Police reform – police bonus payments scheme

Report: 08
Date: 3 April 2003
By: Commissioner

Summary

This report sets out details of the proposed scheme for Bonus Payments, effective from 1 April 2003, in accordance with the provisions of the PNB Agreement on Police Pay and Conditions.

A. Recommendation

That members are asked to approve the proposed scheme.

B. Supporting information

Background

1. The PNB Agreement of 28 May 2002, states that 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 and non-pensionable. Police authorities will determine a local policy with their chief officer following consultation with the staff associations.

Details of the scheme

2. A paper setting out details of how the scheme will operate and the proposed recommendation form are attached at Appendices 1 and 2. With effect from 1 April 2003, local OCU commanders will have the ability to award bonus payments of between £50 and £500 to officers who have performed occasional work of an outstandingly unpleasant, demanding or important nature which is not in the officer’s normal range of duties.

3. The proposed MPS scheme is based upon the principles of the existing civil staff bonus payment scheme whereby:

1. Recommendations are made by local line managers in respect of exceptional performance, in particular, for demanding tasks which are not in the individuals’ normal range of duties, or where staff volunteer for difficult duties or show outstanding resource and dedication.
2. Recommendations are authorised by the local OCU Commander/Head of Branch; and
3. total annual expenditure should not exceed 0.2% of the local civil staff pay budget. (The budget for 2002/3 was £600K. In 2002, £89,550 was spent on the scheme and from January 2003 to date, the amount is £60,400).

4. Under the proposed scheme bonus payments will be funded from within local budgets up to a maximum of 0.2% of the total police pay budget to reward officers either from within their own OCU/branch or outside their usual OCU/branch. Payments will be taxable and will attract ERNIC. Recommendations to OCU Commanders/Heads of Branch will be made by first line managers on Form 6902 - attached at Appendix 2.

5. For the first year of operation decisions by OCU commanders/Heads of Branch will be endorsed by respective business group panels whose role will be to ensure consistency across the business group, by ensuring that decisions are in accordance with the criteria and the amounts payable appropriately reflect the activity/incident. This will assist HR Directorate in developing a central matrix of qualifying activities and associated amounts in order to ensure future consistency in decision-making across the MPS.

6. In considering whether to award a bonus payment account must be taken of whether the officer concerned has complied with requirements under Health and Safety legislation. The civil staff bonus payment scheme currently makes no mention of this requirement. This will be addressed as part of the proposed relaunch of the civil staff scheme following implementation of the police bonus payment scheme.

7. Examples of the types of activity/incident that may qualify for a bonus payment include:

• Fingerprinting and searching badly decomposed bodies (specifically mentioned in PNB Agreement as the gratuity currently payable will be discontinued from 1 April 2003).
• Community policing leading to significant improvement in public relations or reduction in crime.
• 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.

Consultation

8. ACPO and OCU Commanders and personnel managers have been consulted on the principles of the proposed scheme. The staff associations were consulted in the early stages of the development of the scheme and are now represented at the meetings of the HR Police Reform Steering Group.

Timescales

9. The scheme comes into effect from 1 April 2003. Subject to approval by MPA HRC on 3 April 2003, details will be published on the Intranet on 4 April.

C. Equality and diversity implications

Appropriate monitoring systems will be put in place in respect of bonus payments for ethnicity, gender, disability and part/full time working.

D. Financial implications

There is no additional funding from the Home office to cover the costs of the scheme. Costs will be met from within existing local budgets up to a maximum of 0.2 % of the total police pay budget. This amounts to approximately £1.5m, which equates to 30,000 bonus payments of £50 or 3000 of £500. In addition, the payment will attract ERNIC of approximately £0.145 million.

D. Background papers

• Police Reform – Progress on Pay and Conditions – paper to HRC on 5 December 2002.

E. Contact details

Report author: Michael Shurety, Director of HR Services, MPS

For more information contact:

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

Appendix 1

Bonus payments

Standard Operating Procedures

Details of the scheme

With effect from 1 April 2003, bonus payments of between £50 and £500 may be awarded on the basis that an officer has performed occasional work of an outstandingly unpleasant, demanding or important nature which is not in the officer’s normal range of duties.

Bonus payments will be funded from within local OCU budgets up to a maximum of 0.2% of the total police pay budget to reward officers from either within their own OCU/branch or outside their usual OCU/branch. Recommendations to OCU Commanders/Heads of Branch will be made by first line managers on Form 6902.

For the first year of operation, decisions by OCU Commanders/Heads of Branch will be endorsed by respective business group panels whose role will be to ensure consistency in decision making across the business group. This will assist HR Directorate in developing a central matrix of qualifying activities and associated amounts in order to ensure future consistency in decision-making across the MPS.

Criteria

In order to qualify for payment the activity or work undertaken must be of an occasional nature and not within the officer’s normal range of duties, and must satisfy one or more of the following criteria:

Outstandingly unpleasant, outstandingly demanding, or outstandingly important.

The minimum amount that can be awarded is £50 and the maximum is £500.

In considering whether to award a bonus payment account must be taken of whether the officer concerned has complied with requirements under Health and Safety legislation. Advice can be obtained from HR Health and Safety Branch on extn 67314.

Process for applications

Roles and responsibilities

Line manager

• A line manager who wishes to recommend an officer for a bonus payment should complete Form 6902 (click here) providing sufficient evidence to support the award against the relevant criteria and indicating the amount to be paid.
• All applications should be forwarded through the personnel unit to the OCU Commander/Head of Branch for a decision.

Local personnel unit

Local personnel units are responsible for:

• Recording details of applications on the spreadsheet provided for equal opportunities monitoring purposes.
• Arranging for applications to be considered by business group panel.
• Notifying CAPITA of payments to be made.
• Providing quarterly equal opportunities monitoring returns to HR Pay Policy Unit and details of the types of activities for which a payment has been awarded and the amount on the spreadsheet provided.

Local Finance & Resources Unit

Local Finance & Resource units are responsible for:

• Monitoring expenditure (including ERNIC) to ensure that the maximum of 0.2% of the total police pay budget is not exceeded.

Business Group panel

The role of the business group panel is to:

• Ensure consistency across the business group by ensuring decisions are in accordance with the criteria and amounts payable appropriately reflect the activity/incident.
• Endorse decisions by OCU Commander/Head of Branch or otherwise. Where the decision is not supported the panel chair will provide reasons in writing on the form in the space provided.
• Provide details of the types of activity for which it has been decided that a payment should (or should not) be made and the amount to the personnel unit who will inform HR Pay Policy Unit to enable a matrix of activities and amounts to be developed.

It will be for each business group to determine the make up of the panel and how often the panel should convene. However, it is recommended that the chair should be of at least ACPO rank or equivalent.

Monitoring arrangements

Personnel units are required to submit details for equal opportunities monitoring purposes to the HR Pay Policy Unit on a quarterly basis. A spreadsheet will be provided for this purpose. The first return will be for the period 1 April 2003 to 30 June 2003. HR Pay Policy will notify personnel units of the due date for the first return. The spreadsheet will also incorporate details of the types of activity for which a bonus payment has been awarded and the amounts and brief reasons for rejection where appropriate. A matrix of activities and amounts will be provided to OCUs on a quarterly basis to assist in the decision making process.

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