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Gwent Police has been told it needs to improve how it investigates crime and protects vulnerable people. 

Inspectors found the force is improving the service it provides to victims of rape and other serious crime but said “overall, it brings too few offenders to justice and too many of its investigations lack effective supervision.” 

It has also been told it needs to improve how promptly it attends 999 calls, “in particular those involving domestic abuse victims,” and make sure it updates callers on delays to officers attending. 

The force also doesn’t “yet have a clear understanding” of why it takes longer to attend domestic abuse related incidents than other incidents. 

The organisation has also been told its leadership and management requires improvement, including in how it informs staff of changes. 

All other graded areas of the force’s work were ranked as adequate by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services in its PEEL inspection of the effectiveness of the force from 2023 to 2025. However, the force was marked “outstanding” for recording data about crime.

Inspectors also looked at how “effective a service” Gwent Police gives to victims of crime but doesn’t make a graded judgment for this area. 

Workloads for officers, including sergeants, was identified as a shortcoming in investigating crime. Of the 73 cases inspectors examined, only 64 had investigation plans which met national standards. “Realistic lines of inquiry” were also missed in 28 cases, with only 65 of 93 cases effectively supervised. 

Inspectors found, in November 2024, there were 36 sergeants overseeing more than 100 criminal investigations each, with one response policing sergeant responsible for 247 cases, while a sergeant in the “virtual response team” was supervising 336 cases. 

Several cases of rapes, assaults and sexual offences against children hadn’t received any “apparent supervisory action for weeks at a time”. 

Progress towards increasing the number of qualified investigators, and trainees, had improved since being required as an improvement in 2022. 

The timeliness of investigations could improve, inspectors said, as investigation times lengthened across response, neighbourhood policing, and for investigation hubs towards the end of last year. 

Demands on officers were also identified as behind the requirement for improvement in protecting vulnerable people. 

The force was also found to be making little use of legal powers to place restrictions on those accused of stalking, applying for just one stalking protection order in the year ending March 2024, despite recording 1,982 offences. 

It also hadn’t secured any sexual risk orders and its previous eight applications had been unsuccessful. It is working with its legal services department to improve the quality of applications. It was more successful in securing sexual harm prevention orders against convicted sex offenders. 

Gwent Police recorded 8,936 crimes related to domestic abuse in the year to September 2024, and made 99 domestic violence protection order applications – which was 1.1% of the total. That was within the “normal range” compared to other forces in England and Wales. However Gwent Police was less likely to make an arrest to aid an investigation into domestic abuse, doing so in just 34.2% of cases, compared to the 43.4% England and Wales rate. 

Teams for managing sexual and violent offenders are well staffed with manageable workloads, and the force ranked as adequate for managing offenders and suspects.

However in the year ending September 2024, it had the highest rate of all forces in England and Wales of domestic abuse offences lapsing from pre-charge bail – which carries restrictions on what a person can do – to being released under investigation without any conditions imposed on them, at 23.7%. 

Inspectors said the force needs to improve how it informs victims, witnesses and suspects of their status related to being bailed or released under investigation. 

The report said crimes involving sexual offences and antisocial behaviour were a particular example of its outstanding recording of crime. However it still needs to improve recording of protected characteristics of victims, such as race or sexual orientation, to monitor whether certain groups are more likely to be impacted by crime. 

HM Inspector of Constabulary Michelle Skeer said in her report: “I am satisfied with some aspects of the performance of Gwent Police in keeping people safe, reducing crime and providing victims with an effective service, but there are areas in which the force needs to improve.” 

‘Dedicated to improving our service’

Responding to the report, Gwent Police chief constable Mark Hobrough said: “I am pleased that HMICFRS has recognised us as outstanding in promptly and accurately recording crime, particularly in cases involving sexual offences and antisocial behaviour.

“We have made significant improvements in how we respond to the public, including consistent rapid responses to 999 calls from our force contact centre.”

He continued: “Amid the current scrutiny over officer behaviour, it is encouraging that inspectors have acknowledged our efforts to ensure high standards of conduct among our officers and staff, and that we have fostered an ethical working environment where our staff have the confidence to actively challenge discriminatory behaviour.

“We are making progress as a police service and have initiated several programmes in the last six months since this report to address the areas requiring improvement. We remain dedicated to improving our service to the communities, in particularly in protecting vulnerable people and ensuring justice for victims.

“We are committed in our mission to improving trust and confidence in our service and our focus is to ensure we are an inclusive, caring and connected organisation which is able to provide an outstanding service to all in our communities.”