POLICE and Crime Commissioner Julia Mulligan said progress had been made towards her plans for the future of safety in the region.

In her annual report, which assesses progress made against the 2013-2016 Police and Crime Plan, Mrs Mulligan said performance of North Yorkshire Police, crime statistics and funding allocation had led to progress in protecting vulnerable people, reducing crime and antisocial behaviour, prevention and early intervention, and improving victim care.

Mrs Mulligan said “significant progress” had been made in many areas. “Policing continued to evolve both in North Yorkshire and across the country last year. The demands on our police service are changing, now much more focused on complex crimes like sexual abuse and fraud, with protecting and caring for vulnerable people the cornerstone of a modern police force.

“The work we have done during 2016/17 with health partners, and especially on mental health, stands out, as does the work on cybercrime and digital forensics, which is one part of our significant investment in IT. I am also pleased to say North Yorkshire started and finished the year as the safest place in England.”

Among the achievements Mrs Mulligan listed was the start of work on a £3m strategy to help protect vulnerable people, the launch of a two-year recruitment drive to return frontline officer numbers last seen in 2012, the sale of the former headquarters in Newby Wiske and the move to Alverton Court in Northallerton.

A recruitment drive has also been launched to increase the number of Police Community Support Officers from 183 to 214.

Mrs Mulligan also highlighted the April 2016 launch of the Rural Taskforce, which has seen 101 arrests, 71 reports for summons, 39 seized vehicles and security advice given in rural areas in the first 12 months of operation.

The report also showed the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner cost about £908,000 in 2016/17, while North Yorkshire Police was budgeted about £1.42m with “a small overspend in 2016/17 of £263,000”.

The report said this overspend had been funded from the release of earmarked reserves by police, “and therefore in itself is not a concern”.