Strategic Policing Requirement

The Strategic Policing Requirement (SPR) sets out those threats which, in the Home Secretary’s view, are the biggest threat to public safety and must be given due regard by Police and Crime Commissioners when issuing or varying Police and Crime Plans.

It supports Commissioners as well as Chief Constables to plan, prepare and respond to these threats by clearly linking the local response to the national, highlighting the capabilities and partnerships that policing needs to ensure it can fulfil its national responsibilities.

A revised version of the Requirement was published in February 2023, which provided strengthened detail around the action required from policing at the local and regional level to the critical national threats.

The 2023 Strategic Policing Requirement sets out seven identified national threats. These are as follows:

• Violence against women and girls (VAWG)
• Terrorism
• Serious and organised crime
• National cyber incidents
• Child sexual abuse
• Public disorder
• Civil emergencies
  
  

These remain from the 2015 version with the addition in 2023 of violence against women and girls, reflecting the threat it presents to public safety and confidence.

Given this annual report is for the year April 2022 to March 2023, I have not responded in detail to the revised SPR due to the timing of its publication. However, as Police and Crime Commissioner, I am confident I have given due regard to the six threat areas identified in the previous SPR in my Police and Crime Plan, and in my role holding my Chief Constable to account. Violence against women and girls, while not previously contained in the SPR, is nonetheless a key focus of my Police and Crime Plan and has been given significant attention during 2022/23.

Contact us

If you have any comments on this Report or would like to know more about the work of the Commissioner, please contact us.

Previous