Police Reform
Policing Green Paper
On 17 July 2008, the Home Secretary published the Policing Green Paper "From the neighbourhood to the national: policing our communities together". It sets out our vision for the future of policing.
Home Secretary publishes the Policing Green Paper
The Home Secretary publishes the Policing Green Paper titled 'From the neighbourhood to the national: policing our communities together'.
If you prefer, you can also read individual chapters of the Policing Green Paper.
How to respond to the Policing Green Paper
Responses to the Policing Green Paper consultation should be made using the consultation response form and submitted to: policinggreenpaper@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk, or
Policing Green Paper Consultation Responses
Police Reform Unit
6th Floor Fry Building
2 Marsham Street
SW1P 4DF
A new policing pledge
The Green Paper sets out the police services committment to a new policing pledge. This will set out a national standard on what people can expect from the police, underpinned in each area by a set of local priorities agreed by people in each neighbourhood.
See an example of what a national and local policing pledge could look like.
A vision for policing
The Green Paper sets out our vision for the future of policing and includes radical new plans to cut red tape and give the police more freedom to get on with the job of reducing crime, combined with new measures to increase public confidence in the police and give the public a greater say about how their communities are policed.
The Green Paper sets out how the Government will build on achievements, working wih the police to continue to drive down crime, drive up public confidence and give local people more information and a bigger say in how their neighbourhood is policed.
Proposals
- A new policing pledge setting out what local people can expect from their local police team - with clear national standards, including the amount of time spent on the beat, easy ways to contact your local Neighbourhood Policing Team and clear response times to all calls and incidents.
- A stronger voice for local people - regular information on crime, including crime maps and action being taken to tackle it and regular local meetings to discuss priorities backed by new directly elected Crime and Policing Representatives.
- Setting only one top-down numerical target for the police service to increase public confidence in the police and other agencies to reduce crime.
The Green Paper is the Government's substantive response to the independent review of policing by Sir Ronnie Flanagan and Louise Casey's review 'Engaging communities in fighting crime' (new window) (new window).
Background
The Home Secretary announced the intention to publish a Policing Green Paper at the Superintendents Association conference on 13 September 2007.
The Home Secretary said, 'early next year, I will present a Green Paper that will outline a strategic vision for delivering genuine improvements in police performance. This paper will give a structure and coherence to the reforms underway now and in the future. Reforms that will deliver an effective and responsive service in which we can all have confidence.'
On Thursday 1 November 2007, Tony McNulty, Minister of State for Security, Counter-terrorism, Crime and Policing, wrote to key policing stakeholders to outline the shape that the Green Paper was expected to take, and to set out how we intend to work with stakeholders to develop this work.
The letter set out the four key areas that the Green Paper will focus on:
- getting the best use from our resources and capacity
- effective leadership and governance
- clear, effective performance machinery
- clarity and co-operation over competing demands.
Policing Green Paper Impact Assessments
A series of impact assessments have been conducted alongside the development of the Policing Green Paper.
