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His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services

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For the inspectorate in Scotland, see His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland.
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"Chief Inspector of Constabulary" redirects here. For police rank of chief inspector, see Chief inspector.
His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services
Established21 July 1856
HeadquartersBirmingham, England[1]
Region served
Chief Inspector
Andy Cooke
Websitehmicfrs.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk Edit this at Wikidata

His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), formerly Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), has statutory responsibility for the inspection of the police forces of England and Wales, and since July 2017 the fire and rescue services of England. HMICFRS is headed by the Chief Inspector of Constabulary and Chief Inspector of Fire & Rescue Services. It has taken over the responsibilities of His Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate.

Inspections may also be made, by invitation only, and on a non-statutory basis, of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and other organisations with policing responsibility.[2]

England and Wales

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In England and Wales, HMICFRS is responsible to the UK Parliament.[3][4] The first inspectors were appointed under the County and Borough Police Act 1856; current statutory functions are contained in the Police Act 1996 and related legislation. However, the body's principal statutory functions are unchanged since its establishment in 1856, namely to assess and report on the efficiency and effectiveness of police forces in England and Wales. In July 2017, its remit was expanded to include responsibility to assess and report on the efficiency, effectiveness and leadership of the 45 Fire & Rescue services in England.[5][6]

The inspectorate is also paid by other departments to report on the activities of non-Home Office bodies involved in law enforcement, such as the British Transport Police, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, HM Revenue and Customs, the National Crime Agency, the Police Service of Northern Ireland and some overseas police forces.[2] Reporting has also been performed on a voluntary basis for the Special Investigation Branch (SIB) of the Royal Military Police. It also receives funding from the Treasury for its work on HMRC.

As a public authority, decisions and actions of HMICFRS are susceptible to judicial review.

Personnel

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HM Chief Inspector of Fire & Rescue Services is Andy Cooke, former chief constable of Merseyside Police,[7] who was appointed in April 2022.[8] His predecessor was the lawyer and former rail regulator Tom Winsor, who took office on 1 October 2012 as the first chief inspector to be appointed from outside the police service.[9] Before Winsor, the chief inspector was former Surrey Police Chief Constable, Sir Denis O'Connor, in post from 2008 until his retirement in 2012.[10]

In addition to the Chief Inspector of Constabulary, there are three Inspectors of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services:[11] Roy Wilsher, former chief fire officer in Hertfordshire; Matt Parr,[12] formerly a Rear-Admiral in the Royal Navy; and Wendy Williams, formerly Chief Crown Prosecutor of CPS Direct. Appointments follow the Code of Practice of the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.[12]

Northern Ireland

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Inspections of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) have been made in recent years by invitation, on a non-statutory basis. The Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998 allows HMIC to perform inspection and assessment of services or projects by direction of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. At the request of the chief constable of the PSNI, in 2013 the inspectorate published a report into Northern Ireland's Historical Enquiries Team.[13]

List of chief inspectors

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Inspectors of Constabulary for England and Wales from 1856:

  • Captain Francis J. Parry, to 1900
  • Captain Herbert D. Terry, from 1900[14]

The first chief inspector was appointed in 1962.[8]

  1. Sir William Johnson, 1962–1963
  2. Sir Edward Dodd, 1963–1966
  3. Colonel Sir Eric St Johnston, 1967–1970
  4. Sir John McKay, 1970–1972
  5. Sir John Hill, 1972–1975
  6. Sir James Haughton, 1976–1977
  7. Sir Colin Woods, 1977–1979
  8. Sir James Crane, 1979–1982
  9. Sir Lawrence Byford, 1983–1987
  10. Sir Richard Barrett, 1987–1990
  11. Sir John Woodcock, 1990–1993
  12. Sir Trefor Morris, 1993–1996
  13. Sir David O'Dowd, 1996–2001
  14. Sir Keith Povey 2002–2005
  15. Sir Ronnie Flanagan, 2005–2009
  16. Sir Denis O'Connor, 2009–2012
  17. Sir Thomas Winsor, 2012–2022
  18. Andy Cooke, 2022–present

In July 2017, the role became Chief Inspector of Constabulary and Chief Inspector of Fire & Rescue Services. The incumbent is Andy Cooke, who was appointed in April 2022.[8]

2021 protest report

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In March 2021, HMICFRS published a report that endorsed a proposed clampdown on protests. In response to the report, a whistleblower alleged that its authors had reached conclusions favouring the government's view prior to gathering and assessing evidence, in breach of the civil service code.[15]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Contact us". His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Inspection of the performance of Home Office police forces: HMICFRS's approach to inspection, including monitoring, force insight, inspection design and fieldwork" (PDF). Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services. October 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  3. ^ "Home". HMICFRS.
  4. ^ Oliver, Ian (1997), "Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary", Police, Government and Accountability, London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp. 71–84, doi:10.1007/978-1-349-25155-1_6, ISBN 978-0-333-64707-3, retrieved 9 July 2023
  5. ^ "Home Office announces new fire inspectorate". National Fire Chiefs Council. 19 July 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  6. ^ "Fire & rescue services". HMICFRS. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  7. ^ "Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary and Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Fire & Rescue Services Andy Cooke QPM DL". HMICFRS. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  8. ^ a b c "Previous Chief Inspectors". HMICFRS. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  9. ^ "Tom Winsor picked as top candidate for senior police role". BBC News. 8 June 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
  10. ^ "Chief Inspector of Constabulary to retire". GOV.UK. Home Office. 28 March 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  11. ^ "Who we are". HMICFRS. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Home Secretary announces appointment of new HM Inspector of Constabulary". GOV.UK. Home Office. 1 August 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  13. ^ "#018/2013 – The Historical Enquiries Team's approach to reviewing deaths during 'the troubles' is inconsistent, has serious shortcomings and so risks public confidence, HMIC finds". 3 July 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  14. ^ "Appointment". The Times. No. 36077. London. 28 February 1900. p. 9.
  15. ^ Dodd, Vikram (31 March 2021). "Police watchdog accused of skewing report to back protests clampdown". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
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