Operational policing and availability

Report: 11
Date: 8 September 2011
By: Assistant Commissioner Territorial Policing on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

The way in which the community experiences police services directly impacts on community safety and confidence. Operational capability is the capacity of the MPS to deliver police services. Since operational capability enables service delivery it is only by building operational capability that the MPS can effectively deliver quality services for London’s communities.

The right mix of: front line, middle and back office staff will deliver greatest operational capability from the available resources. This optimum mix does not necessarily mean maximising the number of staff in ‘front line’ posts. The MPS will focus on building operational capability, with the mix of: front line, middle and back office staff that best delivers services to London’s communities.

A. Recommendation

That Members note the content of this report.

B. Supporting information

1. This report is structured to answer the commissioning brief. The first section deals with the issue of the front line. The second outlines MPS work in progress to increase operational capability. Operational capability is further split into: organisational redesign, maximising existing resources and tactical measures.

The front line

2. MPS research to understand what the ‘front line’ is broadly supports HMICs’ conclusion that the front line could be defined as: . . . those who are in everyday contact with the public and who directly intervene to keep people safe and enforce the law. [1] HMIC categorise police roles as: visible, specialist, middle & back office and establish through consultation that:

• Visible & Specialist roles are front line.
• Back Office roles are not front line.
• 7% of Middle Office roles are front line.

3. HMIC have calculated the average proportion of the police workforce in England and Wales engaged in each category of police role. To compare the MPS against all forces the original HMIC table below has been augmented with MPS specific data. [2]

4. HMIC calculate the front line as 68% [3] of the workforce. The same calculation applied to the MPS shows 74% [4] of the workforce is front line. HMIC have concerns over the accuracy of their work and conclude that their best estimate is that ‘around two thirds of the workforce is front line’. [5]

5. Understanding and evaluating the ‘front line’ means categorising staff roles into: visible, specialist, middle and back office functions. There is clear agreement over what roles are visible, specialist and back office. Confusion arises however when the debate moves to what is middle office and how much of middle office is ‘front line’. Rather than commit more resources to understanding the ‘front line’ the MPS will focus on achieving outcomes for London’s communities. The strategic objectives of safety and confidence are supported when the MPS delivers outcomes for individual members of the community – investigating crime, supporting victims, responding to the community. The delivery of these service outcomes is of greater importance than the internal construction of the organisation that delivers them.

Operational capability

6. In order to deliver outcomes for London’s communities the MPS is developing, within the budget available, a balanced policing model. This means reviewing how to deliver the operational capability required to meet the corporate objectives of safety and confidence and to provide capacity for the Olympics.

7. In delivering the budget the MPS is focusing first on:

• Reducing inanimate costs,
• Delivering an effective business model through: shared services, outsourcing, and process improvement.
• Exploring opportunities for joint working

8. The MPS has developed the two sets of strategic and tactical techniques described below to increase operational capability.

9. Organisational re-design. This means understanding fully the services that the MPS needs to deliver and ensuring that the:

• Processes that staff use to deliver services are efficient and add value,
• Capability to deliver services puts the right skills in the right place at the right time.
• Management that supports service delivery is appropriate, effective and lean.

10. Maximising the use of existing resources. This means evaluating the use of all MPS resources and ensuring they are:

• Available when they can deliver most value,
• Deployed in the locations where they are most needed,
• Dealing with the offenders who cause most harm,
• Supporting the most vulnerable victims,
• Used in the most productive way.

Organisational re-design

11. The existing MPS model for delivering police services is based on 32 borough commands owning the resources for and delivering most: visible, specialist, middle and back office police functions. Consequently local policing [6] and operational support services [7] are delivered differently from each of the 32 boroughs. Large boroughs have the capacity to create specialist teams to deliver operational support; smaller boroughs do not and are consequently disadvantaged. The result is that service delivery could be delivered inconsistently across London’s communities.

12. The Territorial Policing development programme is leading the organisational redesign of local policing and operational support services. The program has evaluated the processes, capability and management structure needed for each local policing service. By considering: What service should be delivered, where capability is best located, what processes are required and what management structure is most appropriate. The programme is currently redesigning MPS services as illustrated in the diagram below.

13. The new model preserves delivery through the 32-boroughs. Many specialist and middle office functions - described as operational support – will be delivered to boroughs from a network of operational support service organisations (OSSOs). Rather than administrate operational support locally boroughs will commission these services from their OSSO. The aim is to ensure this model frees Boroughs from administration to focus on delivering local police services.

14. Working from a service-based approach the programme has evaluated the best method of delivering each service. More services [8] will be delivered Pan London or shared through OSSOs. Safer neighbourhoods, response, partnership and some investigations benefit London’s communities most through local delivery. These services are all currently in design, together they define ‘Local Policing’ and will be delivered by boroughs.

Maximising the use of existing resources

15. The MPS has taken a number of tactical and strategic measures to improve resource usage.

• Strategic level measures - TP has invested in understanding temporal demand so resources can be aligned to need. This maximises the availability of staff when London’s communities most need them. It puts more officers and staff on duty when they are most visible and, by rationalising processes that do not add value, it reduces unnecessary bureaucracy. TP has taken two approaches to maximising availability and increasing visibility. The first is to match resources to demand and the second is service redesign.
• Resource matching - By understanding demand for local policing the program has driven the recent response team shift pattern changes. Now when London’s communities need police in an emergency between 220 and 500 more officers than before are available. [9] The program has progressed similar work across local policing. When implemented 90% of the operational police officers in Territorial Policing will be working a shift rota that closely matches customer demand.
• Service redesign - The pilots of the new model for response policing are examples of how the program is redesigning services. Under the existing response model to make a single officer available 24/7 to respond to emergencies requires an investment of around 5.5 officers. This means that officers are available at times when they are rarely visible to the public - early morning and at night.

16. Under the new model for response policing emergency calls are separated from less urgent calls. Response team resources are split - 60% of staff become emergency call expert’s providing London’s communities with a 24/7 emergency response service. The remaining 40% work in the daytime and evening when they are most visible to London’s communities dealing with the demand for less urgent calls. This new model for delivery is currently being trialed on two boroughs. The first trial, operation Erin, released 48 officers the second, operation Hannah, released 98. Erin and Hannah are due for detailed evaluation in July 2011.

Tactical measures

17. The Commissioner has given an organisational commitment to increase the visibility of our staff. The MPS Public Attitude Surveys shows a 9% [10] increase in those surveyed who felt that the MPS provide a visible patrolling presence. Now 49% [11] of the public report seeing a patrolling officer. Work to reduce bureaucracy will help to maximise the visibility of MPS staff and legislative changes have removed some requirements to record information.

18. Work continues to reduce front line officers’ reliance on forms. Three thousand seven hundred operational personal digital assistants (PDAs) have been issued to operational officers. PDAs are mobile handheld devices that enable frontline officers to electronically record and reference information. They provide an electronic data entry capability for STOPS, Fixed Penalty Notices and Collision Accident Report Books and enable access to a range of databases. It means officers can enter information directly on the PDA which automatically populates the relevant system. Three thousand seven hundred operational PDAs are in use saving MPS officers around 11,700 hours per month.

19. Custody Improvement, formally including Herald is improving processes in custody suites by transferring some of the administrative tasks from custody sergeants to civilian Designated Detention Officers (DDOs) saving money and reducing the time officers spend processing prisoners.

20. The Joint Prosecution Service (JPS), formerly known as integrated prosecution teams, have been rolled out to 27 boroughs. JPSs co-locate MPS and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) teams to reduce duplication, improve case management and make efficiency savings. The model is being refined so a single JPS can cover more than one borough and a London pilot site is being sought by the design team.

21. The MPS still considers there are too many guidelines for police officers in circulation and continues to reduce them. Corporate policies are routinely reviewed and, in January of this year, seven policies (with thirty four supporting Standard Operating Procedures) have been recommended for de-commissioning.

C. Other organisational and community implications

Equality and Diversity Impact

1. The interfaces between customers and police are such that there will be, from a customer perspective little difference in service delivered. In fact the program will deliver improved services in many areas and consequently the impact of structural changes on our external customers should be minimised.

2. The projects in the programme will result the delivery of future services with fewer staff which will lead to staff movement and police staff leaving the organisation through the Early Departure Scheme. These themes are likely to have wide-ranging internal equality and diversity implications for MPS staff.

3. The program has Equalities Impact Assessments embedded within all of its projects. This ensures broad community and staff consultation prior to change and provides the best opportunity to fully consider and design out any negative equality and diversity impacts.

Consideration of Met Forward

4. The principles of the program focus design of a new model for delivering police services for London that increase public confidence, safety and performance. The program will positively impact Met Forward. Met Streets will be enhanced through better resource management and greater grip provided by central communication command. Program clarification and design of governance arrangements will enhance Met Oversight.

Financial Implications

5. There are no direct financial implications arising from this paper. The TP development program includes projects that will impact on operational policing and availability. The financial implications of any of the projects included in the program will be considered as part of the normal business planning process.

Legal Implications

6. There are no legal implications arising directly from this report.

Environmental Implications

7. The program means that policing for London will be delivered with fewer resources, this means fewer buildings and staff. Consequently the program will reduce the carbon footprint of the MPS.

Risk (including Health and Safety) Implications

8. There are no risk implications arising directly from this report.

D. Background papers

• None

D. Contact details

Report author: Chief Inspector Mark Payne

For information contact:

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

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