NPIA Workforce Modernisation

Report: 10
Date: 14 October 2010
By: Director of Human Resources on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

This paper provides Members with an overview of the NPIA Workforce Modernisation Programme and related MPS Workforce Modernisation projects, and developments since the last update to REMCO on 21 May 2009.

A. Recommendations

That Members note the information about the Workforce Modernisation Programme contained in this report and developments since the last update to REMCO in May 2009.

B. Supporting information

Workforce Modernisation Programme

1. The Workforce Modernisation Programme was established by the National Police Improvement Agency (NPIA) in 2006 to help the police service improve the quality of service it delivers to the public whilst delivering value for money.

2. Drawing on findings from the public and private sectors, the programme is based on the premise that activities and working processes in areas of policing can be separated to include mixed teams of police officers and police staff that can then be assembled according to the powers, expertise and experience needed to provide a particular service.

3. Nine Constabularies have been piloting Workforce Modernisation programmes across the UK (see Appendix 1 for further details) including the MPS. The MPS programme coordinated by Territorial Policing, is comprised of two elements: Operation Sphere and Employer Supported Policing.

4. Operation Sphere has sought to increase operational effectiveness by providing officers based in non-operational roles with opportunities to undertake front line operational duties.

5. The Employer Supported Programme has sought to support police staff to become Special Constables, by training them and releasing them for operational roles.

6. A number of other programmes (not directly linked to the NPIA programme) under the theme of Workforce Modernisation have also been developed by MPS Business Groups and these are detailed in Section 2 of this report.

National Workforce Modernisation Programme: MPS demonstration sites

Operation Sphere

7. The rationale behind Operation Sphere is to enhance public safety by increasing the amount of police presence. The scheme makes use of Special Constables and operationally fit officers employed in various MPS business groups, who are not routinely deployed on patrol duties. There are now 467 officers available for deployment as part of Operation Sphere.

8. Since 2008, Operation Sphere officers have been deployed to support a wide range of MPS operations and undertaken duties in almost every area of operational activity. For example, Operation Sphere officers supported Operation Tyrol which was established to help deliver the Mayor’s promise to provide additional resources to tackle crime and disorder on the Transport Network. In 2009 Operation Sphere officers were deployed to support the pan London anti-burglary initiative Operation Spotlight and from 2009-2010 Special Constables and officers from the Department of Information provided more than 2,300 operational hours of support. BOCUs have also deployed Operation Sphere Officers to increase visibility and capacity in tackling anti-social behaviour and street crime which is a key strand of the ‘Presence’ agenda (as part of the Commissioner’s 5 P’s Programme).

The Employer Supported Programme

9. The Employer Supported Programme has sought to support MPS police staff to become Special Constables, by training them and releasing them for operational roles.

10. The MPS currently has 461 police staff who are MSC officers with deployments on the two 8 hour duties per month linked to an individual’s BOCU.

Evaluation of the Workforce Modernisation Demonstration Sites

11. Deloittes, on behalf of the NPIA, began evaluating the demonstration sites in Autumn 2007 and have since produced an independent assessment in the form of three interim reports and a final report. The interim reports focused mostly on the logistical challenges and the level of participation. In relation to the MPS the focus has been specifically around the appropriateness of the deployments (on Op. Sphere) and the effectiveness of the deployments (of the Special Constabulary).

12. The final report was published in March 2010, but it does not provide any detailed statistical analysis on either of the MPS sites due to the ‘nature of the projects and the limited timescales involved’. Despite this, the report makes the following observations of the MPS sites, when assessing performance;

• 75% of officers participating in the MPS Sphere project are achieving the “operationally effective” target
• Participation in the MPS ESP programme has remained at a similar level since April 2008 - consistently at approximately 3% of the total civilian workforce.

13. In terms of the effectiveness of the demonstration sites in improving the quality of service and value for money, NPIA conclude that they have been a short-term driver of improved efficiency but that the ability for Work Force Modernisation to fully realize long-term aims is not yet proven.

MPS Business Group Workforce Development Programmes

14. A number of other programmes (not directly linked to the NPIA programme) have been developed by MPS Business Groups to test the principles of Workforce Modernisation. These include the introduction of Police Staff Investigators; the implementation of Project Herald (Designated Detention Officer Inputters and Custody Nurse (Practitioners) and the introduction of Integrated Prosecution teams. Further information about these programmes is detailed below.

Police Staff Investigators

15. Police Staff Investigators (PSIs) have been trialled in Traffic Collision Investigations (CO15); Specialist Firearms Command (CO19); Professional Standards Investigations (DPS); Homicide Investigations (SCD1); Child Abuse Team (SCD5) and Financial Investigations (SCD6).

CO15 Collision Investigators

16. Historically, the MPS employed only police officers to perform the role of collision investigator. Once trained the role is recognised as attracting expert status by the courts and it supports many other investigations within the MPS, particularly those where GPS systems cannot be used such as tube tunnels. Six Police Staff Collision Investigators have been recruited and are currently being trained.

Central Operations CO19 Firearms Instructors

17. The Specialist Firearms Command, CO19 is the provider of firearms training for the MPS. Historically this is a role that has been performed by police officers.

18. The demand for firearms training is increasing year on year and this is likely to be exacerbated by the demands for armed policing at the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. There are 12 police staff firearms instructors now in post.

Directorate of Professional Standards Police Staff Investigators

19. There are currently 9 DPS Police Staff Investigators in post. A review of the role was undertaken last year and a number of initiatives have subsequently been introduced in relation to their training and development to improve resilience and capability.

Serious Crime Directorate SCD1 Homicide: Police Staff Investigators

20. The purpose of the PSI role in SCD1 Homicide is to support the SCD investigation teams by performing roles that do not require specialist police knowledge and powers. There are currently 4 Police Staff Investigators in post and they have undertaken a range of activities including statement taking, CCTV viewing and house-to-house enquires.

Serious Crime Directorate SCD5 Child Abuse Team

21. Three Police Staff Investigator posts were initially employed on the pilot project, one on the Murder Investigation Team (MIT) based at Cam Road, one on the Serious Crime Team based at Tintagel House and one on the Child Abuse Investigation Team (CAIT) covering Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Newham. Subsequently, the OCU has recruited a further 5 PSI’s, bringing the total up to 8.

Serious Crime Directorate SCD6 Financial Investigators

22. The Financial Investigation Units across the MPS are responsible for asset confiscation and cash seizures. There are some legal restrictions on what Police Staff Financial Investigators can and cannot do, but once qualified under the Proceeds of Crime Act, they are effective members of the financial investigation team, able to obtain warrants and carry out searches of premises as well as seize cash, assets and other property. The pilot initially employed 3 additional financial investigators in the role of ‘confiscator’. A further 5 were recruited in March 2009.

Benefits of Employing Police Staff Investigators

23. Although the Police Staff Investigator model has yet to be fully evaluated there have been some notable benefits. For example, in SCD1, the introduction of PSIs enabled the release of Police Officers to undertake more complex specialist tasks and in CO19 and SCD5 there have been significant cashable savings (CO19, £70K, SCD5, £245K) by releasing police officer posts for police staff roles.

Project Herald: Designated Detention Officer Inputters; Custody Nurse Practitioners

24. Project Herald which commenced in 2008 involves the introduction of Custody Nurse Practitioners into all primary custody suites and the deployment of Designated Detention Officers in an enhanced inputting role into all 24/7 custody suites.

25. By March 2012, 915 Designated Detention Officers (DDOs) will fulfil a computer inputter role on behalf of Custody Officers. The project will allow the MPS to improve efficiency within custody as well as improving the welfare of detainees. DDO Inputters will complete the majority of administrative duties enabling Custody Officers to focus on the management of custody suites.

26. By March 2012, 198 Custody Nurse Practitioners (CNPs), deployed to primary custody suites, and eight CNP Area Managers will deliver enhanced forensic healthcare within a multidisciplinary team. The MPS have already deployed teams of Custody Nurse Practitioners at Charing Cross, Lewisham, Belgravia, Croydon, Bethnal Green, Islington and Forest Gate police stations.

Integrated Prosecution Teams

27. Over the past few years it has been recognised that there has been substantial areas of duplication in the activity of CPS Borough Units and MPS Criminal Justice Units (CJUs) and that there is a need for the CPS and MPS to work more effectively together and to have simpler processes in place. The response of the MPS and CPS London to these issues has been the implementation of Integrated Prosecution Teams (IPTs).

28. A key principle of IPTs will be the adoption of a single case file. IPTs will accommodate the individuals who handle the file (investigators, case workers and prosecutors) in one facility located at a police station.

29. The existing role of the MPS crime case clerk will no longer be necessary because CPS staff will be able to communicate with the officer in the case directly. IPTs will therefore enable the MPS to release existing CJU staff to a more proactive role at an earlier stage in the criminal justice process, sitting alongside Case Progression Unit staff and building files to an agreed standard before submission to the IPT.

30. Quality Assurance will also be performed at an earlier stage in the process which will reduce the amount of remedial post-charge work that is currently undertaken within CJUs. This will also serve to release police officers from some of the administrative burdens of building case files, allowing them to return to their patrolling or investigative functions at an earlier stage.

31. Three pilot IPTs in Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Waltham Forest became fully functional in Spring 2007. Full rollout across the MPS commenced in 2008 and by August 2010 there were 27 Borough IPTs. It is envisaged that the rollout to the remaining 5 Boroughs will be completed by the end of this financial year.

The Future of Workforce Modernisation in the MPS

32. MPS Workforce Modernisation programmes have in many cases resulted in a more effective deployment of staff resources and Police Staff, once developed are performing effectively in a variety of investigative roles with cashable savings being realised.

33. Workforce Development is no longer a formal programme of work in the MPS although the ethos of Workforce Development has been embedded into the MPS Service Improvement Programme (SIP) and a number of SIP projects now apply the principles of Workforce Modernisation, which have assisted in the delivery of tangible financial savings and benefits.

C. Other organisational and community implications

Race and equality impact

1. There is no specific race and equality impact although there is evidence to suggest that utilising police staff in operational roles more traditionally occupied by police officers has resulted in an increased representation of BME staff and females. This is borne out from an analysis of the MPS Employee Support Scheme which indicates that of the 461 MPS Special Constables recruited from Police Staff, 68 14.75% are from BME groups and 19.5% are female.

Consideration of Met Forward

1. MPS Workforce Modernisation Programmes specifically support the Met People and Met Support themes of Met Forward with a particular focus on delivering better value for money.

Financial implications

1. Any costs associated with the issues highlighted in this report are covered by budgets held by business groups across the Service.

2. Appendix 2 provides an assessment of the potential cashable savings from the introduction of Police Staff Investigators. These were estimated at £323K for the duration of the programme. However, as the Workforce Modernisation Programme is now complete and there are no plans to extend it beyond the original demonstration sites opportunities to realise further cashable savings not longer exist.

3. Full year savings for Project Herald (Designated Detention Officer Inputters; Custody Nurse Practitioners and Integrated Prosecution Teams) are estimated at £4.71M in 2010-11 and £4.8M in 2011-12.

Legal implications (if required)

1. There are no legal implications.

D. Background papers

• Workforce Modernisation, Communities and Equalities and People Committee - 21 May 2009
• The National Workforce Modernisation Programme: Evaluation of Demonstration Sites, Third Interim Report, September 2009, Version 2.0
• The National Workforce Modernisation Programme: Evaluation of the demonstration sites. Final report March 2010

E. Contact details

Report author: Shaun Kennedy, Strategic Manager, HR Organisational Development Team, MPS

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

Appendix 1

NPIA Workforce Modernisation Demonstration Sites

Appendix 2

MPS Workforce Modernisation Project: Police Staff Investigators, Potential Cashable Savings

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