Best Use of Thought Leadership
Policing in the UK is facing significant challenges, with only half of the population expressing confidence in law enforcement as crime evolves and technology complicates evidence-gathering. Recognizing the need for reform, PwC developed a paper, ‘A New Era for Policing’ which proposed clear and practical interventions after which they initiated discussions among key stakeholders, ultimately influencing major reforms announced by the Home Secretary to enhance public trust and address societal concerns.
Policing in the UK is at a critical juncture, and half the population currently have little confidence in the police. Not only is the nature of crime changing, but the growing use of mobile phones and other technology in everyday life means they also feature in traditional types of crime, making evidence-gathering more complex, and adding a further challenge. Our world is more connected, and threats are manifesting on a nation-wide scale, yet the current organising model for national policing is diffuse, and relies on willing cooperation through a loose network of inherently local organisations. This fragmented approach is not fit for purpose in today’s society.
Given policing’s fundamental duty to protect the public, PwC recognised that reforming UK policing to make it fit for the future represented an important social problem, which needed solving. While it provides an informal co-ordinating forum for the country’s local forces, The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) has limited size and faces many operational challenges, so it was unlikely that an examination of the situation would ever be commissioned as a traditional consulting piece. Instead, the firm took the initiative and proactively set out to stimulate and inform the debate through thought leadership.
Based on PwC’s experience of working with every one of the UK’s 45 territorial police forces, insights from the firm’s own sector experts and additional research, it developed a paper, ‘A New Era for Policing’. The paper proposed six clear and practical interventions, including a national policing HQ, a capability-led policing model, improved use of technology, and an overhaul of police funding.
A New Era for Policing was shared with key policing leaders, in the NPCC, government and local forces, and triggered discussions that led to PwC facilitating a meeting of senior practitioners and policymakers. There, the paper provided a catalyst and focus for discussion, to align opinions into a single voice for the group.
The group’s collective proposition was captured in a further paper that went to the Home Secretary, who met to discuss it with policing leaders and subsequently briefed the Prime Minister. In November 2024, the Home Secretary announced major reforms to UK policing, including a new unit to monitor performance and deliver practical, public-facing improvements that build trust and help solve an important social problem.
Unusually for a thought leadership piece, A New Era for Policing went wholly under the public radar of news and social media. Instead, it sought to deliver well-informed proposals to a small, but carefully-targeted audience, and its effectiveness can be gauged by the government policy changes it has helped drive. Rather than raising the PwC’s public profile, it has served to strengthen the firm’s relationships within the policing system and – for the consulting industry as a whole – it has shown how trusted and impartial advisers can bring new and considered perspectives that make a real impact on issues of national importance
View the PwC profile in the MCA Members Directory.