In the United Kingdom , non-departmental public body ( NDPB ) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office , Treasury , the Scottish Government , and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process of national government but are not part of a government department. NDPBs carry out their work largely independently from ministers and are accountable to the public through Parliament ; however, ministers are responsible for the independence, effectiveness, and efficiency of non-departmental public bodies in their portfolio.
38-605: The National Policing Improvement Agency ( NPIA ) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom, established to support police by providing expertise in such areas as information technology, information sharing, and recruitment. It was announced in December 2011 that the NPIA would be gradually wound down and its functions transferred to other organisations. By December 2012, all operations had been transferred to
76-674: A non-ministerial government department being at a remove from both ministers and any elected assembly or parliament. Typically an NDPB would be established under statute and be accountable to Parliament rather than to His Majesty's Government . This arrangement allows more financial independence since the government is obliged to provide funding to meet statutory obligations. NDPBs are sometimes referred to as quangos . However, this term originally referred to quasi-NGOs bodies that are, at least ostensibly, non-government organisations , but nonetheless perform governmental functions. The backronym "quasi-autonomous national government organization"
114-425: A catalyst for identifying areas for efficiency gains within forces, encouraging greater collaboration and identifying where economies of scale can be realised through national procurement frameworks . It has succeeded in the first stage of rationalising a number of different agencies responsible for supporting police forces. But now is the right time to phase out the NPIA, reviewing its role and how this translates into
152-400: A fifth category: NHS bodies . These bodies consist of boards which advise ministers on particular policy areas. They are often supported by a small secretariat from the parent department, and any expenditure is paid for by that department. These bodies usually deliver a particular public service and are overseen by a board rather than ministers. Appointments are made by ministers following
190-678: A streamlined national landscape. The Home Secretary Theresa May gave a speech to the House of Commons on 15 December 2011 in which she unveiled plans to replace the NPIA with a new police professional body and a separate company responsible for procuring information technology for police forces. The NPIA was due to be replaced by these new organisations during 2012. On 1 April 2012, the Missing Persons Bureau, Central Witness Bureau, Specialist Operations Centre, Crime Operational Support and Serious Crime Analysis Section transferred from
228-499: Is Andy Cooke, former chief constable of Merseyside Police , who was appointed in April 2022. His predecessor was the lawyer and former rail regulator Tom Winsor , who took office on 1 October 2012 as the first chief inspector to be appointed from outside the police service. Before Winsor, the chief inspector was former Surrey Police Chief Constable, Sir Denis O'Connor , in post from 2008 until his retirement in 2012. In addition to
266-667: Is responsible to the UK Parliament . The first inspectors were appointed under the County and Borough Police Act 1856 ; current statutory functions are contained in the Police Act 1996 and related legislation. However, the body's principal statutory functions are unchanged since its establishment in 1856, namely to assess and report on the efficiency and effectiveness of police forces in England and Wales. In July 2017, its remit
304-516: Is used in this usage which is normally pejorative. In March 2009 there were nearly 800 public bodies that were sponsored by the UK Government. This total included 198 executive NDPBs, 410 advisory bodies, 33 tribunals, 21 public corporations, the Bank of England , 2 public broadcasting authorities and 23 NHS bodies. However, the classification is conservative and does not include bodies that are
342-817: The Assets Recovery Agency was merged into the Serious Organised Crime Agency . The ARA Centre of Excellence, which trained and accredited Financial Investigators, was moved to the National Policing Improvement Agency where it was called the Proceeds of Crime Centre. The government set out its ambitions for the future of policing in its 2010 white paper , Policing the 21st Century . This stated that The NPIA has done much to bring about welcome changes to policing. In particular, it has acted as
380-644: The Conservatives' complacency in power in the 1990s, presented much material interpreted as evidence of questionable government practices. This concern led to the formation of a Committee on Standards in Public Life (the Nolan Committee) which first reported in 1995 and recommended the creation of a "public appointments commissioner" to make sure that appropriate standards were met in the appointment of members of NDPBs. The Government accepted
418-792: The Home Office , the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and the newly established College of Policing . SOCA was itself replaced by the National Crime Agency on 7 October 2013 as a feature of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 , which also formally abolished the NPIA. The motivations for creating the National Policing Improvement Agency were laid out in the 2004 Police Reform white paper Building Communities, Beating Crime which stated: "...the mechanisms for national policing improvements are disparate and overlapping." Additionally, in 2004 Hazel Blears commissioned an end-to-end review of
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#1732779618717456-657: The Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO) which concluded that "The tripartite governance structure is inappropriate for efficiently and effectively delivering services" and that "PITO as a concept is fundamentally flawed". The NPIA was proposed by the Association of Chief Police Officers for England & Wales (ACPO) as a response to the UK government's green paper Building Safer Communities Together . The stated objective of
494-476: The Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO), Centrex (including the National Centre for Policing Excellence), and a small number of Home Office staff. PITO and Centrex were both abolished when the NPIA became operational. The NPIA had formal responsibilities in respect of police forces in England and Wales but, unlike PITO, not for the eight Scottish forces. Chief Constable Peter Neyroud
532-705: The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) have been made in recent years by invitation, on a non-statutory basis. The Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998 allows HMIC to perform inspection and assessment of services or projects by direction of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland . At the request of the chief constable of the PSNI, in 2013 the inspectorate published a report into Northern Ireland's Historical Enquiries Team . Inspectors of Constabulary for England and Wales from 1856: The first chief inspector
570-629: The Police Service of Northern Ireland and some overseas police forces. Reporting has also been performed on a voluntary basis for the Special Investigation Branch (SIB) of the Royal Military Police . It also receives funding from the Treasury for its work on HMRC. As a public authority, decisions and actions of HMICFRS are susceptible to judicial review . HM Chief Inspector of Fire & Rescue Services
608-767: The Chief Inspector of Constabulary, there are three Inspectors of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services: Roy Wilsher, former chief fire officer in Hertfordshire; Matt Parr , formerly a Rear-Admiral in the Royal Navy ; and Wendy Williams, formerly Chief Crown Prosecutor of CPS Direct . Appointments follow the Code of Practice of the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments . Inspections of
646-596: The Code of Practice of the Commissioner for Public Appointments . They employ their own staff and allocate their own budgets. These bodies have jurisdiction over an area of the law . They are coordinated by His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service , an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice , and supervised by the Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council , itself an NDPB sponsored by
684-538: The Deputy Chief Executive of the NPIA, became acting chief executive and acting chief constable in September 2012 up to 31 December 2012. Peter Holland's term of office as Chair expired on 31 December 2012. He was succeeded by Chris Hughes, who had chaired the NPIA's audit and risk committee. After the transfer of operational functions, a small team remained in the agency to close it down. The NPIA
722-671: The Home Office (who took on the IT functions), SOCA and the newly established College of Policing (who took on training, workforce related functions and the National Police Library ). A detailed statement of where NPIA operations transferred is on the agency's website. In September 2012 Nick Gargan was seconded to HM Inspectorate of Constabulary before becoming Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset in March 2013. Paul Minton,
760-470: The Home Secretary, has a tripartite membership from the Home Office, ACPO and the Association of Police Authorities (APA). The Police and Justice Act 2006 created the NPIA in law, and it became operational on 1 April 2007. Upon formation, the estimated staff of the NPIA was 1772, and the expected income for 2007–08 was £484m . The agency took over the work of several precursor agencies including
798-563: The McFarland Report regarding police IT and PITO, made the development, implementation and standardisation of new police technologies a major national priority. The development of doctrine and policy in conjunction with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), encouraging a national police strategy in terms of purchasing of equipment and bringing about universal police standards in areas such as training, development and leadership were all fundamental priorities and objectives of
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#1732779618717836-556: The Ministry of Justice. These bodies were formerly known as "boards of visitors" and are responsible for the state of prisons, their administration, and the treatment of prisoners. The Home Office is responsible for their costs and has to note all expenses. NDPB differ from executive agencies as they are not created to carry out ministerial orders or policy, instead they are more or less self-determining and enjoy greater independence. They are also not directly part of government like
874-577: The NPIA was to support the delivery of more effective policing and foster a culture of self-improvement around policing in the United Kingdom . Unlike PITO, it was planned that it would not be solely a supplier of national police IT systems. The key priorities of the NPIA were set by the National Policing Board, established in July 2006 to help strengthen the governance of policing in England and Wales. The National Policing Board , chaired by
912-655: The National Policing Improvement Agency to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), as an interim measure ahead of SOCA's migration into the new National Crime Agency on 7 October 2013. The NPIA retained responsibility for the training and accreditation of financial investigators until that moved to the National Crime Agency. However the Proceeds of Crime Centre was hosted for the NPIA by SOCA from October 2012. By December 2012, all other remaining NPIA operations had transferred to
950-740: The UK's Conservative-Liberal coalition published a review of NDPBs recommending closure or merger of nearly two hundred bodies, and the transfer of others to the private sector. This process was colloquially termed the "bonfire of the quangos". NDPBs are classified under code S.13112 of the European System of Accounts (ESA.95). However, Statistics UK does not break out the detail for these bodies and they are consolidated into General Government (S.1311). HMIC His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services ( HMICFRS ), formerly Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary ( HMIC ), has statutory responsibility for
988-475: The UK. According to the Cabinet Office their total expenditure for the financial year 2005–06 was £167 billion. As of March 2020, there were 237 non-departmental public bodies. Critics argued that the system was open to abuse as most NDPBs had their members directly appointed by government ministers without an election or consultation with the people. The press , critical of what was perceived as
1026-492: The agency. The HMIC report 'Closing the Gap' recommended closer working and partnerships especially in strategic areas such as protective service, and the first trial Collaboration Demonstration Sites were announced by the Home Office. In 2007, Peter Neyroud said that by creating a consensus with police forces and having some powers to mandate IT strategy over police forces, the agency would succeed where PITO had failed. The agency
1064-464: The following functions at a national level: The NPIA offered training courses at four core sites: The Bramshill and Harrogate centres transferred to the ownership of the Home Office on the NPIA's cessation of operations, with the College of Policing renting space. The Ryton and Harperley Hall sites and the tenancy at Wyboston passed to the newly formed College of Policing . The NPIA took on much of
1102-592: The inspection of the police forces of England and Wales, and since July 2017 the fire and rescue services of England. HMICFRS is headed by the Chief Inspector of Constabulary and Chief Inspector of Fire & Rescue Services . It has taken over the responsibilities of His Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate . Inspections may also be made, by invitation only, and on a non-statutory basis, of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and other organisations with policing responsibility. In England and Wales , HMICFRS
1140-573: The recommendation, and the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments was established in November 1995. While in opposition, the Labour Party promised to reduce the number and power of NDPBs. The use of NDPBs continued under the Labour government in office from 1997 to 2010, though the political controversy associated with NDPBs in the mid-1990s for the most part died away. In 2010
1178-546: The responsibility of devolved government , various lower tier boards (including a considerable number within the NHS), and also other boards operating in the public sector (e.g. school governors and police authorities). These appointed bodies performed a large variety of tasks, for example health trusts , or the Welsh Development Agency , and by 1992 were responsible for some 25% of all government expenditure in
National Policing Improvement Agency - Misplaced Pages Continue
1216-618: The work of the former Police Information Technology Organisation. This included: The Facial Images National Database (FIND) project, and a project to deliver a national case management system for child abuse investigations, were cancelled in early 2008 due to budget pressures. Non-departmental public body The term includes the four types of NDPB (executive, advisory, tribunal, and independent monitoring boards) but excludes public corporations and public broadcasters ( BBC , Channel 4 , and S4C ). The UK Government classifies bodies into four main types. The Scottish Government also has
1254-531: Was appointed as the first chair of the NPIA board in September 2006 and was extended in his role as chair by the Home Secretary in late 2010, when Neyroud announced his retirement. The board had representatives of the tripartite governance of policing: ACPO, APA and the Home Office. The NPIA had a number of challenges to meet, the implementation of the Bichard Inquiry after the Soham Murders and
1292-475: Was appointed in 1962. In July 2017, the role became Chief Inspector of Constabulary and Chief Inspector of Fire & Rescue Services. The incumbent is Andy Cooke, who was appointed in April 2022. In March 2021, HMICFRS published a report that endorsed a proposed clampdown on protests. In response to the report, a whistleblower alleged that its authors had reached conclusions favouring the government's view prior to gathering and assessing evidence, in breach of
1330-547: Was closed on 7 October 2013 on the coming into force of the Crime and Courts Act. To achieve its objectives, the NPIA co-ordinated organisational change across policy, processes, staff and technology both at national programme level and also with the county forces. For police information technology, the NPIA built upon ACPO 's information systems Strategy 'ISS4PS', which called on the police service to work together to adopt common standards, products and services. The NPIA provided
1368-580: Was expanded to include responsibility to assess and report on the efficiency, effectiveness and leadership of the 45 Fire & Rescue services in England. The inspectorate is also paid by other departments to report on the activities of non- Home Office bodies involved in law enforcement, such as the British Transport Police , the Civil Nuclear Constabulary , HM Revenue and Customs , the National Crime Agency ,
1406-509: Was the agency's first Chief Executive. He retired from the police service in December 2010 after submitting an independent review of police training and leadership to the Home Secretary. NPIA Deputy Chief Executive Nick Gargan was temporarily promoted to Chief Constable and became temporary Chief Executive of the NPIA in September 2010, when Neyroud began his independent review – the appointments were confirmed in January 2011. Peter Holland DL
1444-470: Was the subject of critical comment (externally and internally) as a consequence of high levels of staff turnover and the results of a damaging staff survey in the first year of its operation, which revealed high levels of staff dissatisfaction on a range of issues. Difficulties with recruitment and retention necessitated high levels of expenditure on contractors and private sector consultants to maintain service provision in some business units. On 1 April 2008,
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