One of the features of the New Public Management is the increased use of Annual Reports as a mechanism of accountability. The aim of the paper is to assess whether the annual reports of the Chief Constable and the Police Authority provide appropriate information for Police Authority members to hold the Chief Constable to account. As intermediate users, the members of the Police Authority require information on efficiency, effectiveness and for ‘intelligence gathering’. However, the evidence suggests that although the reports have improved over time they do not contain the information necessary for accountability. These findings raise concerns over the proposed role of the local Best Value policing plan in securing accountability.
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