Police reform – progress on pay and conditions

Report: 8
Date: 5 December 2002
By: Commissioner

Summary

This report sets out the current position in relation to the implementation of the provisions of the Police Negotiating Board (PNB) agreement on police pay and conditions, specifically in respect of threshold payments, special priority payments and bonus payments.

A. Recommendations

That

1. Members note the content of this report and endorse the approach set out in respect of threshold, special priority and bonus payments; and
2. in view of the tight timescales involved, the Human Resources Committee agree that in relation to threshold payments, the full scheme which will be developed based on the framework set out in this report, be considered by the Chair of the Human Resources Committee and the Clerk to the MPA under Standing Order 10.

B. Supporting information

Threshold Payments - key aspects of PNB Agreement

1. A competency related payment of £1002 a year is payable to members of the federated ranks who have been at the maximum of the pay scale for one year. Payments are pensionable, taxable and paid monthly from 1 April 2003. It is expected that at least 75% of those eligible will be successful. The Home Office will fund 75% of the costs. For every 1% over and above the 75%, the cost to the MPS will be in the region of £100K. It is expected that approximately 3.5% of officers eligible to apply for threshold payments will not qualify on the grounds of conduct and sickness. In order to qualify for payment individuals are required to demonstrate high professional competence under the following national standards:

• professional competence and results;
• commitment to the job;
• relations with the public and colleagues; and
• willingness to learn and adjust to new circumstances.

2. It is the responsibility of the police authority to assure itself that the arrangements in place for assessment and payment under the scheme, including arrangements for triggering reassessment, are efficient and effective and in accordance with the scheme.

3. PNB Circular 02/17 (Advisory) (circulated to Members only, a copy is available on request) provides detailed guidance on how the scheme is to be implemented within Forces. The main elements of the scheme and details of the four national standards against which assessment is to be made, are set out at paragraphs 3 to 8.

4. PNB guidance states that all applicants who are assessed as meeting the criteria will receive the payment. There is no provision to limit the numbers to 75% (Home Office will fund 75% only) once individuals have been assessed as qualifying for the payment.

Timescales

5. Payments will be made from 1 April 2003. Approximately 10,000 officers are expected to be eligible to receive the payment as at 1 April 2003. In order to ensure payments in April the assessment process must be complete by the end of February. This will require a decision by 6 December from Management Board and the MPA, following consultation with the staff associations, in order that guidelines for applicants and assessors can be rolled out from 9 December. Appendix 1 provides timescales for the implementation of threshold payments.

Current position

6. The assessment process set out in the PNB guidance raises concerns about the bureaucratic nature of the process, opportunity costs in respect of applicants and assessors (estimated to be in the region of £5m), and criteria that are not clearly defined or objectively measurable. This increases the risk of inconsistency and unfairness and ultimately, appeals against decisions.

7. To reduce those risks and to provide an efficient and effective scheme, which is consistent with the provisions of the PNB scheme, HR Police Reform Steering Group has considered a number of options. Work is being undertaken to produce a simplified process and reduced application form, with a view to aligning the four national competency standards to the behavioural indicators of effective performance as set out within the National Competency Framework.

8. Initial discussions have taken place with the Federation who support the need to reduce the bureaucracy involved in the process and to provide a simpler and shorter form.

9. The PNB Agreement indicates that officers awarded the payment are expected to maintain the level of performance and commitment to the job necessary to achieve the payment in the first instance. There will not be an annual reassessment process, however, where concerns are identified with respect to the maintenance of high professional competence, managers will be required to trigger a reassessment of suitability for on-going payment. MPS guidelines will need to reflect details about the mechanism for triggering reassessment.

Special Priority Payments (SPPs) - Key aspects of PNB Agreement

10. Payments under this scheme to individuals will not be less than £500 a year or more than £3,000 a year normally, although exceptionally, payments of up to £5,000 a year may be made. They will be taxable but not pensionable and will be paid as a single lump sum in December 2003. The criteria for the payments are:

• carry a significantly higher responsibility level than the norm for the rank; or
• present particular difficulties in recruitment and retention; or
• have specially demanding working conditions or working environments; or
• targeted on front line/ operational officers in particular.

In addition:

• to qualify for payment, officers must demonstrate that they are fully competent in and highly committed to their duties and responsibilities; and
• no less than 20% of MPS strength and no more than 30% to benefit, save in exceptional circumstances

11. The latest guidance received from PNB Official Side, which is still in draft form, states that ‘It is for each chief constable and police authority to determine locally the posts that should attract payment under this scheme, and the level of payment to be made to each qualifying post. In doing so they should have regard and give due weight to the following factors:

• the importance of individual posts to national and local policing priorities;
• the relative importance of continuity in the post; and
• whether the posts meet one or more of the national criteria specified in the PNB agreement (as set out above).

12. In developing local schemes, the PNB Official Side recommends that police authorities and forces give particular weight in their considerations to:

• those frontline posts that normally involve working in particularly demanding areas, in direct contact with the public;
• important and demanding posts in which it is particularly important to retain officers over a period of time (in order, for example, that they can establish and maintain good working relationships with local communities, or where a particularly high level of specialist skills is required for the role);
• particularly demanding detective posts, for example those that routinely require long hours because of the nature of the work (and where that workload cannot be reduced through other management action).

Timescales

13. The first payments are due to be made in December 2003 based upon the period between April and December 2003. This will require a decision by February 2003 from Management Board and the MPA, following consultation with the staff associations, in order that the scheme and roles can be published before April 2003. During September 2003, a competency assessment will need to be carried out in respect of eligible individuals within the roles specified to enable payments to be made in December.

Current position

13. Management Board and HR Police Reform Steering Group have considered a number of roles as potential recipients of SPPs. A model is being developed based on the following potential roles:

• Uniform shift/beat officers 24/7 less probationers
• PS for shift/beat officers 24/7
• Shift Inspectors 24/7
• DI investigators on BOCU
• DCI crime managers on BOCU
• DI investigators at SO
• DCI investigators at SO
• DC/DS on BOCU
• SO19 recipients of firearms users standby allowance

15. The above represents at least 31.9% of total police strength, which exceeds the 30% upper limit.

16. An impact assessment based upon the above roles shows:

• the numbers eligible precludes selecting other roles for SPPs;
• changes could not be made in years two and three without withdrawing roles from the scheme and changing levels of payment awarded;
• recruitment problems may arise for other roles particularly in specialist departments and on BOCU e.g. Community Safety Units; and
• there may be an impact on officers seeking promotion.

17. The model being developed will seek to limit the numbers to be close to the lower limit of 20% and vary the amounts allocated to reflect Boroughs identified by Territorial Policing as having particular operational policing issues, for example, a basic payment of £500 and an enhanced payment of £1,000.

Bonus payments - key aspects of PNB agreement

18. A scheme for bonus payments of between £50 and £500 per head will be introduced from 1 April 2003 to recognise occasional work of an outstandingly unpleasant, demanding or important nature. The payments will be taxable but not pensionable.

19. Police authorities will determine a local policy with their chief officer following consultation with the staff associations.

Current position

20. A paper outlining how a scheme for bonus payments might operate has been circulated widely for comment and has been discussed at the HR Police Reform Steering Group. Further work is now under way to develop the criteria for awarding bonus payments and the process for administering the scheme. The key principles are summarised as follows:

• bonus payments are awarded on the basis that an individual has performed occasional work of an outstandingly unpleasant, demanding or important nature, not usually within the officer’s normal range of duties. Examples of the types of circumstances that may justify the award of a bonus payment include: fingerprinting or searching a badly decomposed body; successfully undertaking prolonged hostage negotiations pending the arrival of a trained hostage negotiator; where an officer’s suggestion has led to a change in working practice which has impacted significantly on service delivery or has resulted in significant efficiency savings; outstanding individual contribution at the scene of a major disaster; community policing leading to significant improvement in public relations or reduction in crime.
• in order to ensure consistency in decision making and to assist in developing a matrix of activities and amounts, recommendations to be endorsed by a central ‘panel’; and
• budget to be ring fenced and set at 0.2% of local police pay budget (either to be funded by additional money or from within existing local budgets).

21. Initial discussions have taken place with the Federation who broadly support the proposed approach, although they have reservations about local management of the budget.

C. Equality and diversity implications

1. Appropriate monitoring systems will be put in place in respect of all three payments.

2. The PNB Agreement on threshold payments requires that Forces put in place systems to examine and validate the complete process. This will include monitoring in respect of ethnicity, gender, disability and part time/full time.

D. Financial implications

The cost implications of Police Reform were presented to the Human Resources Committee on 3 October 2002. Further updates will be provided as the financial implications become clearer and the costings are refined.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Michael Shurety, MPS.

For more information contact:

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

Appendix 1

Threshold Payments

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