Police PEEL inspections by HMICFRS are changing again. As the main way England and Wales forces are assessed, these reports are essential reading for understanding overall performance. Chief Officers dread when results are poor and relish when the findings look good.
Having long summarised these detailed regular force reports for aspiring leaders in policing, and having explained PEEL inspections before, these new changes are worth exploring in this blog. Many officers say promotion is “unfair”. But it’s the well informed candidates who simply stand head and shoulders above the rest, setting themselves apart by raising awareness of issues such as PEEL…
PEEL Inspections: What Are They?
PEEL inspections are the comprehensive framework by which England and Wales forces are assessed on how well they’re doing.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS, aka HMIC) are the official and independent scrutiny body for policing. They determine how well forces are generally performing, doing so through PEEL inspections.
‘PEEL’ stands for Police Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Legitimacy, harking back to Robert Peel, the Peelian Principles and the 200-year origins of current British ‘policing by consent’.
The PEEL Framework is a structured mechanism by which HMIC inspects forces consistently on all the important aspects of policing and running an organisation. It aims to assess the entire force comprehensively, complementing other national and thematic reviews the HMIC does. From picking up calls, responding to incidents, investigating crime, preventing crime, to protecting vulnerable people, dealing with the public fairly, and considering the diversity and wellbeing of its workforce.
Each broad inspection theme (called a ‘core question’) has multiple specific questions within it. This detailed structure helps ensure consistency and allows valid comparisons between different forces. After assessing all the details, an overall performance grading is awarded against each inspection theme on a scale from ‘Inadequate’ to ‘Outstanding’ (as below).
Each force is inspected every couple of years or so. Where they find things wrong, they recommend ‘Areas for Improvement’. If it’s really bad, they call it a ‘Cause for Concern’. HMIC then identify the good stuff as ‘Innovative Practice’, signalling where other forces might learn from them.
HMIC uses a mix of desktop review (force-provided data, documents, plans) and fieldwork in-force (dip sampling crimes, incidents, interviews with people). Then a full report is published, detailing exactly where the force should improve, what it’s doing well, and any innovative practice.
Read more about the scope, scoring, gradings, and purpose in my more detailed ‘What Are Police PEEL Assessments?’ blog.
The HMIC also provide inspection reports for other UK forces, as outlined in their new general 2025-29 police inspection framework. HMICFRS is also often commissioned to provide thematic efficiency and effectiveness inspections of PSNI. The HMICS covers Police Scotland in a similar way, albeit against slightly different methods and inspection themes.
Naturally, police senior leaders and Chief Officers of every force await their respective reports with bated breath. Such overarching performance reviews are what Police and Crime Commissioners, the press, and ultimately the public use to assess how well their force is doing, beyond basic crime levels.
Given their importance and tendency to drive promotion board questions/scenarios, I always encourage any aspiring leader or promotion candidate to consider these golden reports as essential reading. Especially if you’re in or seeking the more strategic Inspecting ranks. Not least because you can reflect on then paint a brighter picture for where your force is struggling.
End of the 2023-25 Era: How Do Forces Compare?
For the past four years, I’ve been summarising the results of these detailed inspection reports, to help communicate the results and save you time. Here’s my series of 2-minute videos for busy cops. Each time I update how the forces compare overall, using the HMIC’s grading mechanism. Below are the latest standings in my bespoke Rank Success ‘league table’ of scores…
On average, forces tend to be around the ‘Adequate’ (2 out of 4) mark. But there is wild variation in some parts of the country. The Met Police and West Mids have struggled in several consecutive inspections now. GMP have shown recent significant improvements, following a period also in the ‘dark red zone’.
Conversely, forces like Humberside have performed consistently better, joined by Cheshire in the most recent 2023-25 framework inspections (South Yorkshire was last inspected in 2022). And that’s quite a feat, getting an average score of ‘Good’.
I also track how well forces tend to do for each theme, as summarised in the below graphic. Standards of investigation, response to the public, and service to victims are common and long-term struggles for forces. Disrupting serious and organised crime, preventing crime and ASB, and treating the public fairly tend to perform better.
Every few years or so, HMIC tweak the framework against which they assess performance of forces. We’re currently in the 2023-25 era, but this has ended. In February, I blogged about and summarised the new PEEL reports for Avon and Somerset, Bedfordshire, and Cheshire.
The final two reports for the 2023-25 era were published just this week, for Cleveland and Dorset Police. Cleveland will be pleased no doubt with their long-term improvements, as I summarise their report in the below video…
A New 2025-27 Inspection Framework
As police promotion frameworks often change, so do performance frameworks. HMIC regularly adjust how they assess forces, mixing up their overarching themes and the specific questions underneath. In the infographic above, I summarise the inspection themes and demonstrate how they have changed over the last decade. Lines denote where themes have been retained or are at least assessing similar concepts.
HMIC recently announced their new 2025-27 PEEL assessment framework, replacing the current 2023-25 regime following a consultation period preceding this change. Here’s the full set of nine ‘core questions’ (themes) the HMIC will now be assessing forces against for the 2025-27 inspection period:
- How good is the force at leadership and force management?
- How good is the force at attracting, developing and retaining its workforce and creating a diverse and inclusive workplace?
- How good is the force at using its powers fairly, appropriately and with justification?
- How good is the force at preventing and deterring crime, antisocial behaviour and vulnerability?
- How good is the force at responding to the public?
- How good is the force at investigating crime?
- How good is the force at safeguarding children and adults at risk of harm?
- How good is the force at managing fraud?
- How good is the force at providing a safe and lawful custody environment?
These core questions are mostly the same or similar to the earlier PEEL inspection regime. There are however some notable differences, in that there is a complete new focus on Custody and Fraud, which haven’t featured before. Managing offenders and suspects, service to victims, counter corruption and vetting, and disrupting serious and organised crime have all dropped off as assessed themes.
While ‘service to victims’ is now a subsidiary ‘topic area’ within the crime investigation core question, the 2023-25 areas of vetting, corruption, and serious/organised crime are no longer even mentioned. The management of suspects and offenders is still there, but only within detailed ‘characteristics of good’ markers.
An important aspect that has stood the test of time is the Leadership and Management of the force. Or as HMIC put it, “How good is the force at leadership and force management?” To demonstrate the detail underneath, below samples three of the five ‘topic areas’ for this theme, and their associated ‘characteristics of good’ which define the assessment…
Smart forces will be using these prompts already to inform their business and compile their evidence in readiness for the HMIC. Smart promotion candidates, especially to the ranks of Inspector and above, will be in tune with such important reading materials, will be able to anticipate promotion board questions, have relevant evidence, and articulate how they can help the force improve in future, all in readiness for promotion.
Whatever your interest in the PEEL inspections, I hope you found this blog useful. If you’re serious about achieving police promotion, check out my premium materials which give you the fastest route to success.
Kind Regards, Steve
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