HMICFRS Reports
For the latest HMICFRS reports relating to Leicestershire and the Police and Crime Commissioner or Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner's response, please see below:
2026 Reports
Published: 15th April 2026
This spotlight report highlights how police forces and national bodies must work together to make sure forces can meet the demand faced by online child sexual abuse and exploitation teams and management of sexual offenders and violent offenders teams.
Published: 12th February 2026
Joint child protection inspection of child sexual abuse in the family environment in Leicestershire
This joint targeted area inspection (Ofsted, CQC, HMICFRS, HMIP) found that Leicestershire’s partnership has prioritised improving its understanding of child sexual abuse in the family environment, supported by collaboration with the NSPCC and CSA Centre. Inspectors noted strong governance, a developing trauma informed workforce, and an action plan informed by audits and local reviews. However, the strategy is still in draft form, and further work is needed to strengthen multi agency practice and ensure consistent support for children at risk
2025 Reports
Published: 24th October 2025
This progress review notes encouraging improvements since earlier inspections, including widespread adoption of the IICSA definition of group based CSE, better quality assurance processes, and increased use of national programmes such as the Hydrant Programme.
However, deep rooted issues remain, including inconsistent definitions, weak data collection, and the need for more coordinated national understanding.
The report emphasises strengthening safeguarding, improving investigative practice, and ensuring forces respond swiftly to protect vulnerable children.
Published: 15th October 2025
This joint inspection finds that the current system for out of court disposals (OoCDs) for children is fragmented and inconsistent, creating a “postcode lottery”. Use of OoCDs has increased, but national data is limited, and decision making often lacks clarity and consistency.
The report makes 18 recommendations to strengthen governance, improve data sharing, ensure consistent use of the NPCC child gravity matrix, and enhance safeguarding and partnership working to prevent reoffending and better meet children’s needs
Published: 10th September 2025
State of Policing: The Annual Assessment of Policing in England and Wales 2024–25
This annual assessment provides the Chief Inspector’s independent view of policing in England and Wales.
It identifies improvements in neighbourhood policing and planned reforms, but also highlights persistent challenges, including pressures on workforce capability, inconsistent protection of vulnerable people, and the need for better crime investigation standards.
The report stresses that sustained reform and adequate resourcing are essential for policing to meet public expectations.
Published: 27th March 2025
An inspection into how effectively the police investigate crime
This report examines how well police forces investigate volume crime and highlights a long term decline in successful prosecutions. Inspectors found inconsistent investigative standards, gaps in supervision, and variable victim engagement.
The report makes 11 recommendations, including improving crime related demand analysis, strengthening investigative processes, enhancing training for investigators and supervisors, and improving oversight to ensure victims receive better outcomes.
2024 Reports
Published: 5th December 2024
PEEL 2023–2025: An inspection of Leicestershire Police
The inspection assessed how good Leicestershire Police is in nine areas of policing, and graded judgements in eight of those nine areas.
How effective a service Leicestershire Police gives to victims of crime was also inspected but graded judgements in this area are not made.
The report contains detailed findings about things the force is doing well and where the force should improve in the rest of this report.
Also assessed is the force’s performance in a range of other areas and these are reported on these separately, with graded judgments for some of these areas.
Date published: 10th October 2024
The policing response to antisocial behaviour: PEEL spotlight report
This report focuses on the police response to antisocial behaviour. It also highlights examples of positive practice and joint working between the police and other organisations to address antisocial behaviour.
Evidence was drawn from academic research, national guidance and findings from:
- the police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy (PEEL) programme;
- force management statements (self-assessments that chief constables and their London equivalents prepare and give to us each year);
- a request for promising practice to all forces by the College of Policing; and
- publicly available data.
Date published: 10th September 2024
An inspection into activism and impartiality in policing
In September 2023, the then Home Secretary commissioned HMICFRS to inspect the extent to which police involvement in politically contested matters may be having an impact on operational policing, by influencing policing policy, priorities and practice.
They explored how the police deal with politicised and contested matters and examined whether the police allow politics or activism to unduly influence them.
The inspection took place between October 2023 and December 2023, with field work being carried out in 12 police forces in England and Wales.
Date published: 22nd August 2024
In a new report, HMICFRS has assessed the progress of Operation Soteria, an unprecedented programme designed to transform how the police handle rape and serious sexual offences. It aims to lead to better outcomes for victims, including through the use of intelligence, analysis and digital forensics.
Date published: 19th July 2024
State of Policing: The Annual Assessment of Policing in England and Wales 2023
This is His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary’s report to the Secretary of State, under section 54(4A) of the Police Act 1996. It contains his independent assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of policing in England and Wales. It is based on the inspections carried out between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024.
This report draws on findings from inspections of police forces in England and Wales, to provide an overall view of the state of policing.
2023 Reports
Date Published: 15th September 2023
In May 2021, the Criminal Justice Alliance (CJA) submitted a super-complaint.
Section 29A of the Police Reform Act 2002 defines a super-complaint as a complaint where “a feature, or combination of features, of policing in England and Wales by one or more than one police force is, or appears to be, significantly harming the interests of the public”.
The super-complaint system is designed to examine problems of local, regional or national significance that may not be addressed by existing complaints systems. The process for making and considering super-complaints is set out in the Police Super-complaints (Designation and Procedure) Regulations 2018.
The super-complaint, entitled ‘More harm than good’, raises the CJA’s concerns about “harms caused by ‘suspicion-less’ stop and searches and inadequate scrutiny of stop and search powers”.
Date published: 8th December 2023
Group-based child sexual exploitation has a devastating effect on children and their families. It shouldn’t be underestimated how complex and challenging these crimes are to prevent and investigate, and the police can’t tackle them alone. The police, law enforcement bodies, government departments and child protection agencies need to work together effectively to protect children from harm and bring offenders to justice.
The purpose of this inspection was to establish how well the police and law enforcement bodies understand and respond to group-based child sexual exploitation.
Date published: 25th August 2023
In July 2021, the Home Affairs Committee published The Macpherson Report:
Twenty-two years on. The committee considered the role that had played in assessing the police’s progress in addressing the recommendations made by the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry. It concluded:
“It has been far too long since the inspectorate conducted a thematic review on race. There is an urgent need for HMICFRS to address race directly in its inspections.”
The committee recommended that a series of inspection should be carried out of race and policing to start in 2022. This short review is the first inspection in that series. It considers the effectiveness of the national leadership and governance arrangements that relate to race and policing.
Date published: 11th August 2023
Homicide prevention: An inspection of the police contribution to the prevention of homicide
This inspection examined how effectively the police understood, and contributed to the prevention of, homicides.
A thematic inspection was conducted of homicide prevention, jointly supported by the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the College of Policing and the Independent Office for Police Conduct. In that inspection, the following was examined:
- how effectively forces understand the pattern of homicide in their areas, including the underlying causes and risks; and
- how effectively forces contribute to the prevention of homicides, including how they use the homicide prevention framework.
This report sets out the findings.
Date published: 11th July 2023
An inspection of how effective police forces are in the deployment of firearms
HMICFRS found that there are good selection processes for firearms officers, and officers are well-trained and well-equipped.
However, the inspectorate said improvements need to be made in the selection and training of strategic and tactical firearms commanders because they manage a high degree of risk.
HMICFRS has made 12 recommendations to help policing improve. These include:
- a review of the strategic firearms commander course to ensure candidates have enough opportunities to learn and practise skills;
- introducing new entry criteria for strategic and tactical firearms commanders, similar to the process used to select public order commanders;
- sharing of armed policing exercises to allow opportunities for learning to be identified and shared; and
- improving record keeping in relation to armed operations and introducing regular auditing of these records.
Date published: 7th July 2023
Police performance: Getting a grip
In a new report HMICFRS has highlighted police forces’ progress in recording crime, increasing from an estimated 80.5 per cent of all crime being recorded (excluding fraud) in 2014 to 92.4 per cent at the end of 2021/2022 inspections.
However, the inspectorate has found that too many forces are failing to properly understand and manage their own performance, meaning they don’t know what issues are most important to tackle and where and how they can improve.
Date published: 5th April 2023
An inspection on the police response to online child sexual abuse and exploitation was made between February and August 2022.
The terms of reference addressed the following question:
- How effective are police forces, the National Crime Agency and regional organised crime units at identifying and safeguarding children affected by online sexual abuse and exploitation?
The inspection also assessed how effectively these organisations prevented and investigated this type of crime.
As a result 17 recommendations were made aimed at improving the consistency of the police’s approach and the timeliness of their investigations, reducing the availability of child sexual abuse material, and getting better outcomes for children.
Date published: 8th March 2023
An inspection of how well the police tackle serious youth violence
In 2018, the Home Office published its Serious Violence Strategy, setting out its
response to increases in knife crime, gun crime and homicide. It stated its approach wasn’t focused on law enforcement alone, but “depends on partnerships across a number of sectors such as education, health, social services, housing, youth services and victim services”.
The following year, the Home Office provided funding for 18 violence reduction
units (VRUs). (In some force areas, these units are known as violence reduction partnerships. In this report, we use the term violence reduction unit.)
Despite this, the lives of far too many children and young people in England and Wales are blighted or cut short by violence, especially knife-enabled crime.
Date published: 2nd March 2023
An inspection of the east midlands regional response to serious and organised crime
As part of our police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy (PEEL) inspections, HMICFRS inspected how well police forces tackle serious and organised crime (SOC). In 2022, they changed how they inspect this aspect of policing, to incorporate inspections of the ten regions, as well as the nine regional organised crime units (ROCUs) throughout England and Wales, and the 43 police forces. This improves the understanding of how well forces and ROCUs work together to tackle SOC.
2022 Reports
Date published: 16th December 2022
On the 7th August 2020, HMICFRS received a super-complaint from the Tees Valley Inclusion Project (TVIP).
This super-complaint is about the police response to victims of sexual abuse from ethnic minority backgrounds who may be at risk of honour-based abuse.
In its super-complaint, TVIP says there are nine features of policing that are causing significant harm to these victims:
- Overuse of voluntary suspect interviews.
- Failure to consider honour-based abuse as a concomitant safeguarding concern following sexual abuse reporting.
- Failure to keep victims informed following the report of sexual abuse.
- Failure to provide information during the prosecution process.
- Failure to discuss special measures and other protective measures with victims/survivors.
- Lack of empathy from the police.
- Ineffective and inadequate use of police resources.
- Disproportionate focus on community impact.
- Failure to understand the retraumatising effect of the prosecution process.
HMICFRS, the College of Policing and the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) have published a report in response to this super-complaint.
Following this investigation, we have made recommendations to chief constables or equivalents, police and crime commissioners, and the National Police Chiefs’ Council.
Date published: 1st December 2022
In this inspection, the provision of digital forensics in police forces and regional organised crime units was examined. It was considered whether they understood and could manage their demand, and whether victims of crime were receiving a quality service.
Digital forensics is a branch of forensic science, which includes the recovery and examination of digital devices. Today most, if not all, crimes have some form of digital footprint. It was found that the demand for digital forensic examinations was increasing year on year, and in some cases outstripped the capacity of forces to respond effectively.
Date published: 2nd November 2022
An inspection of vetting, misconduct, and misogyny in the police service
Following the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer, the then Home Secretary commissioned HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) under section 54(2B) of the Police Act 1996 to assess current vetting and counter-corruption capacity and capability in policing across England and Wales. This was to include forces’ ability to detect and deal with misogynistic and predatory behaviour.
They were asked to consider current vetting (and re-vetting), arrangements for transferees, whistleblowing arrangements, the work of counter-corruption units and, where relevant, wider Professional Standards Departments.
Date published: 30th June 2022
Police perpetrated domestic abuse: Report on the Centre for Women’s Justice super-complaint
In March 2020 the Centre for Women’s Justice (CWJ), working with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, submitted a super-complaint alleging that forces were not responding appropriately to cases of domestic abuse involving police officer or police staff suspects.
The CWJ submission describes 11 overarching concerns or ‘themes’ relating to how forces respond to cases of police perpetrated domestic abuse:
- difficulties in initial reporting
- failures in investigation
- improper manipulation of police processes
- improper responses to complaints/concerns
- accused officers’ personal links with others in the force
- accused officers using their police knowledge, status and powers
- improper decisions on criminal charges
- incorrect approach to misconduct investigations and decisions
- abused women arrested
- employment difficulties for women who are police officers
- workplace victimisation of women who are police officers.
HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), the College of Policing and the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) have published a report in response to this super-complaint.
Date published: 28th April 2022
Leicestershire PEEL Assessments 2021/2022
The inspection assessed how good Leicestershire Police is in ten areas of policing as well as how effective a service Leicestershire Police gives to victims of crime.