To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps are being taken to refocus the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) on its extended role in (a) supporting forces to respond to inspections and (b) assisting forces to improve their performance; and what the timetable for full transition of the NPIA to this new role is. (273034)

The National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) is putting in place a new team that will, by June 2009, be able to provide assistance to police forces and authorities that wish to have the agency’s help to improve their performance. This unit will comprise of five elements: a core team, a centre of excellence in performance management, peer teams, existing NPIA expertise and a knowledge resource.