Recruitment and retention

Report: 7
Date: 7 March 2002
By: Commissioner

Summary

This is a regular report to inform members of the progress, and related issues, of police and civil staff recruitment and retention against budgeted workforce targets for 2001/2002. The paper also seeks to address questions raised by Members at the last meeting on 7 January 2002.

A. Recommendation

That Committee members note the contents of this report.

B. Supporting information

Workforce strength

1. Appendix 1 (table A) shows the current strength of police, civil staff, traffic wardens and special constables against the budgeted workforce targets for 2001/02.

2. 

3. For the February intake a total of 311 candidates have been invited to attend the attestation, of which 51 are transfer/rejoiners. 38 of the total invited are VEM candidates. The actual February intake figures will be reported at the meeting.

4. There will be a further intake at the end of March of approximately 285 officers. This will mean that the MPS will have exceeded its recruiting target and achieved approximately 150 officers above BWT forecasts by the end of the financial year.

Police recruitment

5. Appendix 1 (table B) shows the number of enquiries made and the number of applications received for police officer recruitment during April to January 2001/02: together with the total numbers joining including the January intake.

6. Appendix 1 (table C) shows the number of police officers joining on a monthly basis.

Civil staff recruitment

Due to budgetary constraints recently imposed, there has been a temporary suspension of the recruitment of some agreed non-key civilian support staff at both senior and junior levels.

Senior civil staff recruiting - Grade 9 and above

8. Senior Civil Staff recruiting is a continuous process according to the needs of the MPS. Due to the moratorium there are three jobs for which new staff are actively being recruited. Other senior roles are currently on hold and these will be advertised as soon as financial controls are revised.

Central civil staff recruiting

9. The MPS are recruiting for Communication officers, Station Reception officers and a number of other similar jobs. To assist, the MPS have entered into a partnership with the London Employers Coalition and the Employment Service. A number of Gateway to Employment events for New Deal long-term unemployed are currently being run to attract and select suitable candidates to the MPS from the London area.

Other recruitment

10. Appendix 1 (table D) shows recruitment figures for Special Constables and traffic wardens

Updates

Positive action

11. From April 2001 to date 203 VEM officers have joined and 440 women, this compares to the same period last year of 72 and 235 a 182% and 87% increase respectively. It is anticipated that 270 visible ethnic minority officers will have been recruited by 31 March 2002, compared with 90 last year. This represents an increase of 300%.

Ethnicity classification review

12. Current workforce data on ethnicity is dependent on self-classification. An ethnicity classification review is currently being undertaken in the MPS which invites officers who have previously self classified as ‘any other group not specified’ to reclassify in one of the appropriate 17 ethnic categories.

13. A pilot at a Borough resulted in a number of staff re-classifying. This initiative will result in more accurate workforce data.

Revision in medical screening

14. A change in the application process was introduced on 1 January 2002 to try to simplify and streamline the recruitment process. A combined medical form is sent out with the application form. The candidates are required to complete this, with appropriate GP medical input, before the application is returned.

15. This pilot will be closely monitored and evaluated to ensure there is no impact on performance or any disproportionality. There will however be a greater time lag between enquiry made and application returned, which will reflect in the statistics.

Recruit Centre

16. The Chair of the MPA, The Commissioner and the Mayor opened the new MPS Recruitment Centre at Simpson House, Hendon on 21 January 2002. It coincided with 1000 new recruits in training at Hendon for the first time. A new recruitment video was also launched in conjunction with a major recruiting campaign aimed specifically at under-represented groups and Londoners.

17. The event attracted a range of media interest and it is hoped that the coverage will encourage candidates to consider a career with the MPS.

C3i recruitment

18. The recruitment target for communication officers for the MPS over the next four years is approximately 1744. The target for 2002/3 is 400; this is based on current turnover rates and the move towards the creation of three call centres. It is anticipated that an increased target will be set for future years.

19. Interviews started w/c 28 January utilising the new facilities at Simpson House. The new building allows for 80 communication officer candidates to be interviewed and for 30 medical screenings per week. There is the capacity and capability to recruit the required 33 per month in order to achieve the target of 400 per year.

Police auxiliaries

This item is the subject of a separate report to this meeting (agenda item 11)

Transport for London.

21. Funding has now been approved for set up, staffing and operational costs.The proposed MPS Transport OCU will require 233 police officers, 46 civilians and between 200-250 traffic wardens. A recruiting campaign is currently underway to select the traffic wardens. It is intended that the OCU will start operations during June 2002 but roll out will continue until March 2003. Traffic wardens will be recruited and trained on a rolling basis throughout the year. Interviews will begin during April, training will start in May and the first new recruits should be operational in June.

Police recruitment costs

22. It is estimated that currently direct costs are approximately £3,500 to recruit a police constable. This generic cost per recruit was based upon a proportion of the budget for recruitment activities and the advertising budget. Other costs of accommodation, postage, abstractions for interviewers etc. are not included.

23. At the present time due to budget construction and monitoring mechanisms it is not possible to identify separate costs for recruiting ethnic minority or other officers from underrepresented groups. It is anticipated that with effect from the commencement of the new financial year separate costs will be identifiable.

Retention

Leavers

24. Appendix 1 (table E) shows the number of leavers from April 2001 to January 2002 compared to the same period last year and the reasons for leaving.

Other issues

25. The MPS have been invited and have agreed to take part in an Audit Commission recruitment and retention study. This study aims to take a cross-sector approach focusing on staff at unqualified qualified and leadership levels in health, education social care and the police service. The findings of the research will be presented to the HR Committee when published.

26. The MPA commissioning paper asked the MPS to clarify issues from the previous paper on 10 January 2002. Many have been addressed in this report but those that have not, are dealt with in Appendix 2.

Conclusion

27. The budgeted workforce target for 2001/02 of 26,650 police officers will be exceeded; this figure includes additional 1,050 officers approved by the MPA for this financial year. The final budget provision for 2002/03 has not yet been agreed. The indication is that it will be necessary to recruit circa 3,500 officers in the next financial year.

C. Financial implications

There are no direct financial implications arising from this report. Many of the matters referred to are subject to their own reports (and financial implications).

D. Background papers

None

E. Contact details

Report author: Jenny Deere, Director of HR Selection, 020 7230 0569

For information contact:

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

Appendix 1

Table A. Workforce strengths as at 31 January 2002

Note. The number of Special Constables has decreased since the last report due to the updating of MSC databases in January 2002.

Table B. Police recruitment 2001/02

Table C. Police joiners 2001/02

Table D. Other Recruitment 31 January 2002

Table E. Retention - number of police leavers 31 January

Appendix 2

In the MPA HRC meeting on 10 January members requested clarification of the following points that have not been addressed in the main body of this report.

Query. Is any data being picked up from Hendon about students, who are resigning, which may identify commonalties that can be addressed in the recruitment process.

Improvements to the police recruitment processes, e.g. a reduction in the time taken to process applications, have been identified through the Business Process Improvement Project undertaken by HR Selection Directorate.

A high level review of the background reasons to resignations of new recruits from training school between January and December 2001 has been undertaken by HR Selection and the data is currently being evaluated. It is anticipated that results will be incorporated in the end of year report due to be presented at the June Committee.

Query. More information is required on the poor attrition rate of special constables and what are we doing to encourage specials to join the regular service.

There is no active recruitment campaign within the MSC to join the regulars, however this year the MPS have recruited 62 special constables as police constables. Of these 15 have been from the MSC. Some Boroughs actively target their MSC with support and development programs to assist them joining full time.

The selection process to become an MSC officer is a two-stage process. The first being an initial application followed by various searches utilising MPS indices and a medical declaration. The selection process then takes up references with the candidate’s present employer or others if applicable. This part of the process is the most likely stage at which the candidate’s application is likely to fail.

There are a number of reasons for this and the most likely are, the references being unsatisfactory or unsuitable which will de-bar candidates. The occupation of the candidate is also likely to be a factor precluding them from becoming a special constable, because there are certain occupations that are considered unsuitable for members of the public to hold the office of special constable. At present there are no figures or statistics to draw upon to support this.

Query. The MPS were asked to provide clarification and detailed breakdown in table B to show more detail where people fall out of the process.

The existing computer systems have severe restrictions on the ability to deliver accurate management information. At the present time it is not possible to produce meaningful data on which aspect of the process candidates are unsuccessful.

The selection process includes 11 different criteria including a papersift covering nationality, residency, convictions, debts etc. If this is satisfactory candidates are invited for interview and to undertake the Police Initial Recruitment Test (PIRT). PIRT includes tests on verbal usage, written checking, numerical reasoning, verbal and logical reasoning, and observation. On successful completion candidates attend for a physical fitness and medical examination.

A new corporate computer system is being developed. Recruitment and selection is a major element of this. Full management information reporting will be available following implementation in June 2002.

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