I welcome the report by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services into the workings and internal procedures of the Royal Gibraltar Police following an inspection of the service in October 2019. We are pleased that its constructive findings will provide an excellent opportunity to engage the Gibraltar Police Authority, the Gibraltar Police Federation and more widely our partners and stakeholders in the community, to enhance the overall service we provide to the public.
As a transparent and approachable public service organisation, we constantly look at ways and means of becoming better at what we do, and in close consultation with the GPA, had voluntarily agreed to open up our organisation to more external assessment, aimed at achieving continuous operational and structural improvement. We view the HMICFRS report in this light.
In fact, this was not the only occasion in 2019 where we provided access to an outside body for the purposes of close scrutiny of our core systems. In April-May 2019 we engaged a specialised firm of independent UK consultants to contextualise the findings of an internal staff survey, while the recommendations derived from this exercise have been actioned in partnership with the Gibraltar Police Federation.
We now also embrace the outcomes highlighted by HMICFRS as an opportunity to learn and develop. Actually, we had already anticipated areas for improvement following a debrief session we had with the inspecting team before they returned to the UK, after the on-site inspection process. Consequently, we have already implemented a number of the review conclusions, and a steering working group led by the Assistant Commissioner has been created to address all the remaining ones. I will be working closely with the GPA and, of course, will be providing them with regular updates on the progress of our work to ensure that they are satisfied with progress.
The Command Team and I want to reassure the community that whilst we clearly accept there is always room for improvement, the current levels of service afforded to Gibraltar by the RGP are regarded by HMICFRS as good. The report further describes the workforce as professional, committed and enthusiastic.
I also want to thank all members of staff and representatives of the community who in some way or another contributed to the inspection process.
The report will be made available by the GPA at: www.gpa.gi
It can be accessed on the RGP website:
https://www.police.gi/information/publications
and will be available on the HMICFRS website:
https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmicfrs/