West Midlands regional police partnership wins at NPCC awards

The West Midlands regional police partnership has been announced as Partnership of the Year at the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s (NPCC) Learning and Development Awards.

The partnership between Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Mercia and West Midlands police forces and Staffordshire University was formed in 2019 to deliver training for new officers under the Policing Qualification Education Framework (PEQF) and now delivers to more than 2500 student officers.

The award recognises work on widening participation initiatives, including 240 fully-funded places on the University’s Step Up to Policing course, response to the Covid pandemic, adapting to unprecedented application numbers due to the government’s national uplift programme, and investments made in staff development.

Director of Staffordshire University’s Institute of Policing, Dr Nick Howe, said: “It’s truly an honour to be recognised for the passion that our partnership has for delivering excellence.?

“On a personal level, I’m proud to work alongside so many talented colleagues both at the University and across our partner police forces. We’ve designed, developed and delivered all of our programmes to ensure they meet the ever-evolving requirements of the policing profession.

“It’s no mean feat but this award, paired with the incredible student officer achievements we’re seeing across the region, demonstrate that we’re exceeding so many expectations.”

Strategic PEQF Regional Programme Manager, Adam Taylor, said: “This award reflects the continued hard work and commitment of the West Midlands Region Partnership. We have consistently prioritised the varied operational needs of the forces alongside delivering the highest standards of adult learning.

“The award further emphasises the positive outcome from our recent Ofsted inspection and demonstrates our combined commitment to future thinking. The hard work and dedication continues as we continue to improve our programmes and bring existing colleagues on the PEQF journey with us.”

You can find out more about our partnership’s work here.