MPS HR business plan 2004/05

Report: 7
Date: 8 January 2004
By: Commissioner

Summary

This report informs members about developments in the corporate business planning process, describes priorities that are emerging at both a corporate level and within Human Resources (HR), and invites input from Members in respect of HR priorities for 2004/05.

A. Recommendation

That

1. the approach to developing the HR business plan 2004/05 described in this report be noted;
2. members note that work is continuing on preparation of the HR business plan, and that a further report will be brought to the 4 March 2004 meeting of the HR Committee, setting out detailed priorities, objectives, performance measures, targets and indicative costings;
3. one or more Members and/or MPA officers be nominated to work closely with the HR Directorate in developing the HR business plan; and
4. members consider the emerging priorities and objectives, and provide any initial views on HR priorities and objectives for 2004/05 to inform the planning process.

B. Supporting information

Corporate planning process

1. The corporate planning process is being developed for the production of the 2004/05 Annual Policing and Performance Plan. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Corporate Planning Unit has engaged both the MPS Internal Consultancy Group and Accenture to assist with this work, which will impact across the MPS, incorporating formal business planning at business group and Operational Command Unit (OCU) levels. As current thinking stands, the key features of the new approach are as detailed below.

2. A hierarchy of objectives is intended to capture in the Annual Policing and Performance Plan all aspects of MPS service delivery, with a description of costs:

• Priority objectives are those few goals that most directly help the MPS progress the three corporate priorities of terrorism, reassurance and serious and organised crime. Priority objectives will receive significant corporate focus in the coming year and the associated targets will reflect this.
• Business group key objectives will receive significant focus in the coming year from the lead business group responsible for delivery. These objectives will feature in business group plans alongside the priority objectives and will, in many cases, attract associated measures and targets.
• Sustaining delivery objectives will have a lesser level of ambition in the coming year, reflecting a desire to moderately improve, or in some cases sustain, performance.
• Priority objectives, business group key objectives and sustaining delivery objectives are intended to capture work that impacts during 2004/05. Alongside these, a fourth category of building the future organisation is intended to reflect where the MPS is directing current efforts to future capability building, and to document and monitor within the Annual Policing and Performance Plan the costs and milestones associated with change activity.

3. Corporate priority objectives will appear in the Annual Policing and Performance Plan. Lower-level objectives will be contained in business group and OCU/unit level plans. Members will note that this approach, which is intended to form part of the transition to business planning in the MPS, is different to that taken last year, whereby the focus of planning was on new initiatives and areas of significant change. With the inclusion of “sustaining delivery objectives” it is now intended to capture all aspects of the organisation’s work.

4. Costing of the delivery strategies that underpin each of the corporate objectives will be undertaken using a costing mechanism aligned to the Activity Based Costing approach. Further development work is required before this aspect of the process can be introduced, and it is not intended that a fully costed business plan will be produced for 2004/05. For HR, cognisance will also need to be taken of the costings aspect of the Association of Police Authorities (APA) framework for costed HR plans.

5. As work on the development of the corporate business planning process will be ongoing throughout this planning cycle, the style and content of the HR business plan will need to reflect and respond to developments at the corporate level.

APA framework for costed HR business plans

6. Members have previously received briefing papers and reports detailing the APA framework for costed HR plans. As noted therein, the APA framework provides a suggested structure in two parts:

• Summary of key data: to provide commonality and consistency across forces of high level HR data; and
• Action plans: setting out, in four specified categories (recruitment; retention; development; health, safety & welfare), areas for improvement in the form of priorities and objectives for the year. A fifth category – diversity – is a crosscutting theme underpinning these four functional categories and could generate additional priorities and objectives. The framework recognises that specific areas for improvement will vary from force to force “depending on local circumstances and current performance levels”, and there is no expectation that forces will necessarily have action plans for each area.

7. With respect to the summary of key data, the position as described in HR\02\065 continues to pertain: APA guidance on counting conventions and definitions and the calculation of costings has not been forthcoming. It is therefore intended that, whilst taking full account of the APA framework, the MPS HR plan continue to be structured to best meet and support the particular needs of the MPS.

8. With respect to the APA’s suggested structure for action plans, forces are expected to have an HR Strategy that, although reviewed annually, would normally be in place for a number of years. The MPS People Strategy continues to serve this purpose well. The HR business plan for 2004/05 will include those elements of the People Strategy to be delivered in that year. Other key documents that will inform HR priorities and objectives for 2004/05 include:

• National Policing Plan 2004-2007
• Towards the Safest City
• Policing: Building safer communities together (police reform phase 2 consultation document)
• number of specific strategies and initiatives, such as Dismantling Barriers 2, Equalities for All, Corporate Strategic Assessments (from National Intelligence Model).

Emerging issues

9. Details of key organisational change programmes emerging under the “building the future organisation” category are attached at Appendix 1. Planning work has commenced within operational business groups, and an early indication of operational business groups’ emerging priorities is attached at Appendix 2.

10. Discussions have commenced both within the HR Directorate, and with other business groups, to identify the HR implications of these emerging corporate priorities. Detailed planning work is also ongoing in respect of implementing longer term actions outstanding from inspection and review activity, and responding to current and expected strategies, policies and legislation.

11. Emerging HR priorities are outlined in Appendix 3. The relative significance of the priorities will be assessed as the planning process unfolds, for inclusion as appropriate in the 2004/05 Policing and Performance Plan, the HR business plan, and unit level plans.

Development of HR business plan

12. In line with developments at a corporate level and in other parts of the organisation, a draft HR business plan, including performance measures, targets and indicative costings, will be brought to the MPA HR Committee for consideration on 4 March 2004.

13. In recognition of the need for ongoing dialogue between the MPS and the MPA, the HR Committee is invited to nominate one or more Members and/or officers to work closely with the HR Directorate in developing the HR business plan.

C. Equality and diversity implications

There are no direct implications on equalities and diversity arising from this report. Development of a number of the underpinning objectives of the HR business plan for 2004/05 will, however, progress equality and diversity within the MPS.

D. Financial implications

There are no financial implications arising directly from this report. Costs will be incurred in progressing the final priorities and objectives, and these costs will be considered, as far as is reasonably practicable, as part of the planning process. The objectives and targets within the HR business plan will reflect the total level of resource available, and will inform the way the HR Directorate proposes to use those resources available to it in 2004/05.

E. Background papers

• Association of Police Authorities, Framework for Police Authority Oversight of Police Human Resource Plans
• MPA briefing paper 2002/01, Police Human Resource Plans: Association of Police Authorities (APA)
• HR\02\65 APA Framework for Human Resource Plan 2003/04.

F. Contact details

Report author: Chris Haselden, MPS.

For more information contact:

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

Appendix 3

Emerging HR priorities

At the time of writing the emerging priorities for HR were:

• Recruitment of under-represented groups in order to achieve a more proportionate workforce across the full diversity spectrum;
• Improving the calibre of individuals recruited (e.g. graduates);
• Increasing use of technology in recruitment;
• Attendance management;
• Performance Development Reviews;
• Probationer training modernisation programme
• Retention: for all staff in general, and under-represented groups in particular;
• Progression of under-represented groups;
• Career development strategy;
• Developing the Medium Term Pay Strategy for police staff;
• HR activities to support the corporate priorities of reassurance, terrorism and serious & organised crime (yet to be defined);
• HR activities in support of building the future organisation:
  • Managing the civilianisation process in support of the Step Change programme;
  • Providing HR support in the re-letting of the support service contracts;
  • Supporting the Director HR as Head of Profession to develop the HR function across the MPS;
  • Providing strategic HR support for major change programmes such as Metcall, Modernising Operations etc.;
  • Developing support for the police support associations within the MPS;
  • (plus others, yet to be defined).

As planning is a continuous process, it is to be expected that these will have undergone change and development by 8 January.

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