Performance and Measurement
Policing Performance Management
The Policing Performance Assessment Framework (PPAF) was an initiative led by the Home Office, with the support of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) (new window), the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) (new window) and the Association of Police Authorities (APA). (new window) It was the method used to assess policing between 2004/05 and 2007/08. Improved police performance is central to the government’s vision of better public services. Until the Policing Performance Assessment Framework, the police service had lagged behind many other public services in terms of the extent, robustness and transparency of the framework for assessing its performance. In April 2008, we introduced a simpler and more unified performance management framework for policing and community safety (APACS). Technical guidance on the performance indicators for APACS can be found here. Technical guidance on the older PPAF indicators can be found here.
Following the release of the Policing Green Paper, the Home Office will take a more strategic role in performance management of the police, with a strengthened role for HMIC (nationally) and Police Authorities (locally) in holding forces to account. The introduction of a new policing pledge will also set out a nationally consistent public entitlement of what people can expect from the police, underpinned in each area by a set of local priorities, agreed by people in each neighbourhood. APACS will remain as a tool for police forces and their partners to measure and manage performance. Guidance on performance management for police forces and authorities can be found below.
Improving performance: a practical guide
Over the latter half of 2007 and early part of 2008, the Home Office worked with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), the Association of Police Authorities (APA), Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA), the Audit Commission and the Superintendents’ Association to update guidance on performance management first published in 2004.
The 2008 guidance comprises of five parts: a main ‘resource’ document, a separate document of case studies, and three summary versions of the main guide aimed at the force executive, managers and team leaders. A second volume of case studies was published in September 2008. The guide aims to support improved understanding and practice of performance management in policing and has been drawn together from the experience of forces and policing stakeholders over recent years.
Electronic copies of the main guidance document, case studies and summary guides are available from the links below.
Main guidance document
Improving performance: a practical guide to police performance management
Case studies
The case studies illustrate how forces have implemented the principles of effective performance management and show the application of performance management in a range of policing situations.
A second volume of case studies was published in September 2008, in conjunction with the ACPO Excellence in Policing Awards 2008. This document highlights several examples of commended work.
Other guidance
Guidance for the executive - a summary of the main guidance for those directly involved in determining the overall strategic direction of the force.
Guidance for managers - a summary of the main guidance for other strategic leaders, for example BCU Commanders, heads of department and potentially members of their senior management teams.
Guidance for team leaders - a summary of the main guidance aimed at those who directly control and supervise a single team.
2004 edition
The forerunner to this guidance was published in 2004, Managing police performance: a practical guide to performance management (first edition, September 2004). Although the relevant content of this original guidance was drawn into the second edition, the case studies and annexes may still be useful to practitioners.
Practical guidance for police authorities
The Home Office and Association of Police Authorities (APA) worked with all authorities in England and Wales during 2005/06 to collate good practice and summarise key principles for authorities in carrying out their role in police performance management.
The results of this work were collected together in two documents published in June 2006: a full guidance document and a summary for authority members - copies of which were sent to all authorities and forces. Both of these documents are available from the APA website (new window) and through the link below, and are useful reading for authority members and officers and police managers alike:
