Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) has rated the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) as “good” in all categories in its report "Responding to austerity" which examines how the MPS has responded to the reductions in its budget and accompanying demands for improvement in service quality.
The report authors recognised that the 22 per cent reduction in the overall MPS budget was greater than most other forces in England and Wales and that we face “a particular challenge because of the scale of the financial savings that must be made”.
However, they said: “The Metropolitan Police Service has delivered the requirements of the spending review and has the foundations in place to enable it to meet further future financial pressures.”
HMIC also praised the “ambitious” Met Change programme for enabling the force to understand the demands on it and define its services better. The MPS was also identified as an example of national good practice in three areas: Estates, Recruitment and Technology.
Deputy Commissioner, Craig Mackey, said: “We are delighted the HMIC has recognised the scale of the savings already made by the Met as well as the success we have had improving the quality and efficiency of the service we deliver.
“We are cutting crime, keeping officer numbers high and making sure they are increasing visible to the public.
“Delivering local policing and helping victims of crime is at the heart of everything we do and we will soon have the flexible estate and cutting-edge technology that our officers and staff need to do their job even better.
“The changes we have already seen have only been possible thanks to a great deal of hard work by all our people, rising to the huge challenge of modernising such a big and complex organisation as the Met. We should not underestimate how difficult this has been.
“Of course challenges remain, there are still savings to be found and we need to embed the cultural and behaviour changes we have started across the service. Nevertheless, this report makes it clear that we are on track and have laid a solid foundation on which to adapt to what the future may hold.”