Proposal to create a central London training delivery centre

Report: 8
Date: 20 April 2006
By: Commissioner

Summary

This report sets out the proposal for the formation of a single point of training delivery in central London. This proposal represents a value for money, short-term solution that will help the training estate overcome immediate accommodation problems, and will enable the timely delivery of the training required for the current priority change programmes for Territorial Policing.

A. Recommendations

That

1. Authority is given to the formation of the Central London Training Centre and for a contract to be signed for the provision of the Centre.
2. The Finance Committee delegates authority to the Chief Executive and Clerk of the Authority and the Director of Property Services to finalise occupational terms with the Serviced Office Provider.

B. Supporting information

1. Territorial Policing (TP) is required to deliver a number of significant programmes over the next two years. These programmes include major MPA and MPS initiatives like Safer Neighbourhoods (SN), Operation Emerald, custody, Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) development and the National Strategy for Police Information Systems Custody & Case Preparation Project (NSPIS). Each will have substantial training implications.

2. There is insufficient training accommodation within the central London estate, to meet current and known future demands. In recognition of the problem, a Gold Group under Director of Property Services Department (PSD) has recently been established to plan for the future of training accommodation within the MPS. This Gold Group is looking how to meet demands for training accommodation across the MPS over the next three to five years and thus will not deliver solutions quickly enough to meet the needs of TP. Therefore, to meet TP training requirements, TP has been working jointly with PSD to identify a solution.

3. This report will discuss a proposal to help overcome the immediate requirement for training accommodation and will propose the formation of a central point of delivery to be referred to as the Central London Training Centre (CLTC), for specific training programmes that are outside the responsibility of HR Directorate of Training and Development (HRDTD). The Centre will be responsible for the efficient and effective delivery of major training programmes, without seeking to change the client/contractor relationship that exists between TP and HRDTD for other training.

4. This report outlines the cost effectiveness of the proposal and makes a positive recommendation to overcome the accommodation problem. The funding for the proposal has been identified and the MPS Investment Board supported the proposal at its meeting on 23 March 2006.

Scope

5. A number of major MPS programmes must be delivered within set timelines and at this time the MPS training estate is not able meet the demand.

6. This report will not examine how the lack of training accommodation has arisen or PSD’s strategy to resolve the problem. It will focus on the requirement of TP to train its staff within set deadlines and in finding a timely solution to the accommodation issue.

7. This report will however be mindful that any immediate solution must contribute to the longer-term resolution and the option proposed should be considered in the context of a pilot scheme, for evaluation and possible future development across the MPS.

Limitations

8. Many of the training programmes have set delivery timescales. Often these have been set by Management Board (MB), or in the case of the NSPIS training, are subject to contractual commitments. These timescales are not negotiable and thus the option of not delivering the training or changing the timescales is not viable. To ensure effective rollout of such MPS programmes significant training is required and an immediate accommodation solution is needed.

Strategic context

9. The proposed solution and recommendation in this paper has been presented to Territorial Policing Command Team (TPCT) and the MPS Investment Board, and approved by Investment Board on 23 March 2006.

10. MPS priorities stipulate that the implementation of SN, NSPIS and the Modernising Operations programmes are fundamental and underpin the future of the MPS. Training of TP staff before implementation of these programmes is crucial to ensure success. In addition, it is anticipated that all 2,300 plus PCSOs in place now will need further training before re-designation with new powers under the Serious Organised Crime & Police Act 2005 (SOCPA). TP will also be assuming responsibility for custody officer training and custody refresher training from the Leadership Academy.

11. Other than custody training as mentioned above, the training requiring delivery is the responsibility of TP rather than HR DTD.

12. The timescales for the above programmes are such that to ensure successful training before implementation, it would be necessary for TP to hire substantial external training accommodation.

13. Currently a large proportion of the training accommodation provided across TP is sourced on an ad-hoc basis through the commercially serviced office market. This results in centrally located premises being leased for short periods, with little notice, and usually at full market price. This means PSD are unable to secure discounts or pricing deals. Whilst it is accepted that solutions have been found on the most cost effective basis available, greater cost and business benefits would be achieved through the merging of existing facilities over a longer term.

14. Training delivery for corporate programmes like SN is not at risk and will be delivered by TP within the set timescales. However, taking the opportunity of this value for money approach both ensures the delivery of SN, NSPIS and Telephone Investigation Bureau (TIBs) training in the most cost effective and efficient way, and provides accommodation to meet other pressing needs such as custody training and the retraining of PCSOs for which funding for separate accommodation does not exist.

15. SN training will continue to be delivered at external hired accommodation until suitable premises have been identified and furnished.

16. The demand for training accommodation is quantified at Appendix 1.

Change constraints

17. There are a number of factors that were considered as crucial in this business case, these include:

• A solution must be in place by September 2006 to transfer SN training and prepare for the delivery of the other programmes as soon as practicable.
• Non-negotiable deadlines have been set for specific programmes such as NSPIS.
• The formation of a Gold Group to plan for the future of MPS training will make recommendations for short, medium and longer term solutions. The urgency of the TP need has meant that this proposal has been developed with PSD alongside the work of the Gold Group but not specifically part of their option development. It is not intended that the proposal pre-empts the Gold Group process, but rather contributes to the identification of workable solutions.
• Accommodation within London is expensive. The MPS cannot afford to continue hiring accommodation piecemeal, and a solution is required that makes the most cost effective use of MPS resources and the specific funding that is being provided to enable the delivery of this essential training.
• The location of training facilities must offer ease of access to all TP staff attending training. A central location would equalise the travelling time for all staff.
• One location for delivery would ensure effective use of resources, resilience of staff and corporacy of training standards.
• To deliver the SN teams by March 2007 it will necessary to double the number of classrooms that are currently used. The current external facilities used by the SN training cost £15,000 per month. It is expected that this figure will increase substantially in the next financial year. The hire contract for Shaftsbury Avenue ended on 31 March 2006 and whilst it has been possible to extend this for a short period, the rental costs have increased by approximately 10%. The proposed approach means that we will not continue to use current hired accommodation to deliver the SN training but will use the funding provided through the SN bid to support the programme more effectively and cost efficiently.
• It is likely that all 2,300 plus PCSOs will need training in their new powers under SOCPA. They must be trained before they can be designated with their new powers, a process that would need five classrooms per month, for 14 months. This figure will increase with ongoing recruitment. This requirement has been identified as a result of firm proposals being made for the range of powers that PCSOs should have. The PNA is being done and training design will follow to determine the length of training needed.
• NSPIS need the accommodation by September to train the trainers and test the systems. Training starts on 2 October. The NSPIS training programme will require three classrooms in the centre, in addition to those they have been able identify internally, to meet the rollout requirements. It should be noted however that it has recently been decided that a review of the NSPIS proposals is to be carried out and we may not therefore need to include this requirement in the Training Centre - the requirement and funding will be adjusted to take account of the removal of NSPIS training if appropriate.
• The Leadership Academy are transferring responsibility for custody training to TP but wish to retain the accommodation at Hendon for other uses - therefore accommodation for both custody foundation training and refresher training is required.
• TP spent more than £600,000 on the hire of external accommodation in 2005/6. This figure would substantially increase to over £1m in 2006/7 if the ad hoc approach continued.
• There is no capacity at Hendon to deliver this range of training though it may have been possible to use Hendon to deliver a small amount of the training. Splitting the training removes many of the benefits provided by a co-ordinated approach and therefore the use of Hendon even for part of the training is not a viable option.

Options considered

Five options were considered to meet the need described in this paper:

1. Do nothing and continue with present arrangements
2. Use existing MPS facilities
3. Ask PSD to source a building for purchase by the MPA for MPS use
4. Ask PSD to source two sites for use in delivering this training – south/north or east/west – to take advantage of outer London prices
5. Ask PSD to source one centrally located site for use in delivering the training

Consideration of the options led to three of them being discounted as follows:

• Option 1 (do nothing) – we would not be able to deliver the required training by continuing to hire accommodation in an ad hoc way as there would be insufficient funds to do this and some of the required training did not have specific funding available.
• Option 2 (use existing facilities) – there is not enough accommodation available in the existing training estate to provide for this training to be delivered
• Option 3 (purchase a building) – a direct purchase takes on average 12-24 months with fitting out likely to add up to 12 months. The timescale for delivering the training means that this option was not viable.

Further consideration was given to the two remaining options.

However, option 4 was discounted because although leased accommodation outside central London is about £20 per sq ft cheaper than central London., splitting the training into two sites means duplicate costs for setting up and delivering training are incurred. On that basis this option was more expensive than having one centrally based site and splitting the training meant losing benefits of reslience, flexibility and consistency of delivery standards. The financial comparison between options 4 and 5 appears as Appendix 2.

Option 5 is therefore the preferred option.

Proposed solution – option 5

18. The minimum accommodation required to meet this known demand is four classrooms for SN training, two classrooms for Emerald/TIBS, four classrooms for custody training, five classrooms for PCSOs and three classrooms for the NSPIS training (but see above), plus essential support accommodation such as an administration room and storage – a total of approximately 17,000 square feet.

19. To meet the need for this accommodation, the proposed solution is to request that PSD source external leased serviced accommodation, on a set term basis (from August 2006 for 19 months) which is large enough to accommodate TP’s requirements.

Rationale for the preferred option

20. This approach would provide the required accommodation for TP to deliver these essential training requirements. It is in line with proposals in the Best Value of Training in 2001, which as well as setting up the Training Management Board and Business Group Training Boards to manage the training requirement more effectively, and defining the role of the Director of Training and Development for the MPS, proposed that there should be a number of appropriately located training delivery centres across the MPS. The creation of this training centre offers an opportunity to assess the benefits of a co-ordinated approach to training and the best ways to use limited training resources in a co-ordinated way.

21. This option would mean that TP would no longer have to hire external training accommodation on a short-term basis or at short notice and it would enable TP to plan, with certainty its training delivery. This would lead to cost effective use of resources and staff, and lead to efficiency savings through a coordinated approach and scheduling of courses.

22. TP currently hires centrally based accommodation to hold meetings, for instance of borough commanders, as MPS facilities of the size and type required do not exist in central London and the MPS has recently needed to hire facilities for press conferences following 7/7. The cost to TP over 12 months is about £35k and the cost of the QEII centre following 7/7 was approximately £150k. This centre would include a facility for a conference of up to 75 people by combining two training rooms, thereby reducing substantially the need for hiring alternative accommodation.

23. This option is not intended to provide a long-term solution, but it would provide efficiency savings, allow for stability over a reasonable time and resolution of the immediate short-term accommodation issues.

Conclusion

24. The proposal and recommendation of formation of a CLTC has been agreed by TPCT and the MPS Investment Board at its meeting on 23 March 2006, as a positive solution to the accommodation problem. The proposal is supported by HR Directorate.

25. The formation and lease of a single site delivery centre in central London will cost approximately £1.6m per annum (pro rata for the first year.) At this time the preferred location has not been identified as a tendering process is underway.

26. This option will enable TP to deliver specific identified mandatory and non-mandatory training in a more effective and cost efficient manner. PSD support this option on the basis that accommodation has to be provided in central London and consider that this approach would be a pilot for future development across the MPS.

27. This approach to the delivery of training within TP supports corporate strategic objectives as required by the HR Corporate Training Strategy and, in line with that overall strategy:

• Aims to prepare and equip staff to deliver within the MPS
• Delivers quality assured training in line with corporate standards
• Achieves best value and moves the MPS towards testing the recommendations of the best value review on training that proposed training delivery centres
• Delivers training to meet identified needs.

28. TP would no longer have to hire external training accommodation and it would enable TP to plan, with certainty its training needs. This would lead to cost effective use of resources and staff, and efficiency savings through a coordinated approach and scheduling of courses. The ability to plan courses and manage attendance to minimise abstractions will greatly enhance the viability of the courses and ensure that the programmes are delivered within the set timelines.

29. An added benefit is that TP, and the MPS as a whole, would have access to conference facilities in central London. Any spare capacity in the training rooms would be made available to other business groups.

30. While accepting that due to the timescales this solution only seeks to resolve TP’s immediate needs, the testing of this approach will make a significant contribution to the development of a long-term solution for the MPS.

31. The provision of centrally located premises in London would offer additional TP cost savings through managed use of facilities. As a result it is anticipated that the need to hire external conference and training requirements across London would be minimised. Examples include Borough Commanders meetings, Borough Business Managers meetings, ad-hoc operational TP team briefings, and press briefings.

32. Formation of the Centre would also result in substantial cost savings being achieved by removing the requirement to hire external accommodation to meet the increased demand, including TIBs training, PCSOs in their new powers under SOCPA, and the increase of classrooms required for Safer Neighbourhood training as well as providing accommodation for custody training when it transfers from the Leadership Academy to TP.

C. Legal implications

A commercial contract is to be entered into between the MPA and the Landlord in regard to the accommodation needs that will contain standard terms and conditions prevailing in the current property market. Property Services, acting on behalf of the MPA, receives independent legal advice on the negotiation and content of such agreements.

Abbreviations

TP

Territorial Policing

SN

Safer Neighbourhoods

PCSO

Police Community Support Officer

NSPIS

Police Information Systems Custody & Case Preparation Project

PSD

Property Services Department

CLTC

Central London Training Centre

HRDTD

HR Directorate of Training and Development

MB

Management Board

TPCT

Territorial Policing Command Team

SOCPA

Serious Organised Crime & Police Act 2005

D. Race and equality impact

The provision of this central point of delivery will enhance the opportunity of all MPS staff to attend training and conference opportunities. It is also expected that the centre would be able to arrange courses to cater for flexible workers.

E. Financial implications

1. The project will be supported by funding both currently being used within the MPS or through new resources – already identified and secured - that will be directed towards the project. During the 2006/07 budget setting process additional funding for Safer Neighbourhood Training was posted to Corporate Supplies and Services. This will be moved by budget virement from Supplies and Services to Premises during the current financial year and corrected as part of the budget setting process for 2007/08 if authority is given to proceed.

2. Table 1 shows the funding streams available to support the setting up of the centre.

Table 1

Capital expenditure

Table 2

Revenue expenditure

Table 3

3. The above figures include the continued use of the current rented facility into 2006/07 as part of the hand over period and a charge for this has been allowed for. It has been assumed that the cost of a rented property will exclude heating and lighting costs, therefore estimates have been calculated separately.

4. Initial estimates from PSD indicated that the formation of a CLTC would cost approximately £1.6m per annum to rent 20,000 sq feet of furnished central London office space suitable for training purposes assuming such accommodation is fully fitted out and furnished (MPS IT systems to be added as costs). The actual cost per square foot is likely to be slightly higher than that, however we have worked within £1.6m for the annual cost in setting the budget and adjusted the specification to fit to identify a requirement for approximately 17,000 square feet.

Project costs

5. During the project, £297k in estimated project costs will be incurred. The cost comprises managerial and administrative staff costs, office equipment and Department of Information project management fees. Additional charges for acquisition services will also be incurred.

Savings

• It is anticipated that if the CLTC was not in place, at least £1m – an increase of £400k over current expenditure - would be needed for rental payments for external training accommodation. (This has been included as a source of funding within the overall financial evaluation.)
• This cost does not take account of accommodation that would be needed for training that TP will start to deliver on 06/07, such as custody training (four classrooms) and retraining of PCSOs with their powers under SOCPA (five classrooms). The likely cost of rental of external training facilities to accommodate this requirement would be approximately £810k p.a. This cost will be avoided by the setting up of the CLTC.

The breakdown of funding matched with expenditure is as follows:

Table 4

F. Background papers

None

G. Contact details

Report author: Assistant Commissioner Territorial Policing, MPS

For more information contact:

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

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