Communities will be able to better measure the performance of their local police force under a new indicator framework launched today.

The framework will ensure that Scotland’s eight forces are measured and reported on by a single set of standards, rather than the current three set separately by the Executive, Accounts Commission and the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS).

The framework – to be introduced from April – encompasses four main areas of policing: service response, public reassurance and community safety, criminal justice and tackling crime, and sound governance and efficiency. The fits annual performance report under the new arrangements is expected in autumn 2008.

Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson said the public should be able to see how police were performing on set measures: “This may range from how quickly 999 calls are being answered to how offenders, particularly sex offenders, are being managed as well as local sickness and turnover rates. That is why we have been working with ACPOS, all eight police forces, HMIC and Audit Scotland to develop the Scottish Policing Performance Framework. This is not a move towards police league tables. The framework will help improve understanding and the reporting of performance within each force.

“It will provide a major step forward towards a national measurement of the performance of Scotland's police forces, while being sufficiently flexible to respond to both local forces' needs and future developments in policing. It will also ensure that other stakeholders and the public are kept informed about how the police service responds to the demands placed upon it in a 21st century Scotland.”

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