College of Policing
The challenge
The College of Policing aimed to establish a central hub to manage innovation consistently across all 43 UK forces. To do this, the organisation needed a tailored framework and toolkit that would help forces understand the role of innovation and apply it in a way that focused effort and delivered benefits.
The result
Ignite deployed experienced consultants with expertise in policing and change to design and deliver a programme of innovation support.
Key areas of delivery included:
An academic review defining innovation in a policing context and providing evidence to support leadership decisions around innovation, wellbeing, performance and legitimacy.
A modular innovation framework enabling system-wide, thematic or local improvement.
A reflective self-assessment tool to help forces identify high-return opportunities for building innovation capability.
Targeted support for the College’s network of police innovators, increasing its effectiveness and moving toward self-sustainability.
Operational testing of the framework and tools across 11 pilot forces.
Improved understanding and application of innovation across all 43 forces, with benefits aligned to the ambition of developing a self-funding system.
What made it successful
Outcome focus: the programme kept attention on how innovation could support high-quality policing and organisational performance.
Stakeholder engagement: over half of all forces were reached through early engagement and interactive workshops, supported by personalised input.
Tailored support: the programme recognised different maturity levels across forces and offered flexible ways to engage and apply tools.
Collaborative delivery: Ignite worked alongside teams within each police force, acting as a trusted partner and supporting the development of immediately usable ideas.
Relevant expertise: our consultants brought practical knowledge of change, design and delivery in policing contexts.