track the progress of applications, using data from its crime and incident recording system (Niche). But it still uses a spreadsheet to check the accuracy of its dashboard due to recording errors. In January 2025, we found that 150 DVDS applications were still outstanding. Some high-risk applications dated back to September and October 2024 and hadn’t yet been researched. We also found some applications which were months old and didn’t have a staff member allocated to progress them. The force told us it has allocated extra staff to reduce backlogs, but it had drawn these from other areas of the force. This may not be sustainable. The force uses GoodSam video interview technology to speak to some applicants, rather than visiting them in person. This can help the force contact applicants in a timely way. But Gwent Police should make sure it only uses GoodSam to make disclosures to people who have asked for information. It shouldn’t use GoodSam when making an unsolicited right to know disclosure. Despite these efforts, the force discloses less frequently to applicants than other police forces. In the year ending 30 September 2024, just 22.1 percent of DVDS Right To Know applications to Gwent Police led to disclosures. This is the lowest rate in England and Wales. The force should make sure that it promptly gives applicants the information they need to make decisions about their safety. Gwent Police