The Police Foundation has recently highlighted the shortage of specialist investigatory and associated skills as a key reason behind the significant fall in the percentage of crimes being solved. How is the Met working to tackle this issue and increase the provision of such specialist training and skills across the force?

Through successful internal and external recruitment drives, the Met have now reached their planned workforce target for detectives.

Understandably, recruitment does bring an element of inexperience into the investigative field. However, detectives are supported by experienced investigative coaches and assessors throughout their development journey as trainee detectives, supporting them to become competent investigators of serious, complex and organised crime.

The Met are currently undergoing modernisation of the curriculum content of the Professionalising Investigation Process 2 (PIP2) Programme for trainee detectives and the Investigative Interviewing for Suspect, Victims and Witnesses in Serious and Complex Investigations courses to ensure that investigators are equipped with the most up to date skills and knowledge to achieve the best outcomes in pursuit of justice.

In order to provide some further assurance my Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime has requested that HMICFRS take a focused look at standards of investigation within the Met, in light of the evidence heard at the East London inquests into the victims of Stephen Port.