Daniel Tilley

Police  Headquarters, Middlemoor,  Exeter, Devon,  EX2 ?HQ 

e 101 Non-urgent 
e 999 in an emergency 
6  www.devon-cornwall.police.uk  @)  dc_police.999 
9101@dc.police.uk 

O@DC_Police 

DCPolice 

O DevonAndCornwallPolice 

6 April 2023 

Mr Andrew Cox 
HM  Senior Coroner for Cornwall 

and  the Isles of Scilly 

The New Lodge 
Penmount 
Truro TR4 9AA 

Dear Mr Cox 

INQUEST INTO THE DEATH OF  DANIEL TILLEY 

I am  writing  in  relation to  the above inquest and,  specifically, the  Regulation 28  report 
to  prevent future  deaths  that you  have  directed  to  the  Chief Constable  following  the 
conclusion  of the inquest hearing. 

Firstly, I want to  take  this  opportunity to  both  express  my personal  condolences  and 
reiterate  those  previously  offered  at  the  inquest  on  behalf  of  Devon  and  Cornwall 
Police,  to  Daniel's friends  and  family for their loss. 

Secondly,  I would  like  to  pass  on  the  Chief Constable's sincere  gratitude to  you  for 
proactively extending  the  usual  56-day  period  in which  to  respond  to  the  Regulation 
28  report.  I understand that this was in  part  in  recognition  of the fact that, at the time 
of  the  conclusion  of the  inquest  into  Daniel's  death,  the  Chief  Constable  had  not 
started work with Devon and Cornwall Police. Whilst he is unable to write this response 
to you  personally, he  is thankful for your generous approach  in this respect. 

Finally, I am  grateful to you  generally for bringing  the matters of concern  raised  in  the 
Regulation  28  report to  my attention.  I welcome the  opportunity to  reassure  you  that 
we have very seriously and carefully considered what we can  learn from Daniel's death 
with a view to improve the service that we provide to the public. If you have any queries 
or concerns arising  out of th is response , then  I would welcome discussing these with 
you . 

I will  use  the  remainder of this  correspondence to  respond  to  the  matters  of concern 
set out in the fifth  box of the  Regulation 28  report. 

 
 
 
 Staffing  levels in  the CMCUs in  relation  to the workloads experienced 

Staffing levels 

As was  highlighted  in  the  evidence given  at the  inquest, the  reasons  for the  demand 
in the CMCU are multi-factorial. The reasons include shortages in  staffing numbers as 
a  result  of  ongoing  recruitment  challenges  and  high  staff  turnover,  high  sickness 
absence, in  addition  to  associated  challenges  with  facilitating  training,  limitations  of 
outdated  computer systems,  and  lengthy processes and  procedures. 

The  force  has  produced  a  'road  map'  which  is  scrutinised  through  our  governance 
processes  and  His  Majesty's  Inspectorate  of  Constabulary  and  Fire  &  Rescue 
Services ("HMICFRS") . This  includes our plans to  improve our Contact provision,  i.e. 
how  we  address  and  respond  to  incoming  contact  requesting  assistance  from  the 
public. 

As  of  January  2023,  we  have  138  Radio  Dispatch  Officers  (now  called  Resource 
Incident  Management  Officers  (RIMOs))  against  a  design  of  143  and  191  Contact 
Officers against a design of 194,  which  represents an  increase in  staffing  levels since 
the  inquest.  These  staffing  levels were  identified  by  reference  to  a review  by  BT, an 
independent  consultant  who  examined  our  processes  and  staffing  numbers  (as 
previously shared  in  the inquest). 

We  opened  a further  recruitment  campaign  in  January 2023.  Further campaigns  are 
scheduled  and  are due to take place until  retention  is  stabilised. 

The uplift in  numbers will enable the force to  answer emergency and  non-emergency 
calls within  adequate timeframes. 

In  addition , the  RIMO  role  has been  regraded through a job evaluation process and  a 
salary  increase  awarded  which  we  anticipate  will  assist  with  retention .  During  exit 
interviews upon leaving the organisation, our outgoing staff have previously raised the 
issue of pay as  one of the reasons for leaving the police. 

New software and  technological changes 

As you  have referenced  in the Regulation 28  report, evidence was given at the inquest 
outlining  that  new  software  was  to  be  implemented  in  the  CMCU  with  the  aim  of 
improving the Contact provision to the public. 

The  first  new  system , NICHE  (a  comprehensive  records  management  system)  was 
introduced  in  November  2022.  The  second  system,  Single  Online  Home,  was 
introduced in  March 2023 . The third system AACC7,  is now expected to be introduced 
no later than May 2023.  These new systems will reduce duplication - currently officers 
and  staff have to  double key a lot of information  and  update  information  manually on 
various systems, which slows down process times and  moving information around the 
Contact  Centre . The  new  systems  will  also  improve  process  times  and  automate  in 
part,  leading to  better public service delivery and  answering  calls. 

Page  J  2 

 Our  current  email  contact  channel  provides  the  public  an  opportunity  to  send  in 
information  in  a 'free text'  format.  This  has  changed  with  Single  Online  Home,  where 
any submissions from  the  public will  have to  be presented  to  us  in  a more structured 
manner.  This  will  allow  queries  to  be  answered  more  efficiently  and  directed  to  the 
most appropriate area of the organisation  and  it is the  hope that it will  avoid follow up 
calls from the public to the CMCU to  get the  right information. 

AACC? will allow us to introduce call backs to the public, which will reduce the number 
of abandoned  calls to  our 101  service because individuals will  not have to wait on the 
phone line. We will be able to have a single voice queue which will improve 101  answer 
times.  These advancements will  support CMCU  staff in their roles. 

In  addition,  we  have  been  introducing  leaner  processes  to  improve  clarity  of 
responsibility in turn  leading to  less time spent on  calls  and  follow up work. 

Other improvements to the  management of communication with the public 

While  this  does  not  directly  address  the  specific  concerns  that  you  raised  in  the 
Regulation  28  report,  I would  also  like  to  take  this  opportunity to  outline  changes  to 
our practices that have been made in  relation to how we  manage contact to  and  from 
the public,  as these changes will  also serve to ease the pressure on the  CMCU. 

The changes and  improvements are as follows : 

•  The  force  is  working  to  understand  the  data  behind  abandoned  calls;  for 
example,  whether  abandoned  calls  represent  the  public  abandoning  calls 
altogether,  or whether they  represent the  public  moving  to  a different method 
of contact that provides a quicker response (such  as  a 101  call  or web chat). 

•  Some  management  of  incoming  contact  from  the  public  has  moved  from 
Contact to  local  basic command  units  (BCUs - basically,  local  policing  areas) 
to free  up  RIMO time to take 999  calls. 

•  We  have  increased  our focus  on  maximising the wellbeing  of our staff and  the 
support  offered  to  them . We  have  dedicated  Human  Resources  provision  in 
place  to  provide  enhanced  support  for  individuals  through:  effective  people 
management;  increasing  effectiveness  of early  interventions  for  absences  to 
avoid  unnecessary  escalation;  effective  and 
timely  use  of  workplace 
adjustments;  empower  and  increase  the  confidence  of  our  managers;  and 
potentially an  increase in  informal performance management processes should 
managers not undertake their responsibilities effectively. This is with the overall 
aim of improving performance and  retention and thus contribute to an  improved 
service to our communities.  Since the introduction of this team  in  October 2022 
sickness levels have reduced from  15% absence rate to  11 % in  January 2023 . 
This  is  particularly  important to  the  CMCU  as  high  stress  levels  was  another 
in  exit  interviews  as  a  reason  for  staff  leaving  the 
factor  highlighted 
organisation. 

Page I 3 

 •  We have also reviewed  (and will continue to review) the shift patterns to ensure 
we  have  more  staff working  in  peak demand  hours.  In  particular,  the  Incident 
Resolution  Centre (IRC)  moved to  a new shift pattern as  of January 2023.  The 
IRC  role  is  one of managing demand; the team  undertakes crime-related tasks 
and crime screening, with the effect of reducing  repeat calls to the organisation 
and  the  early  resolution  of complaints,  allegations,  and  incidents. A  new  shift 
pattern  has  also  been  agreed  for contact handlers  and  will  be  implemented  in 
line with  the  Police Staff Handbook,  which we  anticipate being  implemented  in 
July 2023. 

•  An  independent  review  was  carried  out  in  September 2022  by  Sopra  Steria, 
who are  an  external technological  consultant.  The purpose of this work was to 
review  Contact processes  so  the force  could  become  more  efficient,  to  better 
utilise  resources  and  enable  people  to  work  more  effectively,  therefore 
providing  a  better quality  of service  to  the  public  across  different  methods  of 
contact  (for  example:  999,  101,  email  and  webchat).  Sopra  Steria  identified 
process  improvements  which  are  now  being  reviewed  with  a view to  improve 
to 
our  service  delivery.  These  external  consultants  provided  support 
understand,  by reference to the wider call centre industry, what further process 
improvements  and  areas  of  development  should  be  pursued  alongside  our 
ongoing  work  in  this  area.  Since  that  work was  carried  out,  process  reviews 
have  been  undertaken  concentrating  on  areas  such  as  missing  people, 
requests made by the public under Claire's Law and Sarah's Law, and domestic 
abuse.  This  resulted  in  nine  of  our  processes  being  streamlined  to  improve 
public service. 

•  The  introduction  of a new enhanced  leadership  team  in  September 2022  has 
been  leading  reviews  on  recruitment  and  retention,  demand  reduction,  daily 
performance,  staff engagement and  sickness absence. 

•  We  have an  in-depth  performance framework that provides focus for the team 

to  achieve good quality service and  drive performance standards . 

•  We  introduced  a  Demand  Reduction  team  to  identify  repeat  and  vulnerable 
callers .  In  addition,  this  looks  to  reduce  contact  from  persistent  /  nuisance 
callers,  utilising  partnership  work,  civil  orders,  and  prosecution  where 
appropriate  to  reduce  this  demand.  We  have  seen  a similar  issue  occur with 
digital contact: for example, one member of the public with mental health issues 
emailed  the force  3,000  times  in  August.  We  now have  processes  in  place to 
help  reduce the demand caused  by persistent/ nuisance emailers . 

•  We are also conducting  a training  review to ensure staff are  receiving  the  right 
training  and  consistently  using  the  knowledge  and  skills  that  this  training 
provides.  This  will  include  refresher  training  on  preservation  of evidence  and 
crime  prevention  advice  as  highlighted  by  the  HMICFRS.  This  took  place  in 
February 2023 and  further refresher training  is to take place in  April 2023. 

Page 14 

 •  We have also invited other forces who demonstrate good quality service in  this 
area  to  work with  us. This  includes  Humberside  Police  who  undertook a peer 
review  in  December 2023.  Recommendations  highlighted  the  areas  we  were 
focussing  on  and  confirmed our improvements were  in the correct areas. 

•  Finally,  we  opened  an  additional  six  front  offices  in  our  police  stations  in 
January  2023  (in  Tiverton,  Truro,  Falmouth,  Penzance,  Newton  Abbot  and 
Bude)  increasing  the  provision  of front  office  services.  This  enables  a  better 
service  to  the  public  by  providing  greater  connectivity  and  accessibility.  The 
front  office  staff  will  be  trained  to  deal  with  digital  demand  and  non-urgent 
contact  demand,  supported  by  new  technology,  significantly  expanding  the 
available resource base for Contact. 

We hope that this provides you with  some further reassurance in terms of the demand 
being  placed  on  the  CMCU. 

The adequacy  of the  number of uniformed  police  officers  available  to  respond 
in  a timely fashion  to the  demand seen  over the  summer months 

General position 

In  the first  instance,  I would  like to  place this  part of this  response  to  the  Regulation 
28  report in  what I hope will  be  helpful context. 

As was also highlighted in the evidence given at the inquest, the reasons for the surge 
in  demand  (and  impact  upon  uniform  officer  numbers  available  to  deal  with  that 
demand) during the summer period are  based  upon  several factors. 

Devon  and  Cornwall Police define the summer period  as  being  between 24 June and 
2 October. The summer period poses a significant and  unique challenge to  Devon and 
Cornwall  Police,  within  a policing  environment impacted  by  geography,  tourism,  and 
summer  demands.  Historically  we  have  seen  an  increase  in  crimes  and  incidents 
during the summer months that can  result in  increases in  demand  of up to  15%. 

By way of illustrating this,  the force  has: 

•  4,000  square  miles,  making  it  the  largest  geographic  police  force  area  in 

England . 

•  730 miles of coastline,  5 inhabited  islands and  13,600 miles of road . 

•  Rural areas comprising  85%  of the entire area. 

•  A huge mainland  policing  area:  149 miles long,  which  is  half the  distance from 

Land's End  to London. 

•  A 1.76  million  resident population , with  59%  living  in  rural  areas. 

•  6%  of areas falling  in  the most deprived areas in  England. 

Page 15 

 •  24% of residents aged  at least 65 years  old  (the  national average is  18%). 

•  Been an  outlier nationally on  mental health  hospital admissions. 

•  The second highest level  of tourism  in  the country behind  London. 

•  A  7%  increase  on  our  base  population  in  the  summer  period,  which  is  the 
highest in  England  and  Wales.  This equates to  125,000 extra people each day 
if spread across the whole year. 

•  Long  travel  times  -

for  example,  a  journey  from  Launceston  to  the  nearest 
custody centre (in  Newquay)  is  a 40-mile round  trip for officers with  a prisoner. 

Devon and  Cornwall Police are funded at a rate of 55p per day per person in the force 
area, compared to the average in  England and Wales of 58p (HMICFRS 2022). Almost 
a  third  of the  force's  annual  overtime  budget  is  spent  within  the  summer  policing 
period. 

Demand since summer 2019 

Since summer 2019,  recorded  crime in the Devon and  Cornwall  Police force area has 
risen  by 7.8% - representing  an  additional 2,294 crimes. 

The position  in  terms of contact from the public can  be  summarised  as follows: 

•  Overall  demand  is  lower compared to 2019;  however,  demand  is  much  higher 

across emergency and  priority call  lines. 

•  During  summer  2022  there  were  308,900  total  calls  for  service,  which  is  a 
decrease of 4.3% on the previous year;  however, emergency 999 calls (98,910 
calls in  total)  increased by 24.8% (19,658 calls). 

•  101  calls  received  were  down  by  28.3%  (53,528  calls);  however,  the  101 
alternatives (email, text and  webchat)  rose by 51.4% (with  20,100 instances of 
contact) . 

•  The  number of incidents  reported  to  the  police  has  decreased  by  9.2%  since 
summer 2019;  however, this is  a more complex picture with  incidents involving 
vulnerable  people  (such  as  people  with  mental  health  issues)  increasing  by 
20 .2%  (679  incidents),  the  volume  of incidents  closed  with  a  crime  recorded 
against  them  increased  by  10.6%  (1,235  incidents)  and  the  proportion  of 
incidents  attended  within  time  tolerances  (response  times)  has  decreased 
across all  response types compared  to  summer 2019. 

Page 16 

 We  have  more  recently  relied  on  pre-pandemic  data  due  to  the  large  variations  in 
demand  experienced  during  and  post-pandemic.  Last  year for  example  we  saw  an 
unusually  large  increase  (18%  across  the  whole  summer  but  peaking  at  24%  in 
August)  in  demand  compared  to the winter months October 2021  to March 2022 . It is 
still  not clear whether these increases will  be  maintained  into the future.  Our summer 
contingency  planning  assumptions  are  based  on  pre-pandemic figures  but  adjusted 
for most recent experience. 

It is also worthy of note that Devon and Cornwall Police has the most extreme variance 
between  summer and  winter policing  demand  of any force  in  England  and  Wales, as 
the following  graph  hopefully illustrates: 

Variance in crime in April • September per police force area : 

10 ,0 96 

8.0!4 

8,5½ 

6,011 

2.0ll 

4.0ll 

0.0!4  III I II I I I I II I IIIIIIIII I I I II ' • - -

-2 .0 % 

-4 .0 16 

-6 .016 

'  I  I  I I I III

-

Changes to Devon  and  Cornwall  Police's approach to the summer period 

From 2020 onwards, a number of changes and improvements have been implemented 
to try and  alleviate the pressure on the force during the summer period. 

The  Police workforce  is  set in  relation to funding  and  currently stands at 3,611  police 
officers,  154  police  community  support  officers  ("PCSOs")  and  2,249  police  staff. 
Since 2019 the force  has  benefitted from  an  increase of 491  police officers  as  a part 
of the  national  police  uplift  programme , i.e.  the  government's  programme  to  recruit 
more  police  officers. 
In  relation  to  Newquay,  an  uplift  of four  uniform  officers  was 
made  by  the  end  of  2019  to  uniform  response ,  plus  an  additional  dedicated 
Neighbourhood Beat Manager (police officer)  post. 

Crucially,  the  Office  of  the  Police  and  Crime  Commissioner  ("OPCC")  has  made 
additional  fund ing  available  (£400,000  per  year  since  2020)  to  the  force  during  the 
summer which  has  been  allocated  in  line  with  the  demand  on  the  different areas  of 
the organisation and  in accordance with risk assessments carried out in  relation to the 
summer period. 

Page 17 

 This  has  enabled  the  force  (with  its  partners)  to  implement some  new  practices  and 
approaches to try and improve capacity and our performance and ease demand during 
the summer period.  These include: 

•  The creation  of an  investigative support group.  This will  represent a number of 
investigators  who  can  be  deployed  dynamically  /  urgently  to  support 
investigations. 

•  Additional  CCTV  is  now  available  (as  a direct  result  of the  additional  funding 

from  the  OPCC). 

•  Domestic  Abuse  Safeguarding  Cars  are  in  place  in  Plymouth  and  Cornwall 
during  the  summer.  The  dedicated  unmarked  vehicle  will  see  an  Independent 
Domestic Violence Advisor (IDVA)  and  a plain  clothes  police  officer deployed 
together  to  the  scene  of  reported  domestic  abuse .  This  will  provide  an 
immediate response to  incidents of domestic abuse at the most critical  point to 
provide  the  best  support  to  victims,  while  enabling  officers  to  gather  quality 
evidence and  to  provide a thorough  risk assessment. 

•  Additional funding  for Victim  Care . 

•  Online consultation with  victims  is  now possible via the  GoodSAM  application, 
which  also  allows those  calling  the  police to  instantly share their  location  and 
live video. 

•  Further volunteers and  Special Constables have been taken  on. 

•  A  multi-agency response  is  now  in  place  to  try  and  assist  people  with  mental 
health  issues.  Dedicated  vehicles  are  in  multiple  areas  eight  hours  a  day  to 
respond  to  people  in  crisis  by  providing  early  intervention  and  proactive 
support. 

•  E-bikes are to be provided across the force for neighbourhood teams . 

We have also  undertaken a lot of work in  relation to how we deploy our resources,  to 
again try and  improve our performance during the summer period . 

Force  resource  allocation  is  based  upon  an  industry  standard  resource  allocation 
model.  This modelling has been enhanced by Devon and Cornwall Police over several 
years  to  take  into  account  a  range  of  factors  including  demand,  absences, 
abstractions , average time spent dealing with each crime type and  other performance 
factors. 

The  model  is  based  upon  the average demand  over the past five  years  and  gives an 
output  of  officers  required  per  BCU  to  maintain  a  '24/7'  response.  The  data  and 
professional  judgement  are  then  used  to  finalise  the  resource  allocation  locally  to 
consider local needs and  set levels of uniformed  police officers . Local  planning within 
BCUs takes place weekly to ensure officer numbers are met on  sections on a shift-by-
shift basis. 

Page I 8 

 This  does  mean  that  daily  resourcing  is  based  upon  average  demand  rathe r  than 
summer demand .  Therefore , at peak times such as the summer officers will inevitably, 
at  times,  be  stretched  in  terms  of  capacity.  To  mitigate  this  challenge  a  focused 
summer policing  response  is  put into place - Operation  Marnow - which  enables the 
central  coordination  of resources  using  a  flexible  approach  to  resourcing  across  all 
departments to  meet threat,  risk and demand on  the front line.  (See below) . 

Operation  Marnow  represents  the  Devon  and  Cornwall  Police  response  to  the 
increased  demand  in  the  summer  period. 
It  ensures  the  coordination  of resou rces 
with  a  full  command  structure  in  place.  This  ensures  appropriate  prioritisation  of 
resources , a consistency of approach  and  a flexible  response to  demand  / threats.  It 
is  headed  by a Gold  (Strategic) Commander at chief officer level and  Silver (Tactical) 
Commander at  chief superintendent  level.  Weekly  coordination  meetings  are  held, 
with these chaired by the Silver Commander to bring together leads from  all key areas 
of the organisation . 

During the summer period, the force's tactical planning  is  heavily focused  on flexibility 
and  contingency planning , to account for the fluctuating  nature of the demands on the 
force . Planning  across the force  is  assessed  by  reference to a grading  system  which 
classifies  demand  as  green , amber, red  or  black.  This  is  illustrated  in  the  following 
table: 

RAGB 
Green 

Amber 

Red 

Black 

Criteria 

Policing  services demand  is within  standard  deviations. Whilst there 
may be  some fluctuation  creating  minor impacts these are  understood 
and  can  be  absorbed through  usual  policy and  procedure. 
Policing  services are experiencing  moderate impact.  There are  some 
occasions where demand is exceeding  capacity. There is  a requirement to 
increase capacity  in order to  meet on  going demands and  calls for policing 
services. 
Policing  services are experiencing severe impact. There are many occasions 
where demand  is  exceeding capacity. The  number of unattended calls for 
services is extremely  high . The  number of deferred incidents are growing. 
Demands on  policing  are at a level where  Business as  Usual (BAU) cannot 
be  sustained . 
In  order for the force to  meet local and  national requirements , local services 
must be  restricted  to events relatinq  to  ECHR article 2 riqhts . 

The force's contingency plans in  relation to demand , deployment and  crime allocation 
policies  have  been  refreshed  and  quality  assured.  This  enables  the  force  to  take  a 
proportionate  approach  when  demand  reaches  critical  levels, and  it  also  allows  the 
force  to  consider  potential  early  activation  of  contingency  plans  to  negate  other 
organisational or service risks .  An  example contingency plan is to  stop all training . 

Every area of the organisation has undertaken reviews of their continuity plans, which 
are  now in  place.  Alongside  'tipping  points'  in respect  of demand  and  performance, 
i.e., the point where the force's ability to provide policing services is adversely affected , 
the weekly coordination  meeting tracks  our continuity  plans , particularly in  respect of 
demand and  personnel absences . 

Page 19 

 An  existing  annual  leave  restriction  is  in  place,  with  uniformed  officers  limited  to  two 
weeks  of annual  leave  in  the  summer period.  Force  resources  are  rostered  to  cover 
key events and  the August bank holiday weekend . 

A  'Tipping  Points' Qliksense  (data  visualisation  tool)  application  has  been developed 
and  proved  to  be  a  useful  tool  to  identify  critical  thresholds  in  crime,  anti-social 
behaviour,  and  domestic abuse demand.  This was  used  to  good  effect by  Operation. 
Marnow  Silver  meetings  to  inform  discussion  about  demand  across  the  force  and 
identify geographic areas that were facing the greatest challenges. 

Last year  a focused  effort to  reduce  backlogs  in  routine  demand  saw  attendance  at 
routine  incidents  hold  steady  at  above  80%  attended  within  48  hours,  despite  the 
increase  in  calls  for  service  over  the  summer.  While  the  percentage  responded  to 
within threshold  remained  below 2019  levels it was  higher than 2021. 

The  Gold  Operation  Marnow  approach  to  tackling  the  challenges  (and  especially 
issues of backlogs and workloads) saw improvements in our routine demand response 
times and  a relative flattening  of the increasing trend  in  workloads . 

We  have  also  increased  our  focus  on  the  welfare  of  our  personnel  and  several 
wellbeing  initiatives are  implemented  during the  summer focusing  on  four key  areas: 
financial  vulnerability;  physical  fitness  and  health:  diet,  nutrition ,  and  psychological 
health ; and caring and dependents responsibilities.  It is our hope that this will increase 
our resilience as an  organisation during the summer period .  Despite the pressure on 
officers  and  staff,  absence  rates  in  the  last summer  period  remained  close  to  2019 
levels suggesting ? positive impact on  staff wellbeing  of effective management of the 
issues. 

Finally, we have a process of recording and implementing learning from each summer 
period,  which  includes  the  formal  provision  of  personnel  feedback  and  bespoke 
feedback sessions with those in key roles, which is taken into the next planning phase. 

The force and  OPCC have provided a significant amount of evidence on the impact of 
the demand  increases on  our ability to respond  to  the  Home Office both  in  support of 
a special grant and  more recently in  support of the modelling being done to revise the 
police  core  grant funding  allocation  formula  - the  means  by  which  the  Home  Office 
determine how much of the core grant is  allocated to each  police force . 

I hope  that this  provides  you  with  some  reassurance  that, while  the  summer period 
remains a difficult and challenging time in terms of the demand on  Devon and Cornwall 
Police , we are working  hard to  do what we can  to alleviate the associated pressures. 

Yours sincerely 

Acting Chief Constable 

Page 110

Rt Hon Chris Philp MP 
Minister of State for Crime, 
Policing and Fire 

2 Marsham Street 
London SW1P 4DF 
www.gov.uk/home-office 

Mr Andrew J Cox 
HM Coroner for Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly 
HM Coroner's Office  
Pydar House, Pydar Street 
Truro 
Cornwall 
TR1 1XU 

         16 January 2023 

Dear Mr Cox, 

Thank you for your letter of 6 December to the Home Secretary on the recent inquest into 
the death of Mr Daniel Lee Tilley and for sharing your report.  I am replying as the Minister 
of State for Crime, Policing and Fire.  I am very sorry to hear of Mr Tilley’s death and offer 
my condolences to his family and friends. 

This Government is absolutely committed to giving the police the resources they need to 
do their vital work reducing crime and keeping the public safe.  That is why we are 
recruiting 20,000 additional officers and proposing to provide up to £17.2 billion to policing 
in 2023-24.  Next year, Devon and Cornwall Police will receive up to £392 million, an 
increase of up to £15 million when compared to 2022-23.  As a result of their hard work 
and commitment police forces in England and Wales have recruited 15,343 additional 
officers, as at 30 September 2022, 77% of the 20,000 officer target.  As at 30 September 
2022, Devon and Cornwall Constabulary has recruited 313 additional uplift officers against 
a total three year allocation of 469 officers. 

Around two-thirds of funding for Police and Crime Commissioners comes directly from 
government grants, with the remainder coming from the police precept.  This council tax 
precept is a decision for each Police and Crime Commissioner. 

We are committed to introducing a new police funding formula that fairly and transparently 
distributes core grant funding to the 43 police forces in England and Wales.  The Review 
will rightly consider all aspects of the funding formula, including an evidence-based 
assessment of policing demand and the relative impact of local factors on forces.  We are 
currently testing around 80 indicators for inclusion in the model.  These cover factors such 
as population size and characteristics, deprivation, rurality, road infrastructure, levels of 
tourism and local amenities.  

Thank you again for taking the time to write and I hope this helps address the points 
raised. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
      
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Yours sincerely, 

Rt Hon Chris Philp MP