His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) have today awarded Humberside Police one of the highest ever grades in the modern era, with the force judged outstanding in six out of nine categories.

Huge credit needs to go to Chief Constable Lee Freeman under whose leadership these results have been achieved, and former Police and Crime Commissioner Keith Hunter who supported the reforms which produced these results every step of the way and lost office just as the inspection began.

One radical reform which has contributed to this success is the force’s ‘Right Care, Right Person’ principle, which has freed up officers to spend time on the public’s priorities by reducing the time police spend with people in mental health crisis. Those who are suffering desperately need more support, but the police are usually not the right service to be providing it.

Humberside has been described in the media this morning as a “rare success story for British policing”. We should not forget that the force was ranked as failing just five years ago. We should be immensely grateful to our excellent police officers and staff from the frontline to the top for this remarkable turnaround.