Welsh force criticised over response times and crime investigations

Mark Mansfield

A Welsh police force has been told to improve after inspectors found officers were taking too long to respond to incidents and criminal investigations were not meeting the required standard.

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) also found South Wales Police had become less effective at using police powers fairly and appropriately and at preventing and deterring crime since its previous inspection.

The force was assessed across eight areas of policing as part of the latest Police Effectiveness, Efficiency and Legitimacy (PEEL) inspection, with four areas graded adequate and four requiring improvement.

Inspectors found that while staffing and leadership in the force control room had improved, officers were still taking too long to attend incidents, with domestic abuse cases highlighted as a particular concern.

South Wales Police aims to attend urgent grade 1 incidents within 15 minutes and priority grade 2 incidents within one hour.

But in the year to March 2026, the median response time for grade 2 domestic abuse incidents was one hour and 51 minutes, compared with 47 minutes for other grade 2 calls.

The domestic abuse response time improved to one hour and 40 minutes between January and May this year, but inspectors said the force needed to do more to understand why it was still failing to meet its target.

In a review of 58 relevant cases, officers arrived within the force’s published attendance times in 45.

Risk assessments

Inspectors also raised concerns about how risks to victims were assessed when people first contacted the force.

They found call handlers were often summarising what callers had told them rather than completing a structured assessment of the potential risk.

In an initial examination of 65 cases, just three contained an accurate assessment of the risk posed to the victim.

HMICFRS said call handlers generally prioritised calls correctly and made appropriate checks for vulnerable and repeat victims, but most did not fully demonstrate a structured assessment of risk or consider the caller’s needs.

A subsequent review in April found signs of improvement, with 25 of 50 cases containing a correctly recorded risk assessment.

Emergency call answering had also improved. South Wales Police received 170 emergency 999 calls per 1,000 people in the year to March 2026, which was above the typical range for forces in England and Wales.

It answered 87.4% within 10 seconds, below the 90% standard, but more recent data covering the six months from October 2025 to March 2026 showed that figure had risen to 91.1%.

Concerns were also raised about criminal investigations.

The force has introduced a scrutiny process intended to improve investigations, but HMICFRS said the work had not yet resulted in improvements in either their quality or supervision.

Inspectors found victim needs assessments had been recorded in 53 of 58 relevant cases they examined, but were not always updated as investigations progressed.

Victims were informed of the outcome of investigations in 56 of 65 relevant cases. HMICFRS said both assessing victims’ needs and keeping them updated are rights under the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime.

Police powers

The report also identified shortcomings in the recording and oversight of police powers.

South Wales Police recorded 16,423 use-of-force incidents in the year to March 2025.

HMICFRS estimated that 26,866 should have been recorded, suggesting the force may have under-recorded its use of force by 10,443 incidents.

Some officers told inspectors they forgot or were too busy to submit forms for lower-level uses of force, including handcuffing a compliant person.

The force was also told to improve its oversight of police powers used on children after inspectors found safeguarding referrals were not always made when children were stopped and searched or had force used against them.

Stop and search

However, HMICFRS found evidence of improvement in the use of stop and search.

A review of 105 records estimated that 94.3% of searches carried out during 2025 had reasonable grounds recorded, compared with 86.5% in the inspectorate’s previous review.

The report also praised senior leaders for prioritising the safeguarding of vulnerable people and found the force had increased its use of preventative orders to protect victims.

However, inspectors raised separate concerns about the recording of rape. They examined 50 reported incidents classified as N100 – used where a report of rape requires further investigation to determine whether a crime should be recorded – and found 13 should have been recorded as rape crimes, but none had been.

His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Kathryn Stone said: “I am optimistic that South Wales Police will respond positively to our findings.

“It has the leadership, governance and processes it needs to make the required improvements, particularly in its approach to incidents and investigating crime on behalf of victims.

“These must now translate into effective practice. I will continue to monitor the force’s performance.”

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