POLICE MAKING 'SIGNIFICANT' PROGRESS

The findings are contained in a nationwide assessment of police performance published by the Home Office.

The assessments bring together, for the first time, both the Government's performance indicators for each force in England and Wales, and the professional assessments of HM Inspectorate of Constabulary.

Sussex Police is rated either 'good' (four times) or 'fair' (three) in each of seven performance areas, with Force performance either 'improving' (in four areas) or 'stable' (in three).

The report says: "In 2004-05, Sussex made significant advances in performance management and bringing offenders to justice, which are beginning to show results. These include welcome reductions in domestic burglary and vehicle crime.

"Major crime investigation has delivered good results, and improvements in resourcing cross-border criminality should occur during 2005-06. This has been asssisted by continuous stability and effective leadership from the command team.

"The biggest challenges for the Force in 2005-06 will be around improving contact management systems for the reporting and recording of crime, the management of human resources, and continuing to improve crime reduction and detection."

Commenting on the assessment Mr Peter Jones, chairman of Sussex Police Authority, said: "This is one of the ways in which the performance of the Force is monitored and shows that we are continuing to improve, having progressed to comfortably above mid-table.

"The detailed assessment found many areas rated as good or excellent and the Authority and Force will be meeting in November to discuss how we can improve on these even further, and address the those categories assessed as fair."