Overtime costs – 2010/11 – quarter 4

Report: 6
Date: 13 June 2011
By: Director of Resources on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

This report provides analysis on overtime paid to Police Officers, Police Staff and Police Community Support Officers during the quarter from 1st January to 31st March 2011 and a summary of the overtime position for the period to 31st March 2011.

A. Recommendations

Members are invited to:

1. Note the Quarter 4 position for overtime costs of Police Officers, Police Staff and Police Community Support Officers and to make any comments.

B. Supporting information

Background

1. At the request of the MPA a report was presented to the Resources Sub Committee (8 October 2009) which provided information to give Members a better understanding of the use of Police Officer Overtime in the MPS and the actions being taken to control the level of expenditure. As a consequence of that report, Members asked for a quarterly report to update them on the position on overtime expenditure for Police Officers, Police Staff and Police Community Support Officers. The Quarter 1 report set out the main rules governing Police Officer overtime, details of the main reasons why Business Groups rely on overtime along with various cost information. This report provides a summary of the overtime position for the period to 31 March 2011 and expands on information requested by members. Appendices 1 to 5 provide additional analysis of overtime expenditure as explained in the report.

2. Following the Quarter 3 report, members requested that information regarding the extension of officer shifts at short notice be continued and for more information regarding officers working in excess of 100 hours per month. These issues are addressed below.

2010/11 overtime expenditure

3. The provisional outturn for 2010/11 indicates an overall underspend on overtime of £0.4m against a budget of £140.4m (0.3%). The achievement of an underspend should be considered alongside the in-year budget cuts to overtime following reductions in Home Office grant funding, the need to provide significant public order support during the student and TUS demonstrations and the continued reduction in overtime expenditure over the last 3 years. Total expenditure for Police Officer overtime in 2010/11 has been £24.3m less than in 2009/10 and £34.9m less than 2008/09. The budget set for 2011/12 expects to see overtime expenditure reduced by a further £12.6m (9%) on 2010/11 levels, continuing our commitment to manage down the use of overtime in order to provide the most efficient and effective use of our resources.
Future costs associated with overtime may also be reduced by recommendations arising from the Winsor review of Police Officer and Staff Remuneration and Conditions. These will be reflected in future reports if the recommendations are implemented following PNB negotiations.

4. It should be noted that expenditure on Police Officer Overtime has been controlled effectively in recent financial years and, using cost figures re-based to 2010/11 levels to recognise the effects of pay inflation, there has been a 36.6% reduction in overtime expenditure in 2010/11 compared to 2005/06. Table 1, and the accompanying graph, show how both the total annual overtime cost and average annual cost per officer have reduced since 2005/06.

Table 1 - Average cost of overtime per eligible Police Officer

5. The recent public order demonstrations have tested how we respond to such events in the future but the controls which cover the use of overtime will not be relaxed. Planning for such events will continue to provide as much notice as possible to officers to avoid incurring unnecessary overtime costs. Details of the costs incurred at the demonstrations will be reported to MPA Finance & Resources Committee on 21 July as part of the annual report on policing major public order events.

6. Appendix 1 breaks down the actual expenditure on Police Officer overtime by Business Group, and Borough Operational Command Unit (BOCU) for Territorial Policing (TP), for four quarters from 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011. It provides a quarterly summary of overtime costs, number of eligible officers on active assignment at the end of each quarter, and an average quarterly overtime cost per eligible officer for historical comparison. Similar information is also provided in this appendix for Police Staff and Police Community Support Officers.

Casual overtime - Extension of officer shifts at short notice

7. Planned overtime occurs when an officer is authorised to remain on duty and the officer is informed before, or at the beginning of, their rostered shift. Casual overtime occurs when an officer is authorised to continue working past their normal end-time and they are informed after they have begun their rostered shift. If casual overtime is worked, the duty state is noted to identify it as such. The stage of the officer’s shift at which casual overtime is authorised is not recorded.
There are a number of events that might occur during a shift where a need might arise for casual overtime. Examples include:

• Officers needing to remain on duty to process prisoners.
• Critical incidents requiring immediate responses to serious events or officers needing to work overtime to control a situation.

8. Table 2 shows the proportion of casual overtime hours worked by Business Groups as a proportion of planned overtime during Quarter 4 of 2010/11. Table 3 shows the trend of casual overtime as a percentage of all overtime for operational Business Groups over the four quarters of 2010/11. This indicates that the vast majority of overtime within Business Groups is planned and that the overall trend of casual overtime working is reducing. Of that overtime which is casual, 99% is paid at Time + 1/3.

Table 2 - casual overtime worked by Business Groups during Quarter 4

Table 3 - trend of casual overtime as a percentage of all overtime worked in operational Business Groups during 2010/11

9. The majority of casual overtime is worked within Territorial Policing and Table 4 provides a breakdown of the overtime categories where casual overtime has been incurred during 2010/11. This indicated that the majority of casual overtime relates to processing of prisoners.

Table 4 - overtime categories where casual overtime has been incurred within Territorial Policing during 2010/11

Officers working in excess of 100 hours overtime per month

10. There are certain roles within the MPS, principally relating to protection duties, where high levels of overtime are necessary to carry out the duties effectively. However, there are also many other occasions when particular operations require a concentration of work over a short period of time.

11. Appendix 2 shows a bar chart which provides details of numbers of Police Officers, Police Staff and PCSOs claiming overtime and the average number of hours claimed by individuals for the 12 month period to the end of March 2011 (excludes Officers that have not claimed any overtime during the year). This shows that 92 Police Officers (0.3% of those working overtime) and 9 Police Staff (0.1%) have worked an average of over 100 hours per month during the year. The vast majority of Police Officers (81%) who have undertaken overtime, work less than 20 hours overtime per month, with 14% working between 20 and 40 hours per month. 99% of PCSOs work less than 20 hours a month of overtime.

12. Appendix 3 provides an analysis of the number of Police Officers, Police Staff and PCSOs by Business Group who were paid at least 100 hours in any month in Quarter 4. Analysis is provided for each month within the quarter. In some instances, particularly relating to Police Staff, the payments relate to claims for overtime worked over a period greater than one month and do not accurately represent the overtime actually worked in that period. Advice has been given in these instances to ensure that claims are not unduly delayed and to ensure that the work-life balance and health and safety criteria is being adhered to.

13. Appendix 4 shows a bar chart which provides a monthly comparison of the number of officers and staff receiving payment for over 100 hours of overtime during 2010/11 and Appendix 5 shows the monthly comparison for Police Officers receiving payment for over 100 hours overtime during 2010/11 by operational Business Group. The peak in May resulted principally from overtime hours paid within Specialist Crime being significantly higher than in any other month, 114 officers working over 100 hours (principally within Homicide, Serious & Organised Crime, Trident and Clubs & Vice Units) compared with a normal monthly average of 24 officers during the rest of the year. The other peak in November resulted from overtime hours within both Specialist Operations and Central Operations being higher than other months.

14. In order to control and manage these issues MPS Finance managers run monthly overtime reports which show:

• officers who are earning overtime pay in excess of a set amount in a month
• officers who are working in excess of a set number of overtime hours in a month

When examining the reports, Finance managers are advised to ask the questions shown and take actions as shown below.

15. Within Specialist Operations a monthly report is prepared for the Chief Officer Groups detailing information on high earners and those working high levels of overtime. The information is also scrutinised by DACSO as a standing item in the inspection and review process. It is worth noting that many officers within Specialist Operations have chosen to opt out of the working time directive, understanding that the nature of their roles often requires periods of working long hours.

16. Within Specialist Crime, monthly overtime reports are prepared for the senior management team and any particular issues are dealt with by visits to the OCUs, although responsibility for action is generally left to local management to arrange.

17. Within Territorial Policing, overtime issues tend to be standing items on the agenda for both the Area Commander and Borough Commander meetings, with Inspectors held to account for managing issues relating to those working high levels of overtime.

18. Within Central Operations the top 100 earners/users of overtime are reported to senior management and OCU Commanders on a monthly basis to take any necessary action to ensure health and safety and work/life balance issues are managed.

19. It should be noted that there are a number of benefits to be gained by the use of overtime. In particular it is an effective tool to:

• Cover spikes in operational demand, sickness, secondments, aid deployments and other absences, in a flexible way without the need to recruit additional officers;
• Gain additional manpower, often at short notice;
• Maintain the evidential process and carry out ongoing investigations to ensure continuity;
• Maintain agreed minimum staffing levels; and
• Ensure that relevant specialist skills are available when required.

20. MPS Management Board recognise the need to focus on both controlling and reducing overall costs and the other risks associated with the use of overtime which include:

• Potential impact on work / life balance and Police Officer and Staff safety;
• Officers and Staff can become reliant on the additional income and it can become institutionalised;
• Increased administration effort and costs;
• Potential for lack of management control and fraudulent claims; and
• Potential to “hang out” enquiries in order to obtain overtime.

Police Officer Overtime

21. Table 5 provides a summary of Police Officer Overtime expenditure compared to budget by Business Group for 2010/11 compared with 2009/10 and 2008/09. For comparative purposes the 2008/09 and 2009/10 figures have been adjusted to match the organisational structure for 2010/11 and have been rebased to 2010/11 levels to recognise pay inflation. This shows that, after reducing the overtime budget by £2m as part of the savings package agreed to meet the reduction in Home Office funding announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in May, the 2010/11 outturn position is an underspend of £0.1m. Total expenditure in 2010/11 has been £24.3m less than in 2009/10 and £34.9m less than 2008/09.

Table 5 - Summary of Police Officer Overtime by Business Group

22. Explanations of the significant variances are summarised below for each Business Group.

23. Territorial Policing report an underspend of £0.5m which reflects strong management controls as part of the commitment to produce additional savings whilst maintaining operational effectiveness, particularly in light of the recent central London demonstrations.

Officers have worked in excess of 100 hours overtime per month due to a number of factors which included attachments to Operation Blunt and Safer Transport Teams, and providing cover to maintain 24/7 capability in the Central Communications Command.

24. Specialist Crime Directorate report an underspend of £2.9m despite carrying significant vacancies following the implementation of strict management controls. Overtime is used to cover operational requirements, in particular within the Sapphire OCU and the Met Intelligence Bureau (MIB). This is mainly due to high levels of operational activity coupled with the need to cover for vacancies. In particular the Telecommunications Intelligence Unit within MIB requires operational cover to ensure 24/7 operational capability.

The high overtime earners in SCD are fairly evenly distributed between Homicide, Trident and Serious and Organised Crime. This is due to the high level of operational activity with officers having to work long hours on various operations.

25. Specialist Operations report an overspend of £2.7m. Overtime has been used to cover operational requirements as a result of vacancies caused by difficulties in recruitment to specialist roles. Additionally, increased requests for protection duties due to a number of high profile events including the General Election, visits by President Sarkozy and the Pope, have all resulted in increased overtime being incurred in the Palace of Westminster, Royalty Protection and Specialist Protection OCUs. These units have the most number of officers working over 100 hours. The majority of overtime incurred within Specialist Operations is funded directly by special grant. The overspend in overtime is more than offset by an underspend in Police Officer Pay resulting from the vacancies. The introduction of revised shift patterns within Diplomatic Protection has also assisted in controlling overtime expenditure.

26. Central Operations (including the Olympics Security Directorate) report an overspend of £1.1m this year as a result of the recent public order events in central London.

The officers working in excess of 100 hours overtime per month in CO are mostly in the Specialist Firearms Operations Unit. The nature of the work within the unit is at the top end of the fight against armed criminality, counter terrorist and kidnap operations. The main critical areas include:

• Counter terrorist operations - covert and overt
• Hostage rescue
• Armed support to surveillance
• Execution of warrants for all MPS OCUs
• Protection operations at high profile ceremonial events

There are a limited number of operators due to the demands of firearms assessment and selection. This combined with the nature of the work means that officers are often required to work extended hours to support critical MPS operations. For example, a kidnap operation may run for several days requiring 24/7 support and with limited numbers of operators the unit does not have the flexibility to change staff mid way through the operation.

Police Staff Overtime

27. Table 6 provides a summary of Police Staff Overtime expenditure compared to budget by Business Group for 2010/11 compared with 2009/10 and 2008/09. For comparative purposes the 2008/09 and 2009/10 figures have been adjusted to match the organisational structure for 2010/11 and have been rebased to 2010/11 levels to recognise pay inflation. This shows that the 2010/11 outturn position is an underspend of £0.6m. Expenditure is £5.8m less than in 2009/10 and £6.4m less than in 2008/09.

28. It should be noted that overtime can be a cheaper way of providing variable staff cover needs outside of normal working hours as opposed to paying shift premiums on a regular basis and therefore is a useful and efficient management tool, although one that it is recognised needs to be carefully managed.

Table 6 - Summary of Police Staff Overtime by Business Group

29. Explanations of the significant variances are summarised below for each Business Group.

30. Human Resources is reporting an underspend of £1.1m resulting from improved management control of overtime within Catering Services and Transport.

31. Territorial Policing reports an overspend of £0.7m, principally within the Central Communications Command, who have a significant number of vacancies, to maintain adequate cover to manage the high levels of activity and maintain 24/7 operational capability.

Police Community Support Officers

32. Table 7 provides a summary of PCSO Overtime expenditure compared to budget by Business Group for 2010/11 compared with 2009/10 and 2008/09. For comparative purposes the 2008/09 and 2009/10 figures have been adjusted to match the organisational structure for 2010/11 and have been rebased to 2010/11 levels to recognise pay inflation. This shows that the 2010/11 outturn position is an overspend of £0.2m, total expenditure being similar to that in 2009/10.

Table 7 - Summary of PCSO Overtime by Business Group

C. Other organisational and community implications

Equality and Diversity Impact

1. MPS Finance Managers run monthly overtime reports to show individuals who are working in excess of a set number of hours each month. The Finance Manager carries out checks for trends and causes of the overtime and assesses whether the overtime might be having an impact on the officer's work/life balance, bringing cases to the attention of the line manager and reviews action taken to check for effectiveness. Equality Impact Assessments are completed on business group activities undertaken where there is deemed to be an impact. The equality and diversity implications are identified in business cases and reports on individual proposals through our normal decision making process.

Consideration of MET Forward

2. Met Forward recognises that the MPS has to make challenging financial decisions whilst minimising the impact on front line policing. This report sets out the position against the approved budget for overtime as included in the 2010-13 Policing London Business Plan which supports the strategic direction set out in MET Forward.

Financial implications

3. The financial implications are those set out in this report.

Legal implications

4. There are no direct legal implications arising from this report which is for information only.

Police Officers are paid overtime in accordance with the Police Regulations 2003 (“the regulations”) and the Secretary of State’s Determinations under those regulations, whilst contractual provisions will determine whether overtime is paid for all other police staff. Both officers and staff are however also bound by internal policy, which is set out in the relevant Standing Operating Procedures.

Environmental implications

5. There are none specific to this report.

Risk (including Health & Safety) Implications

6. Risk management is integrated into the Service’s budget, business planning and performance management processes. Business Groups and Management Board monitor risks on a regular basis. This report sets out the financial risks and pressures currently being managed by the Service in regard to overtime as well as recognising the health and safety implications for individuals and the MPS that can arise from unmanaged use of overtime.

D. Background papers

• Previous 2010/11 Quarterly Overtime Monitoring reports

E. Contact details

Report authors: Nick Rogers, Director of Finance Services., MPS

For more information contact:

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

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