Recruitment and retention

Report: 10
Date: 4 September 2003
By: Commissioner

Summary

This is the regular report to inform HR Committee of progress, and related issues, of police and civil staff recruitment and retention against budgeted workforce targets for the financial year 2002/2003.

A. Recommendation

That members note this report.

B. Supporting information

1. The police workforce strength continues to grow in line with projections and is anticipated to achieve the budgeted workforce target (BWT) of 29,856 in March 2004. At the end of June 2003, the overall police strength had reached 28,837 against the projected strength of 28,829.

2. The respective strengths for both visible ethnic minority (VEM) and women officers are also increasing in line with projections. At the end June 2003, VEM officer strength had increased to 1,628 officers or 5.6% of overall police strength. During the same period of time, the strength of women officer strength increased to 4,867 officers or 16.9% of overall strength.

3. The level of police wastage is showing signs of improvement and provides evidence of the impact of retention measures recently introduced. Between April and June 2003, 409 officers have left the MPS compared with 470 leavers in the same period last year. This is particularly encouraging since the current police workforce strength is 1,931 officers greater than at the end June 2002.

4. Since April 2003, 763 police officers have been recruited, of which there were 89 (11.7%) VEM and 164 (21.5%) women officers. Of those who joined, 653 recruits have been required to undertake the full training course, and 110 officers have been deployed directly on borough or OCU. The future intakes are being filled in line with recruiting requirements. In response to a question asked at the last HR Committee, it can be confirmed that the recruiting costs of men and women recruits are identical.

5. The ‘Taskforce Batch Process’ has been introduced to clear the majority of existing police applications by end-August 2003. The initial results are very encouraging and the process is due to complete on 8 August 2003. Once these applications have been removed from the selection process, it is anticipated that processing times will fall significantly for new applicants.

6. The implementation of the National Recruitment Standards is progressing satisfactorily and a recruitment campaign for lay-assessors is due to commence. The implementation date for the full National Recruitment Standards assessment centre remains the same at 30 September 2003.

7. A more detailed report on recruitment and retention from April to June 2003 can be found at appendix 1.

Medical Process

8. A briefing note describing the current medical questionnaire process and the issues surrounding medical assessment costs can be found at Appendix 2.

C. Equality and diversity implications

Equality and diversity implications arising from this report are covered within the body of this report.

D. Financial implications

There are no financial implications arising from this report.

E. Background papers

• Recruitment & Retention Report April 2002 – June 2003
• Briefing Note – Police Applicant Medical Questionnaire

F. Contact details

Report author: Neil Bayne, Interim Director HR Recruitment, MPS.

For more information contact:

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

Appendix 1

Report on Recruitment & Retention April to June 2003

Prepared by Neil Bayne

Police workforce strength

1.1 The overall police budgeted workforce target (BWT) by end March 2004, has been increased by 5.1% to 29,856, with a target of 1,971 (6.6%) for visible ethnic minority (VEM) officers and 5,374 (18%) for women officers.

1.2 At the end of June 2003, the overall police strength was 28,837 (against the original projected strength of 28,829). The projected strength at the end of July 2003 is likely to further increase to 29,014. At this stage, the projected year-end strength is likely to reach 30,133 which will, subject to financial coverage, result in the BWT being exceeded by 277 police officers.

1.3 The VEM officer strength at the end of June 2003 has increased to 1,628 (310 women and 1,317 men) and VEM officers represent 5.6% of police strength. During the same period of time, women officer strength has also increased to 4,867 (4,557 white women and 310 VEM women), with women representing 16.9% of the police strength. The increases in VEM and women strength are in line with projections for end of June, with an expectation that the final year-end targets will be achieved for each of these groups.

1.4 The projected strength for women and VEM officers at the end of July is likely to increase to 4,938 women and 1,670 VEM officers. In order to reach the year-end target strength for women and VEM, a further 651 women and 460 VEM need to be recruited within the year.

1.5 Changes in strength include indirect wastage. This represents the net impact of officers moving to or from part-time working, changes in part-time hours and officers going on, or returning from career breaks. Such officers are not included in either recruitment or wastage numbers since they have not joined or left the Service. Annex A provides a breakdown of police strength.

Police leavers

2.1 409 (i.e. 5 VEM women, 33 VEM men, 42 white women and 329 white men) officers have left the MPS since April 2003. The number of leavers at the end June 2003 is considerably lower than the number who left during the same period of time last financial year (i.e. 409 against 470). The lower wastage rate begins to reflect the effectiveness of the measures introduced to improve the retention of staff. A breakdown of the reasons for leaving and the overall leaver numbers can be found at Annex B.

2.2 The Table at Annex D shows the net growth in police numbers. During the year, the overall police workforce has increased by 354 (51 VEM and 116 women). By contrast, during the same period last year, the overall number of police officers increased by only 123 (4 VEM and 46 women) officers.

Police applications

3.1 The marketing efforts have been concentrated on the VEM and women population to increase the representation of these groups within the workforce. In view of the MPS having a large number of applicants in the system, advertising has been reduced and more focussed. Subsequently, there is an expectation that the number of enquiries will be considerably lower than those received last year, but there will be a higher proportion of VEM and women. Also there is an expectation that a higher number of VEM and women will submit applications.

3.2 Between April and June 2003, 12,213 job enquiries were received compared to 18,033 received during the same period last financial year, amounting to a 32% decrease. Of those enquiries received there were 3,821 VEM enquiries (i.e. 2,335 men, 1,421 women and 65 whose gender was unknown) which amounted to 31.3% of all enquiries and 3,991 women enquirers (i.e. 2,570 white women and 1,421 VEM women) which amounted to 32.7% of all enquiries; this compares very favourably with the number of enquiries received between April and June last year, of which there were 3,869 (21.5%) VEM and 4,235 (23.5%) women. The overall decrease in the number of enquiries coupled with an increase in the number and proportion of VEM and women enquirers, provides some evidence of the effectiveness of the targeted advertising and marketing strategy.

3.3 Between April and June 2003, 2,690 application forms have been received compared to 2,615 received in the same period last year, amounting to a 3% increase in the number of applications received. Of those applications received, there were 524 VEM applications (19.5%), i.e. 392 men and 132 women, and 704 (26.2%) women applicants, i.e. 572 white women and 132 VEM women, compared to 461 (17.6%) VEM and 609 (23.3%) women applicants last year. Consequently, there has been an increase in the proportions of both VEM and women applications received when compared to the same period last year.

3.4 Currently, the overall police application return rate is 22% and is substantially higher than the return rate of 14.5% recorded for the same period last year. Currently, the VEM and women application return rates are 14% VEM and 14% women, compared to 12% VEM and 14% women for the same period last year. Consequently, the large decrease in enquiries has been compensated for by a higher application return rate and increase in the number of VEM and women applicants.

Police recruitment

4.1 The Directorate is working towards achieving an overall police recruitment target of 3,440 for the current financial year. The target consists of 3,040 recruits to training school and 400 direct to borough/OCU transfers spread over ten mini-intakes. There are recruitment targets for women and VEM officers of 860 women (25%) and 516 VEM (15%).

4.2 Between April and June 2003, there have been two training school intakes and three mini-intakes for officers transferring to the MPS. During this time, 763 police officers have been recruited, of which there were 89 (11.7%) VEM and 164 (21.5%) women. Of all the officers recruited, 653 are required to complete the full training school course and 110 officers have been deployed direct to borough.

4.3 The training school intake on 13 July 2003 had 325 recruits, of whom there were 79 women and 33 VEM. The intake on 17 August 2003 presently has 312 (37 VEM and 89 women) recruits, the intake on 21 September 2003 currently has 221 (11 VEM and 68 women) recruits and the intake on 26 October 2003 presently has 184 (6 VEM and 10 women) recruits allocated. A large number of spaces have been left open in future intakes to be filled by VEM candidates who are currently in the vetting process plus more women candidates.

4.4 There are approximately 8,480 applications in the police selection process, which - on current trends - are likely to yield approximately a further 3,916 (387 VEM and 927 women) recruits.

4.5 Annex C provides a breakdown of police recruitment during the fiscal year.

Police application processing times

5.1 The Taskforce ‘Batch Process’ for police applications commenced on 3 June 2003. Under the new process, approximately 200 applicants are invited daily to participate in Day 1 – comprising PIRT and written test. The revised Day 2 – comprising medical, PFT and interview started on 23 June 2003 and 120 applicants will be invited to attend daily. A reporting process has been introduced to monitor the results, including attendance rates and yields, on a daily basis.

5.2 Two main benefits arise from this initiative. Firstly, the processing times will reduce significantly for the majority of applications since the applicants will have received a provisional offer before September 2003, and, secondly, by reducing the application pool to a manageable level in future, recruiting staff will work with greater efficiency and effectiveness.

5.3 The Taskforce ‘Batch’ processing has been very successful with 3,028 candidates invited to Day 1 during the first four weeks of the initiative. Of those candidates invited, 2,461 attended the selection centre showing an attendance rate of 81%. Although there was only a slight difference between the attendance rates of VEM and white males, and white women, the attendance rate was lower for VEM women (albeit on much lower numbers). The underlying reasons for this difference are currently being identified by PACT and we would hope to encourage these candidates back into the system.

5.4 The overall Day 1 pass rate is 73% with very little difference between the pass rates of white men and women. However, there is a difference between the pass rates of VEM and white candidates (44% VEM and 79% white), though both are very close to our initial projections. At the end of June, 1,798 (39 VEM women, 119 VEM men, 467 white women and 1,173 white men) passed Day 1 and moved to the next stage in the process, usually three weeks from the date of Day 1. A further 2,400 candidates are due to take Day 1 during July, which is likely to result in approximately 1,430 additional candidates passing and being invited to Day 2 during late-July/early-August.

5.5 The Day 2 process started on 23 June and for the first five days of the process 511 candidates were invited, and 470 actually attended the selection centre resulting in an attendance rate of 92%. The current overall pass rate for Day 2 is 57%. In the first week of the Day 2 process, 269 (9 VEM women, 11 VEM men, 59 white women and 190 white men) candidates passed and are currently awaiting security clearance. A further 20 candidates were placed on medical hold and 17 have been required to re-take the physical fitness test. It is anticipated that the majority of these candidates will either pass their medical or PFT.

5.6 Currently, 1,630 candidates have been booked in for Day 2 during July. However, the number of Day 2 bookings is likely to rise to 3,060 once the candidates booked into Day 1 during July filter through the process. At the conclusion of the batch process in August, the recruiting teams will have processed approximately 5,400 candidates to Day 1 over a 27-day period and 3,570 candidates to Day 2 over a 30-day period. These applications are likely to yield 1,874 successful candidates. Therefore, the batch process initiative is very likely to be completed within the set timescales and yield sufficient candidates to generate a projected 3,916 recruits, which, notwithstanding the desire to recruit more VEM officers effectively seals our recruitment targets into next financial year.

National recruitment standards

6.1 A recruitment campaign for lay-assessors is due to commence. These assessors will augment the permanent team following training. The adoption of lay-assessors not only provides best value, but will also demonstrate openness and transparency, along with an integration of community partnership and recruitment.

6.2 The national application form and information pack with the competency-based questionnaire has now been adopted by the MPS and has been sent to all new applicants from 29 May 2003. The application form has been designed so that it can be scanned directly onto MetHR.

6.3 On-line application forms are now accessible through the National recruitment website. Due to security issues surrounding site security, these on-line applications are currently being downloaded into hardcopy before being transferred to MetHR. It is anticipated that in future the on-line applications will electronically enter MetHR. The ‘Air Gap’ information system project is currently developing this capability.

6.4 The national medical standards have been adopted by the MPS from 1 June 2003. The new fitness standards have been applied since 26 April 2003, which has already reduced the number of candidates, in particular, women, failing the test. The national eyesight standards were adopted on 1 June 2003.

6.5 A site visit at Hendon has been carried out by Centrex – the organisation responsible for the delivery of the new national process – and confirmed that the facilities are suitable for the new style of assessment. From 30 September 2003, the selection centre will be configured to assess up to 48 candidates daily.

6.6 The implementation of the new process continues in line with our expectations.

Police Community Support Officers

7.1 There has been an increase in the overall PCSO recruitment target for the financial year 2003/2004. Currently, there is an overall target of 820 PCSO (550 Community/Security and 270 Transport), with specific targets of 206 (25%) VEM, and 238 (29%) women PCSO recruits. The Transport PCSO target also comprises of Traffic Wardens transferring to the OCU as well as new entrants.

7.2 Between April and June 2003, 171 PCSO have been recruited, comprising 75 (44%) VEM and 54 (32%) women. Table 1 provides a breakdown of PCSO joiners who commenced training.

Table 1 source: Transport and Community PCSO Project Offices

7.3 A further 175 Transport and 474 Community PCSOs need to join to ensure that the annual PCSO recruitment targets are achieved. Currently, the selection centre has an application pool of 942 community/security and 286 transport applications at various stages within the respective selection processes. It is likely that the application pool will yield 590 community/security and 180 transport PCSOs. Consequently, there is a high probability that the PCSO targets will be achieved. Briefings for Traffic Wardens considering becoming PCSOs took place during June 2003.

7.4 At the end June 2003, the overall PCSO strength stood at 683 PCSO (239 (35%) VEM and 186 (23%) women).

Communication Officers

8.1 The original Communication Officers’ recruitment target of 660 has been reduced to 617 because of an additional 43 entrants carried over from last year.

8.2 Between April and June 2003, 158 (31 (19.6%) VEM and 95 (60.1%) women) communication officers have joined training courses, and a further 71 communication officers are due to join from July 2003. Taking into account the number of applicants due to join, a further 388 communication officers are needed to ensure the recruiting target is achieved.

8.3 To achieve the recruitment target, applications will be generated through the partnership with Jobcentre Plus. It is anticipated that this partnership initiative will generate sufficient numbers of suitable applicants to supplement the current application pool and ensure the recruitment target is achieved.

Metropolitan Special Constables (MSC)

9.1 The strength at end June 2003 was 694 of which 182 (26.2%) are women and 117 (16.9%) are VEM. There is a recruitment target of 310 for the financial year. During the current year, 69 applications have been received of which 28 (41%) were VEM. There are approximately 340 application forms at various stages of the selection process. During June the central team interviewed 80 candidates, of whom 66 (83%) passed.

9.2 Two MSC recruitment events at Charing Cross Police Station in July have been organised.

General & senior civil staff recruitment

10.1 The civil staff strength as at end June 2003 was 11,223, of whom there are 2,184 (19.5%) VEM and 6,655 (59.3%) women.

10.2 The Senior Civil Staff recruitment team has received approximately 365 applications for the 59 campaigns managed within the year.

Advertising & marketing

11.1 The MPS was the runner-up at the CIPD Diversity Award on 24 June 2003.

11.2 Following from market research, future advertising campaigns will focus on the different minority ethnic groups with an emphasis on family views and attitudes. The next VEM advertising campaign is due in September 2003 and is at the final stages of development. This campaign will enable us to meet our projected VEM recruitment targets.

11.3 The Staff Association Booklet is in production and will be ready for distribution amongst personnel managers, staff associations and newly appointed staff during August 2003. The original distribution date in June has been pushed-back due to the inclusion within the booklet of two new staff associations.

11.4 The main Recruitment Website is being developed, and an interim site will be open during July/August.

11.5 The ‘Keep Warm’ campaign is progressing with copies of ‘The Job’ being sent to new recruits. A short film highlighting life at Hendon has been produced and will shortly be distributed along with t-shirts and other items encouraging successful candidates to remain fit during the intervening period between selection and starting Training School at Hendon.

11.6 Guidance notes for applicants for civil staff posts are currently being revised and will be available for distribution during July 2003.

11.7 Currently discussions are ongoing for the internal and external recruitment of Detective Constables. During June, an advertisement appeared in Police Review and Police Life for Sergeants and Constables in Territorial Support Group.

11.8 Campaigns are under way for a number of Civil Staff posts, including driving instructors, HOLMES indexers and operational support officers.

11.9 Premier Radio has produced a proposal covering a 12-month period, which will focus upon VEM audiences, using features and police role models as the tools to attract VEM applicants. The revised strategy is a product of recent research into VEM advertising and marketing.

Positive action recruitment

12.1 The ‘Refer-a-Friend’ initiative has been further discussed by the Recruitment Taskforce. No further work is currently being taken on this initiative.

12.2 Since April 2003, 59 events have been organised by boroughs and PACT, resulting in 499 police enquiries (295 VEM and 119 women).

12.3 The borough recruitment initiative introduced on 1 April 2003 requiring boroughs to recruit at least 10 constables has resulted in 216 (164 VEM and 49 women) enquiries registered at the Call Centre. At the end June, 29 (15 VEM and 2 women) applications had been received (a summary of the status of these applications can be found at Annex E). The current numbers of applications that are live and progressing through the selection process by Borough have been set out below at Table 2.

Table 2 Source: MetHR 2003

12.4 The existing format of PACT focus sessions is due to be discontinued in July and will be replaced by a support programme tailored to the specific needs of applicants.

12.5 An access course is currently being developed in partnership with Tower Hamlets College to help prepare candidates for the police selection process and initial learning at Hendon. A similar 5-week course is currently being run in Wolverhampton. It is anticipated that the Tower Hamlets/MPS access course will commence in September/October 2003.

Retention

13.1 In the first three months of the financial year, 116 police officers transferred out of the MPS. In the same period 85 officers have transferred to the MPS from other forces, 24 officers have rejoined the MPS and 1 officer has previous police service. These 110 officers have been deployed directly to borough/OCU.

13.2 A new deal has been signed with the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) to give free rail travel to and from work for all MPS officers. The new deal was formally launched on 9 July. Free rail travel continues to be a key aspect of our strategy for retaining officers who might otherwise join other forces, particularly in the South East.

13.3 A Career Development and Retention Unit has been set-up within the HR Directorate. The new Unit will be looking at career development programmes and retention strategies/packages for both police officers and civil staff. The Unit will play a central role in the co-ordination of activities, products and key HR processes to improve retention and development of MPS staff.

13.4 The business case for a generic, multi-media induction process has been approved and work is currently in hand to establish a steering-group to oversee the development of the induction programme. A structured induction process has been identified as a vital component within the retention strategy and essential for motivation.

13.5 The outsourcing of the exit survey is progressing and discussions have recently been held with MPS procurement to determine the most suitable tendering process.

13.6 On housing, the Property Shop, re-named the ‘Property Zone’, will soon be open for business, providing staff with a link to a pool of advice and guidance relating to property and accommodation issues. Initially, a limited launch will commence in October 2003 for new recruits at Hendon, but a higher profile launch has been planned for January 2004. The Key Homebuyer Scheme was set-up to help key workers, including MPS staff, get onto the property ladder by providing loans of up to £50k.

13.7 A bid for funding has been submitted to the Home Office under the Police Reform Delivery Programme for the creation of a fast-track development scheme for civil staff named ‘ASPIRE’. Additionally, a fast-track programme for police officers wishing to become civil staff is being considered – it is anticipated that this initiative will provide an efficient process to recruit people with relevant skills to posts requiring police knowledge but not police powers.

13.8 The benefits booklet, a product detailing the full range of benefits available to both police and civil staff, is in the final stages of production and will shortly be circulated amongst MPS staff.

Annex A

Workforce strength at 31 May 2003

Workforce strength at 31 May 2003 - Police

Workforce strength at 31 May 2003 - Civil staff

Workforce strength at 31 May 2003 - Traffic Wardens

Workforce strength at 31 May 2003 - Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs)

Annex B

Police Leavers, April 2003 - March 2004

Police leavers April – February 2003

Annex C

Police Recruitment FY 2003/2004

Police Recruitment 2002/2003

Annex D

Recruitment against leavers, net difference

Total Recruited

Total Leavers

Net change

Annex E

Borough Recruitment Summary, June 2003

Appendix 2

Briefing Note - Police Applicant Medical Questionnaire

by Neil Bayne, Interim Director of HR Recruitment

14 July 2003

1. In the past, all applicants to the MPS were required to undergo a medical examination by their own GP before submitting their application to us. The cost of this examination was borne by the applicant; the amount of which varied from GP to GP.
2. The requirement for applicants to complete and pay for such a medical at the front-end of the recruitment process was unusual in recruitment processes generally (if not amongst the police service) and seen by some as an unreasonable cost to bear and as a barrier to recruitment.
3. The MPS Recruitment Directorate carried out a review of its selection process and decided to remove the need to submit a completed medical form at this early stage in the process.
4. Coinciding with this decision to change was the forthcoming introduction of National Recruitment Standards with regard to the medical aspects of the application. This included the introduction of a new medical questionnaire and a change in process as laid-down by the Home Office. Previously, all police forces asked all applicants to complete a medical questionnaire and take it to their GP for confirmation of their medical record before submitting it with their application form. As with our own experience, the Home Office concluded that this was an unnecessary burden on GPs given that 35,000 applications are submitted across the country each year to police forces and yet, of these, only 9,000 are recruited. The Home Office recommended that although the medical questionnaire is sent out within the application pack, applicants do not need to complete and take to their GPs until they have been invited to the selection process.
5. In view of our own experience and the Home Office advice, we decided to adopt the Medical standards part of the National Recruitment Standards earlier than 30 September 2003. Since 1 June 2003, we have been adopting the new guidelines. In the period 1 June-29 September, applicants are expected to complete their medical questionnaire and take to their GP for verification once they have completed Day 1 of the recruitment process and before attending Day 2. Once we commence NRS, the applicant will be asked to do this once they have passed the paper based assessment and before attending their assessment day.
6. With regard to GP costs, there is no standard or fixed fee for this. The BMA is not legally permitted to fix fees and, the Home Office tell us, was recently investigated by the Office of Fair Trading for this. The BMA can only recommend an appropriate fee but GP’s can disregard this if they choose to do so. In short, GP’s can charge whatever they like.
7. The new Home Office medical questionnaire we have adopted since 1 June does not make any reference to a standard fee. As the GP is only required to check the medical questionnaire against the applicant’s medical record a medical examination is no longer required. We are lead to believe that many GPs will carry out this process within normal surgery appointment times and therefore, not charge candidates. If a fee is charged we are advised that this should be in the region of £25-£40.
8. At this point in time, the Home Office have neither suggested nor agreed that this should be a charge picked up by the Police Service. The MPS have since 1 June continued with the practice of applicants bearing the cost in line with Home Office recommendations. In view of the changes outlined, this is not seen as an issue or barrier to recruitment any longer.

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