TP development programme update report

Report: 7
Date: 12 May 2011
By: Assistant Commissioner Territorial Policing on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

The TP Development Programme vision is to develop and implement a more cost effective model for policing that will deliver excellent local services for people, who live, work in and visit London. This report outlines the current approach and progress with planning the implementation of the TP Development Programme. It will provide members with an update on the activity across the existing projects within the Programme, as well as providing a regular reporting mechanism for future meetings. The report addresses: Programme overview, progress report on the key projects and enabling strands, as well as the strategic programme risks.

A. Recommendation

That Members note and support the progress of the TP Development Programme including forthcoming project business cases.

B. Supporting information

1. This report will form part of a regular reporting process to the MPA regarding the TP Development Programme.

2. The paper is designed to give a general overview of the progress of the Programme and to complement the wider reporting mechanisms that are already in place. Future progress reports to MPA SOP Committee will follow the same format on different projects. As part of a general update the paper will focus on particular projects which have critical milestones.

Overall Programme Activity

3. A significant amount of the Programme’s work is focused on identifying ways of re-shaping what we do, and identifying savings in particular areas, in a way which ensures service quality is maintained or enhanced. Rather than first looking at the structures we intend to put in place for the future, the Programme is identifying the core services and working out the best level - borough, multi-borough or pan-London - at which to manage them most effectively.

4. Figure 1 below summarises the four phases of the Programme: scoping, detailed design, implementation planning and implementation. During the scoping phase the projects gathered evidence against agreed programme design principles.

5. The Programme is therefore currently working on the detailed design work for the future operating model. This work includes defining the core services delivered to the public as well as the operational and management support needed. The Programme will also be looking into further detail of how a shared service model could operate in the future. Work underway will be reported to Chief Officer Group in May.

Implementation

6. A number of projects in the programme are writing implementation plans. These projects are at different stages of development, for example:

• Two projects (TPHQ Phase 1 and CRIB) have had business case approval and are in the implementation phase
• Four projects (IBO/CCC, Duties Management, Intelligence and Custody Improvement) are awaiting final sign off for their business cases by May and have begun their implementation planning
• Five projects (Response; Safer Neighbourhoods; Public Access; Wanted Offender Management; and Investigation) are at different phases of business case development within the detailed design stages.
• One project (Investigation) is currently refining and developing its project plan before submitting a joint business case for Territorial Policing (TP) and Specialist Crime Directorate (SCD).
• Three projects (Integrated Prosecution Teams; TPHQ Phase 2 Operational Resourcing; and Partnerships) are in the scoping phase to identify potential additional opportunities for change.

Progress report

7. The Programme is responsible for scheduling implementation as well as supporting projects through business change including providing support for the impacts of change on boroughs.

8. This report focuses on Command and Control business cases as well as updates on the external reviews: Safer Neighbourhoods and Public Access.

Safer Neighbourhoods

9. Summary
The aim of this project is to review the structure, location and function of Safer Neighbourhoods teams in order to identify areas for improvement.

10. Progress
Internal and external consultation took place between October 2010 and February 2011, with over 12,000 responses from the public. The emerging themes were almost entirely in line with those from the MPA scrutiny process;

• Unanimous support for the concept of Safer Neighbourhoods
• Desire for even closer partnership working, with improved sharing of intelligence, tasking, service provision, accommodation and procurement
• High level of flexibility within central parameters for individual boroughs to deliver bespoke ‘Safer’ services

The MPS remains committed to neighbourhood policing that focuses on local crime, anti-social behaviour and providing a visible local policing presence.

The project team has reviewed and consolidated the findings to inform the business case, which will be submitted to the MPS Management Board next month. The outcome of the Management Board and MPA decisions will be shared with the MPA SOP Committee in June.

Public Access (formally Front Counters)

11. Summary
The aim of this project is to review how the public access our services including how these services could be improved. It will look at how we can enable the public to communicate with police and access policing services more effectively, with an emphasis on providing access in the right place at the right time, according to public need.

12. Progress
A review of public access ‘channels’ started on 11 April and will conclude on 27 May. It will look at how we can enable the public to communicate with police and access policing services more effectively, with an emphasis on providing access in the right time, according to public need.

A key aim of the review is to identify the role front counters play in the wide range of public access channels, which ranges from telephone calls and online contact to face-to-face meetings.

The review will seek to establish the principles for re-shaping the future and ensure that the public understand and support decisions the MPS makes about front counters, and that any changes reflect their views.

During the Public Access review, Borough Commanders will ask MPA members to share their perspective on the best and most cost efficient model to enable the public to contact the police. Some of the needs of the public are best met by multi-agency responses. They will consult with MPA members, our partners and the public on several key issues including:

• A proposed core service commitment for front counters, based on a minimum expectation of one well-staffed and easily accessible 24/7 front counter per borough, supported by an expanded appointments system and Safer Neighbourhoods team surgeries;
• The criteria the MPS will use to identify the need on any borough for an enhanced front counter service, over and above the minimum of one 24/7 location.

To support public consultation, an online survey has been launched at www.met.police.uk asking a range of questions about communication with police and access to services at front counters. The findings of the review will form the development of the business case and will have critical interdependencies. with the Corporate Real Estate (CRE) Service Improvement Plan.

No changes will be made to the current level of front counters service without thorough consultation and approval from the MPS Management Board and the MPA. Members can expect to be informed about local consultation processes relating to specific locations later in the year after the business case is approved in late summer (August/September).

Command and Control - IBO/CCC, Duties Management and Intelligence

13. Summary
The Programme has aligned IBO/CCC, Duties Management and Intelligence projects to better manage the critical independences leading to a command and control capability better aligned to borough needs. The business cases and high level implementation plans are planned to go to Management Board in May 2011.

IBO/CCC

14. Summary
The aim of the IBO/CCC project is to review the relationship between CCC and IBOs to remove duplication and deliver improved command and control.

Duties Management (formally Resource Management)

15. Summary
The Duties Management project will streamline existing processes within the Duties function on borough to improve service delivery, flexibility and quality.

Intelligence

16. Summary
The Intelligence project will streamline existing processes within the intelligence function within boroughs to improve service delivery flexibility and quality. Parallel to this, the structure of Borough Intelligence Units (BIU) will be transformed to one that is aligned to function rather than the current crime-type "Focus Desk" structure that has created duplication, silo working and is costly to maintain.

Response

17. Summary
This project is focussed on improved utilisation of response officers for fast-time response with greater use of appointments for non-emergency calls carried out by local policing teams.

18. Progress
The Lambeth pilot, Project Hannah, began in February 2011 and during the first three weeks, all overall targets were reached. Lambeth has held its first Police Consultative Group meeting since the launch of Hannah and the community feedback was extremely positive. Project Erin, the Brent pilot, began in April and the Harrow pilot is in the design phase.

Crime Recording and Investigation Bureau (CRIB)

19. Summary
The aim of this project is to develop a central CRIB which provides both economies of scale and significant performance improvements to the standard of service supplied to customers.

20. Progress
The business case for this project was approved by the MPS Management Board in December 2010; however the Board requested that local accountability remains the key area of decision making. The project team is now working on an implementation plan which takes these requirements into account and the implementation will take place in a phased approach.

Crime and Customer Strategy (formerly TPHQ)

21. Summary
This project aims to create a lean management structure as phase one of the TPHQ reorganisation.

22. Progress
The business case was approved by TP Chief Officers Group at the end of 2010 and the project is currently in the implementation planning stage.

Investigation

23. Summary
This project is aims to identify opportunities to improve efficiency and effectiveness across investigative functions drawn from both TP and the Specialist Crime Directorate (SCD).

24. Progress
The terms of reference have been approved. The project is currently refining and developing its project plan and testing early findings with user groups.

Performance

25. Summary
This project is identifying service improvements and cashable savings in all performance functions across the MPS.

26. Progress
The project is currently in the detailed design phase and a business case will be submitted to the TP Development Programme Board in April 2011.

Custody Improvement

27. Summary
The aim of this project is to better align supply and demand resulting in increased efficiency and improves service provision. This project will be aligned to change within criminal justice in Central Operations.

28. Progress
The TP Development Programme Board and the TP Chief Officer Group have reviewed the business case, prior to its submission to the MPS Management Board by May 2011.

Progress on enabling strands

29. The following section details the work that is taking place in the programme to enable the delivery of the projects for:

1. HR, Equalities and Diversity
2. ICT, Capital Plan and Estates
3. Finance and Benefits
4. Communications, Engagement and Delivering Change

a) HR, Equalities and Diversity

Project Baselines

30. The TP Development Programme is currently carrying out detailed analysis and work with the boroughs to establish an accurate resource baseline for each of the projects. It is critical for the TP Development Programme and the business group as a whole to have a shared understanding of the resource profile across each of the boroughs.

31. This will allow us to fully understand the current resource profile, enabling us to develop detailed implementation plans, put appropriate measures in place to provide the necessary support for our officers and staff, and to track benefits realisation.

32. The sheer scale of the projects and the work that we are doing on the operating model, will involve a comprehensive redesign of the way that boroughs work. This in turn will shape future resource requirements.

33. We have undertaken a thorough review of the information contained within MetHR, Operational Policing Measure (OPM) data, and information gathered directly from boroughs by the projects over the last 12 months. Cross referencing the various data sets initially highlighted significant discrepancies; however an iterative process of HR, Benefits Realisation, and Finance liaising with the project teams has improved the level of consistency of data significantly. We are now in the process of ratifying our proposed resource baseline with the boroughs.

34. Our intention is to identify any anomalies and inaccuracies on MetHR through this exercise and ensure that MetHR is updated so that the reports can be fully relied upon going forward. An ongoing data cleansing exercise will be taking place alongside the implementation of our projects, making MetHR increasingly more effective as a workforce planning tool.

Staff Displacement

35. Within most organisations, staff are a significant proportion of their costs. This has the unfortunate consequence, that when looking to make savings through efficiency and modernisation schemes, there is often a significant amount of staff displacement. The MPS remains fully committed to supporting our staff through this difficult period and avoiding compulsory redundancies wherever possible.

36. Voluntary departure is an established pre-redundancy measure used to minimise as far as is practical the need for compulsory departures. Phase one of the police staff early departures scheme was launched in November 2010 and was restricted to five identified groups.

37. Through the Programme, TP has identified several further groups of police staff where headcount reductions will be required within the financial year in order to transition to our new service delivery models and achieve the required budget reductions in line with the Policing London Business Plan 2011-2014. These proposals are subject to ongoing consultation with recognised Trade Unions. This exercise commenced on 20 April 2011 with the start of formal consultation with the Trade Unions regarding our strategic intent for each of the identified groups.

Equality Impact Assessments (EIA)

38. The Programme Board has agreed a rigorous approach to conducting EIAs at both project and Programme level. Initial equalities impact assessments are conducted in parallel with the development and submission of the business case for each project. As business cases are approved and projects move into implementation phases, full equality impact assessment are developed. These are living documents which will develop as the project progresses and the assessments will identify potential impacts on both communities (service delivery issues) and staff. The Diversity and Citizen Focus Directorate (DCFD) is providing extensive support to the Programme and the Director of DCFD is a member of Programme Board. DCF Advisors have been identified to support each of the projects within the Programme.

39. Initial assessments have been undertaken as part of the business cases for Crime Recording and Investigation Bureau (CRIB), Crime and Customer Strategy, Custody Improvement, IBO/CCC, Duties Management and Intelligence. Full EIAs have been conducted for both Operation Hannah and Erin, pilots being undertaken as part of the response project on Lambeth and Brent Boroughs. Assessments for the other projects are being progressed in line with the overall timeline for the Programme.

40. For some projects the impact of changes at a local (borough) level will also need to be considered. The project team and DCF Advisor will provide a framework that allows the local level EIAs to be undertaken (and feed up to inform the project / Programme as necessary). Responsibility for conducting these assessments will rest with the borough who will be responsible for managing local consultation arrangements and considering the impact on local communities. DCFD and the Programme will provide support to boroughs as part of managing business change.

41. An initial Programme level assessment has been prepared which considers the cumulative impact of the individual projects and was discussed at the Programme Board in March 2011. Mitigating actions are being included within implementation plans at project and Programme level as appropriate.

b) ICT, Capital Plan and Estates

42. Directorate of Information (DoI) resources continue to work with the Programme on the detailed design and implementation planning phase of the Programme. Activity is targeted on key projects in the programme that deliver savings early in 2011/12. In addition business analysis capability is being provided to map out the Target Operating Model of the future.

43. Work continues to identify dependencies with existing ICT programmes to ensure there is alignment between planned technology and future organisational changes. For example: the Investigation project will drive the requirements for the investigative component of the IPI programme; the Resource Management project is aligned to existing programmes such as CARMs3 and MetDuties and the response pilot will inform the requirements for the future of the Command and Control programme.

44. To achieve greater synergy between the Estate Strategy and the ICT portfolio, the Capital Plan is being reviewed and reprioritised taking the Programme into account. The review also includes an assessment of the impact on the scope of key infrastructure projects that are affected by the Programme. As business cases are refined and the detailed implementation planning takes place the demand for capital is being adjusted to reflect the programmes’ needs.

45. The TP Development Programme will also help to shape the future of the MPA estate by taking account of the MPA/MPS Estate Strategy 2010-2014 and Corporate Real Estate Model. TP Development and the Directorate of Resources - Property Services are working together to influence decisions taken in relation to estate changes that support the requirements of the TP Development Programme. For example, the outcomes of the Safer Neighbourhoods and Public Access reviews will inform TP Development estate requirements and will enable the right property solution to meet operational needs.

c) Finance and Benefits

As i46. dentified in the previous SOP paper in January, each element of the TP Development Programme requires a full business case for each project, which then needs to be approved by the TP Chief Officer Group (COG) and then, in most cases, by Management Board.

47. Until the mechanism for realising those benefits is explicitly agreed in every case, all figures are at risk. Where delays to business case approval causes delay to implementation, the risk to 2011/12 targets increases.

48. To date, five projects have been agreed by TP COG. All of the savings are then dependent on HR processes. Any changes to the target savings included in the 2011-14 Policing London Business Plan and budget will be subject to the normal business planning process for the MPS, and will be reflected in the 2012-15 Plan. As stated in a previous report to SOP on 13th September 2010, staffing reductions will be managed within the terms of the Civil Service compensation scheme.

49. The immediate priority is to develop a clear view of how project benefits will be realised on boroughs - to understand the movements of staff and officers and to check that there is no double counting or unintended consequences of several projects affecting the same pools of staff on borough and maintaining business as usual services to the public. This will be done through the project base lining activity as outlined within the above HR section.

d) Communications, engagement and business change

50. Communications and engagement with staff, stakeholders and the public is a critical part in supporting business change. A strategy for managing the different impacts, including other SIPs as well as the TP Development Programme, is currently being developed with Borough and Operational Command Unit input. This will look at what functions remain on Boroughs as well as what will be reconfigured as a consequence of all the change projects.

51. Recent communications and engagement activities include:

• Launch of Safer Neighbourhoods review: Chief Executives were engaged in the review process at a local level and through a series of meetings with the Assistant Commissioner. The review and supporting online survey were publicised through a range of media and marketing channels including internet, local Safer Neighbourhoods team (SNT) newsletters and public meetings.
• TP middle manager briefings: AC McPherson has briefed over 800 middle managers on the vision and progress of the Programme. The first phase of these briefings focused on the Lambeth response pilot and Safer Neighbourhoods review. Further briefings are planned, details to follow.
• The Crime Recording and Investigation Bureau (CRIB) and the TPHQ Phase One (Crime and Customer Strategy) projects have held briefings for staff directly affected by the proposed changes. Briefings gave progress, next steps, details of the HR process and a Q&A session.
• The Programme has introduced a Programme Newsletter primarily aimed at Borough Commanders and their Senior Management Teams (SMTs). This ensures regular updates at both a project and Programme level and includes views from Borough Commanders.
• A number of individual project communications plans have been completed ahead of business case sign off to support implementation.

52. The current focus for engagement and communication activities includes:

• Public Access Review: The launch of the review has been supported with a range of communications and engagement activities and work is ongoing to engage with stakeholders and the public to be part of the review and complete the online survey
• Safer Neighbourhoods post business case approval by Management Board. A communications and engagement strategy will support this to ensure the decisions are communicated to staff, stakeholder and the public. It will offer reassurance around the rational for change and the process of implementation
• Phase two of AC staff briefings. These will be aimed at middle managers, Superintendents and Chief Inspectors, and PCs, PCSOs, Band Es and Fs. As with previous briefings, staff will be given an update on progress and a focus on particular projects - IBO/CCC, Duties and Intelligence.
• Affected staff briefings will continue post business case sign off to assist with implementation and support the HR process. Staff briefings will be held for those captured in the early departure scheme. These will ensure staff are fully aware of the HR process and able to ask questions.

Other organisational and community implications

Race and Equality Impact

1. TP Development Programme’s key strategic objectives include increasing community confidence and customer satisfaction. The EIA process will help to ensure that opportunities for increasing confidence and satisfaction across all communities are identified and progressed and any adverse impacts on communities are identified and mitigated. Similarly, the EIA process is identifying potential impacts (either positive or negative) on staff according to the protected characteristics identified in the Equality Act.

2. The approach to undertaking EIAs within the programme is described within the main body of the report. There will also be an overarching EIA which has been informed by the issues arising from individual projects within the overall programme. Equalities impacts relating to individual projects will be covered in detail as reports on these projects are presented to MPA Committees.

Consideration of MET Forward

3. The TP Development Programme is cognisant of the Met Forward programmes, most notable: Met Streets (which is about the first duty of the police: securing the public realm for the law-abiding); Met Connect (how we will improve confidence and engagement); Met People (how we support, develop and lead our staff); Met Support (how we manage our finance, building, technology and processes); and Met Standards (how we will incentivise high standards, professionalism and cooperation).

Financial Implications

4. The approach to finance and benefits within the programme is described within the main body of the report. Current business planning process within the MPS includes savings to be delivered by the TP Development Programme. Each of the proposals is subject to a separate business case and approval through Management Board.

Legal Implications

5. There are no specific legal issues arising from this report. Directorate of Legal Services (DLS) is assisting HR with the management of the reduction of headcount and should continue to do so.

Environmental Implications

6. The projects that emerge from the Programme have the potential to increase environmental efficiency in a variety of ways. Environmental considerations will be taken into account during the design process (i.e. they are considered with the project business case and are used to inform the decision-making process notwithstanding the overriding importance of operational necessity), and wherever possible, preferred solutions incorporate measures to reduce:

• Energy use
• Transport emissions
• Water consumption
• Resource use
• Waste arisings

Risk Implications

7. The Programme team is aware of and taking into consideration dependencies between the projects and acknowledges that when proposals are made to change one area of business, it has an effect on another project. The timings for implementing proposals and the effect these have on other projects is also being taken into account.

8. The risk management strategy has been approved by the TP Programme Board and work continues to further develop risk management throughout the Programme. This includes: embedding the ‘escalation’ process to raise risks from projects to Programme level, workshops with projects including ‘Enabling’ strands and supplementary guidance has been provided to support this activity. As and when projects move from the design phase to the implementation stage it is intended that the risk registers will be fully reviewed.

9. The key strategic risks which the Programme is working to mitigate include:

• Dependencies with other Strategic Improvement Projects (SIPs)
• Mitigating activity: The Programme is engaging at all levels, including representation by other business groups on project boards, document review panels and joint governance structures.
• Realising benefits and dependency on corporate workforce planning to allow redeployment to take place
• Mitigating activity: Territorial Policing (TP) has established a workforce planning meeting to oversee staff movements.
• Timescales for HR procedures
• Mitigating activity: TP is planning to reinforce Programme Human Resources (HR) to ensure that consultation and selection processes are actioned and followed through for every project.

10. TP’s Risk Management Framework has been assessed against the Maturity Model and the formal report containing the findings from the MPS Strategy and Improvement Directorate is awaited.

D. Background papers

None.

D. Contact details

Report author: Andrew Hadfield, Mellissa Dorrell and Lucy Brown.

For information contact:

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

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