SENIOR police chiefs have pledged to continue to improve after concerns were raised about policing standards in Parliament.

During a parliamentary debate, Ben Maguire, the member of parliament for North Cornwall detailed a case of a constituent, Lisa Rufus whose son, Kye, suffered life changing injuries in a motorcycle accident in 2019.

He described a number of serious alleged failures in the subsequent investigation, including the destruction of the motorbike used by her son, contradictory accounts from officers and a professional standards review that initially upheld Mrs Rufus’ complaints but was later turned around after investigation.

In response, police chiefs apologised and detailed improvements being undertaken.

Jim Colwell, deputy chief constable for Devon and Cornwall Police said: “I deeply apologise for the unacceptable delays Ms Rufus has received whilst the circumstances of her son’s accident were investigated. This was an extremely traumatic incident for Kye and his family and our thoughts remain with them.

“It is vital our communities have confidence that when they complain about our service we will deal with their concerns in a sensitive and timely manner. In the last 12 months we have made significant investment improvements including the implementation of our Public Service Team who now sit within our Professional Standards Department and who are the first point of contact when a member of the public makes a complaint.

“As a result, the time taken for us to respond to initial complaints from the public has reduced from nearly 12 months to six weeks due to improved case ownership and we are doing all we can to resolve the complaint at the earliest opportunity.

“For those complaints that have remained unresolved for a significant period of time, we now have a dedicated resource in place resulting in a reduction of 45 per cent in outstanding cases since April. We are committed to bringing these numbers down further to deliver the improved service that our communities rightly deserve.

“In the Parliamentary debate, Mr Maguire also raised concerns about victims who had told him they had been left without updates on the progress of their case. I am confident that in the majority of cases we investigate victims are kept updated regularly in accordance with the Victims’ Code of Practice.

“However, I am concerned about the cases that Mr Maguire refers to and I have asked for an urgent review into their progress. It is vital that victims are kept informed so they feel part of what can be a long and emotionally demanding process.”

Alison Hernandez, the police and crime commissioner who oversees Devon and Cornwall Police added: “My office is continuing to closely scrutinise the performance of the police complaints department.

“In March we published a report which identified the unacceptable level of service being provided in 2023, but I would like to assure people that significant improvements are being made under the leadership of Chief Constable James Vaughan.

“In the last twelve months I have invested an additional £500,000 in improving the complaints functions to address the concerns I had identified.”