Thames Valley Police have received a new rating for effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy following a recent review.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) awarded Thames Valley Police a ‘good’ rating across each of the three areas.

The report found that Thames Valley Police is effective at reducing crime and keeping people safe and is good at protecting vulnerable people and working alongside partner agencies to ensure this.

In terms of improvements, the inspectorate have claimed that the force investigates ‘low-harm/high volume crime’, although a plan is in place to improve the response to these sort of crimes.

The report shows that the force is good at treating the public fairly but notes that the historical vetting backlog is a cause for concern and that the force should take steps to ensure that officers and staff are aware of how to raise ethical issues.

Jason Hogg, Deputy Chief Constable, said: “I welcome the findings of HMICFRS and their confirmation that the force has been graded as ‘Good’ overall across the three areas of focus within their inspection: Effectiveness, Efficiency and Legitimacy.

“We have already taken steps to address the issues raised during the inspection. We are working hard to improve the quality of our investigations to ensure that we can provide justice for victims and an excellent quality of care in how we support victims through the criminal justice process.

“HMICFRS has acknowledged that they are encouraged by the action we are starting to take. We have already recruited additional skilled investigators and have increased the number of digital technicians to handle the ever-growing volume of digital evidence.

“With regard to the improvements that HMICFRS are looking to see in the area of ethical behaviour we are already addressing our historical backlog for vetting officers and staff who have worked for the force for more than 14 years.

“Currently we have completed around 77% of applications and expect to be fully compliant with the national vetting guidelines by March 2020.

“At a time when we are facing increasingly diverse challenges I am pleased that the service we provide to the public has been recognised as being of good quality.

“We continue to work to improve our services in line with our ambition to deliver an excellent service and to be regarded as an outstanding police force.”

Anthony Stansfeld, Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley,Police, said: “We are pleased that Thames Valley Police has been rated ‘Good’ by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS).

It is testament to the hard work which has taken place and continues to progress. I was particularly pleased that HMICFRS found the force to be outstanding in the way it uses its resources to meet current demand.

“In the period of cuts to policing this has enabled TVP to continue providing an excellent service to the public. It reflects particularly well on the way TVP has been managed over this difficult period.

“Of course, we will continue to focus on areas which need improvement and we welcome the suggestions which have been made in the report.

“The recent announcement that we will be getting hundreds of new police officers will also have a positive impact and will support these improvements.

“Our priority is to support our local communities in any way we can and we are delighted that the HMICFRS has recognised this.”