The Tripartite Relationship
An overview of the relationship between Government and the Home Secretary, Chief Police Officers and Police Authorities
The tripartite system maintains a balance in powers between the respective parties (Home Secretary, Chief Officers of Police and Police Authorities).
As part of the structure the Home Secretary Chairs the National Policing Board, which includes representatives of the Association of Chief Police Officers and Association of Police Authorities.
The Board:
- agrees the Home Secretary's annual national strategic priorities for policing and key priorities for the National Policing Improvement Agency;
- sets agreed priorities for the police reform programme;
- enables ministers, the professional leaders of the service and police authorities to monitor progress in implementing the reform programme and identify and overcome barriers to delivery; and
- provides a regular forum for debate and three way communication between the tripartite partners on the opportunities and challenges facing policing.
A summary of specific roles is shown below:
Home Secretary
- The Home Secretary has overall responsibility for ensuring the delivery of an efficient and effective police service in England and Wales.
- The national framework includes the key priorities for policing and the means by which achievement of these priorities will be measured.
- Certain policing approaches (e.g. the National Intelligence Model) and technology (e.g. Airwave) are prescribed nationally to ensure consistency and economies of scale.
- The Home Secretary has national responsibility for counter-terrorism and the Security Service and consequent oversight of force level input to the national counter-terrorist effort.
- The Home Secretary seeks to ensure there is adequate provision in the local government settlement for the central police grant.
- Pay and conditions, pensions and regulations are set nationally to ensure fairness and consistency.
Chief Police Officers
- Chief Officers have operational responsibility for effective and efficient policing in their force area.
- Deployment of officers and staff and efficient resource usage are the responsibility of Chief Officers.
- Performance monitoring and evaluation against national and local performance indicators are the responsibility of Chief Officers.
- Reductions in crime, anti-social behaviour and disorder as well as improvement in public satisfaction and detections are the responsibility of Chief Officers.
- Chief Officers should ensure that their forces are able to deal effectively and efficiently with national and cross-border crime, including counter-terrorism.
- Chief Officers are responsible for ensuring that their force is working in partnership with the communities it serves and communicates effectively with local citizens. This includes the provision of information on local policing issues and openness to local people's views.
- Partnership working, both across the criminal justice service and with other local agencies, is the responsibility of Chief Officers.
Police Authorities
- Police authorities are responsible for ensuring that an effective and efficient police service is in place in their area.
- Police authorities select the Chief Officer for the force area. Police authorities set the personal performance objectives and review the performance appraisal of the Chief Officer. Police authorities decide the locally raised precept for policing (via the council tax) and allocate the budget to chief officers.
- Police authorities hold the Chief Officer to account for how the national key priorities are addressed in their force area and what arrangements are in place for identifying local priorities.
- Police authorities monitor the way in which the Police investigate complaints made by the public about police officers up to the rank of Chief Superintendent and to determine complaints against the Chief Officers.
- Police authorities should hold the Chief Officer to account for regular engagement and publication of information on force performance.
- Police authorities ensure that performance management arrangements are in place that are transparent and capable of interrogation.
- They should know whether their Chief is reducing crime, anti-social behaviour and disorder and making the best use of the resources available.
- Police authorities are responsible for ensuring that public accountability arrangements are in place at Basic Command Unit and neighbourhood level that enables local people to have a say in how they are policing and identify local priorities within the national framework.
Police Authorities are established under the Police Act 1996. The Police Reform Act of 2002 established the Independent Police Complaints Commission with powers to independently investigate the most serious complaints along with a guardianship over the whole police complaints system.
