Inspectorate recognises progress on Met’s mission to deliver for London

• Met makes major progress to fix problems identified by Inspectorate, previous reviews, and its own officers and staff.
• Following two and half years of intensive work, improvements are recognised in areas including call handling, child exploitation, public protection, workforce planning, culture and counter-corruption.
• Move is result of collective effort to change the Met and ensure it can deliver on its promise to Londoners – More Trust, Less Crime, High Standards.

The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has today (Thursday, 23 January 2025) moved out of special measures after making major improvements in many areas of service to London.

In June 2022 His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) placed the Met under its enhanced monitoring process called ‘Engage’ and highlighted concerns in a number of specific areas.

Now, as a result of improvements across the board, HMICFRS has removed the Met from ‘Engage’ entirely. The improvements made by the Met include:

• We are responding more quickly to emergencies and Londoners get our help when they need it most. Last year our dedicated staff and officers in MetCC responded to 4,660,891 contacts, of which 2,394,416 were 999 calls, 1,279,552 were 101 calls and 988,923 were digital contacts.
• The per cent of 999 calls answered within 10 seconds for 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024 was 86.2 per cent compared to 77.6 per cent the previous calendar year with January 2024 reaching 90.9 per cent.
• Trained 8000 officers in the identification of child exploitation, launched a new Children’s Strategy and significantly increased the number of officers in our child exploitation teams.
• Put hundreds of more officers in our domestic assault and rape and sexual offence teams, doubled the number of charges for rape and sexual offences and tripled the numbers in our nationally recognised Stalking Threat Assessment Centre.
• Our new neighbourhood policing model has been bolstered by an additional 500 staff ranging from Superintendent to PCSO, working closer than ever with communities to understand their concerns.
• Embedded new values in our organisation through our Culture Plan and London Race Action Plan and rolled out two days of face-to-face training for everyone in the Met to help deliver a change in the culture that our people want to see.
• Rooted out officers who do not meet the Met’s high standards by stepping up our proactive work to identify offenders and possible corruption.

To tackle the areas of concern identified by the Inspectorate and address failings brought to light by our own officers and other recent inquiries, including the Casey Review, the A New Met for London plan was launched in July 2022 setting out the collective mission to rebuild the organisation and deliver More Trust, Less Crime and High Standards.

Over the last two-and-a-half years Met officers and staff have worked tirelessly to address more than 100 recommendations, several Causes for Concern and improve our service to London in areas far beyond those highlighted by HMICFRS. They have done so in the face of significant budget challenges, the sustained demand of public order and protest in London, increased scrutiny and accountability, all while continuing to do their day jobs keeping Londoner’s safe.

Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said:

“The progress we have made over the last two-and-a-half years would not have been possible without the unwavering passion, sense of duty, courage and hard work of our officers and staff in the face of some incredibly challenging circumstances.

“The whole of the Met has worked to fix our broken foundations and make sure our officers are set up to deliver for London.

“Their achievement is all the more extraordinary in a budget constrained, shrinking Met which is facing increased demand.

“Our exit from Engage is welcome recognition that we are on the right path to deliver on our promise to Londoners of More Trust, Less Crime and High Standards.”

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said:

“Today marks an important and welcome step in the Metropolitan Police’s improvement plan to increase standards and rebuild confidence. In London and across the country, communities rightly expect the highest standards from their local force.

“While the scale of the challenge is clear, and there have been many problems to deal with, the commitment and progress made by the Met Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, officers and staff across the capital in raising standards is extremely important, and reflects the hard work and dedication of all those involved.

“Everyone recognises that there is still more work that must be done to improve performance and restore public confidence, and I will continue to work closely with the Commissioner and the Mayor to ensure this is just the first step in a long-term mission to improve the Metropolitan Police and keep people safe across London.”

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said:

“I welcome His Majesty’s Inspectorate confirming that significant improvements are being made by the Met Police on both improved performance and transforming culture.

“This is down to the hard work of the Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, Met officers and staff, who are rebuilding public confidence and trust in the force, as well as record investment and support from City Hall. Emergency calls are now being answered faster, vetting is being strengthened and neighbourhood policing is being revitalised.

"Having asked the HMI to look in particular at concerns around child sexual exploitation, it's reassuring that the Met Police have made significant improvements in this area, including around missing children and victim blaming language.

“There’s still more to do, and as Mayor, I’ll continue to work with the Commissioner to ensure we drive through the further improvements needed as we build a safer London for everyone.”

The Inspectorate has recognised that the A New Met for London plan is achieving results, and the Met no longer requires increased scrutiny and oversight.

The full focus of the entire organisation remains on delivering the commitments made to London – More Trust, Less Crime and High Standards.