The National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) began its work on 1 April this year and its published Business Plan for 2007-08 includes 15 delivery statements reflecting the strategic priorities of the Police Service and of the tripartite partners in policing—the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), the Association of Police Authorities (APA) and the Home Office. Some good progress has already been made on a number of these, for example:
The national strategic assessment has been completed and will now be used as a key underpin for the NPIA’s work.
The IMPACT programme has successfully progressed to the stage where it can now proceed with the procurement of the first stage of the police national database.
Leadership: a major review of the entirety of the NPIA’s leadership approach and training has been completed. The next step is to bring the work on leadership and workforce strategy together.
Serious Crime Analysis Section (SCAS): There is now a nominated senior lead in each force for SCAS. ACPO and NPIA will bring them together to agree a renewed national approach to maximising the way the service is used.
Diversity impact assessment: an impact assessment of the DMA database is underway and NPIA is working closely with the Commission of Racial Equality (CRE) on this work.
There has also been progress in other areas of NPIA’s work. Key performance indicators have been established for both the external and internal strategic priorities of the organisation. The Chief Executive will be providing regular reports of performance and issues facing the Agency.