When Tom Winsor was appointed as the first non-police chief inspector of constabulary last year, I toyed with the idea that this could be a good thing. A breath of fresh air: focusing on the public rather than just the profession; allowing innovative new ideas brought from across the public sector and beyond. However, I quickly came to the conclusion that his appointment was actually a bad decision made for tactical political reasons rather than one aimed at bringing external scrutiny and new ideas into policing.

So I was interested in his first public speech yesterday after seven months ‘touring and listening’ across the country. This could have been the opportunity to prove that a fresh set of eyes could lead to interesting analysis and imaginative perspectives. I was disappointed.

There is nothing in his speech which is objectionable. He emphasises the special nature of UK ‘policing by consent’; praises those who do this difficult job; touches on the changing nature of crime and policing in a world where both police and criminals can use technology and suggests that it’s a good idea to focus on preventing crime as well as catching criminals. None of these conclusions are wrong, but all of them could have been said by almost anybody without a seven-month self-imposed silent study tour.

At one point he talks of the partnership work necessary to deal with antisocial behaviour. Crime and Disorder Partnerships and neighbourhood policing teams are key achievements in the last 15 years. They have been a major element in ensuring a ‘problem solving’ approach to tackling crime – and its causes – using the most appropriate agencies and professionals alongside the police. But you wouldn’t need a seven-month tour to see how this work is now under threat and not just from cuts to frontline policing.

Arguably, the health service has never properly engaged with this joint work, and local government is increasingly withdrawing into silos as budget cuts bite. If joint working is important, I’d have liked to see Winsor focusing the inspectorate on how to demonstrate the value for money from partnership work in times of austerity.

Winsor rightly identifies that technology doesn’t only change the nature of some crime, but also helps police to be more effective and provides opportunities for solving crime and catching criminals. This requires much more emphasis on joint procurement and evidence of what works. One of the disadvantages of individually elected ‘big beast’ police and crime commissioners is that there is a risk of a hiatus in the slow, but steady, work that was already happening to ensure cooperation across forces in things like joint procurement. There was no mention of this danger. Furthermore,  this government’s ‘bonfire of the quangos’ saw the dismantling of the National Police Improvement Agency who had the task of ensuring more effective IT provision before any real thought had been given to where and how this would be replaced.

Furthermore, it is hard to argue that this government has recognised the contribution that technology can play in helping the police and keeping us safe when they’ve legislated to make it more difficult to use CCTV and DNA to catch criminals.

Finally, this speech was billed as proposing a shift towards ‘preventing’ crime. The last Labour government made ‘tough on crime – tough on the causes of crime’ a reality with better joint working, more drug treatment, a focus on repeat offenders and innovative work with manufacturers and others to design out opportunities for crime. The speech added nothing new and, in its emphasis on ‘prevention rather than just catching criminals’, it risked downplaying the needs of victims of crime. In fact, there was little in the speech about the needs of victims or communities.

The publicly stated role of the Inspectorate of Constabulary is ‘to ask the questions citizens would ask’. On the evidence of this speech, not only were there no new answers, but they haven’t even yet started asking the right questions.

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Jacqui Smith is former home secretary, writes the Monday Politics column for Progress, and tweets @smithjj62

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Photo: Ian Britton