The HR Directorate’s Strategic Assessment

Report: 5
Date: 16 September 2004
By: Commissioner

Summary

This paper summarises the Strategic Assessment process, and describes the Human Resources contribution to the Corporate Strategic Assessment to be completed in September 2004.

A. Recommendation

That members note the report.

B. Supporting information

1. Strategic Assessment is one aspect of the National Intelligence Model (NIM), which was developed as a national model for intelligence-led operational policing. However, because it deals with short term and long-term operational issues that have implications for all the support services, it is now recognised as a business planning model. This model is supported by the Home Office and is being introduced in other agencies such as Customs and Immigration. The NIM guidelines do not specifically cover support functions such as HR. HR Directorate has been working with the MPS NIM Team to interpret the requirements of the Strategic Assessment process, as well as other aspects of NIM, in a way that is meaningful in the context of a support function within a police service as large as the MPS. Members may wish to note that the focus of the Strategic Assessment process is specifically on medium and longer term issues: short term items are managed at a tactical level through HR Board meetings and the work of individual Directors.

2. HR completes Strategic Assessments six-monthly: one in June and one in December. HR’s June Strategic Assessment contributes to the Corporate Strategic Assessment that will be completed by September 2004. The latter document feeds the Commissioner’s Conference, which initiates the planning round for the 2005/06 Policing Plan. Between June and September, the Directorate of Strategic Development synthesises business groups’ submissions, adds higher level analysis and prepares the Corporate Strategic Assessment document for submission to Commissioner’s Conference. Whilst at the time of writing (August 2004) the format of the forthcoming Commissioner’s Conference has not yet been finalised, it is anticipated that one of the outcomes for HR will be some initial indication of what HR support is likely to be required to enable the MPS to deliver against policing objectives for 2005/06. These initial indications will be followed up as appropriate with other business groups, and the information used in the development of the December HR Strategic Assessment. This document will closely inform the development of the HR Business and Performance Plan for 2005/06. Corporately, HR’s December Strategic Assessment will be used to inform the March Corporate Strategic Assessment.

3. A Strategic Assessment includes the following broad elements:

• A review of performance;
• A review of the local and government priorities impacting the relevant area of business;
• A review of the anticipated future impacts of political, economic, social, technological, environmental, legal, governmental and organisational factors and issues of relevance to the area of business;
• Synthesising the above three elements to draw out the significant strategic issues requiring attention and decision.

4. A key principle of NIM is that reports and decisions put before managers at a particular level in the organisational hierarchy should include only those matters that are not susceptible to management at the level below. For this reason, the purpose of the HR Strategic Assessment, as submitted for inclusion in the Corporate Strategic Assessment process, is to highlight only those issues of exception requiring attention at corporate level. These exceptions would include, for example, areas where performance falls short of the required level and where plans for remedial action cannot be managed wholly within HR, items where action is required from other business groups across the MPS in order to achieve desired outcomes, and issues where a decision needs to be made at a corporate level about relative priorities or the reallocation of resources.

5. Doing the work this way has the advantage of focusing management attention only on items requiring attention at that level. It also ensures that all relevant strategic influences on HR’s work – past performance, external strategies and targets, environmental factors external to the MPS and known needs and requirements of other parts of the organisation – are documented together. This makes it easier to articulate a clear strategic overview of the business of HR in the MPS, and renders more transparent the drivers for strategic and planning decisions about priorities and targets.

6. The HR Strategic Assessment is attached at Appendix 1. It broadly follows the corporate format. The main issues identified for escalation to the corporate level were:

• Leadership Academy and development of management capability.
• The need to anticipate likely recommendations of the Morris Inquiry, by promoting flexible working and relocating the Employment Tribunals Unit to HR Directorate.
• The need to reduce the costs of devolved HR and enhance support to ensure line managers manage effectively.
• Risk that 2009 minority ethnic workforce targets will not be achieved, most notably in relation to VEM police officers.
• Cuts in Centrex funding are likely to have financial implications for the MPS and may impose a consequent requirement for additional in-house training activity.
• Joint work required between HR and Territorial Policing to address patterns of Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) sickness (focus of issue relates to Security PCSOs), which are thought to be related to job design and local line management arrangements.
• Accuracy and completeness of data recorded by local units on MetHR, and local adoption of appropriate supporting business processes.
• The need to establish a working group to explore and plan for implications of local target setting and direct funding of boroughs.

7. At the time of writing (August 2004), it is understood that the Directorate of Strategic Development intends shortly to circulate for comment a draft version of the Corporate Strategic Assessment document that will be completed in September. In response to this, HR will provide any additional information as appropriate in light of the issues that have been raised. Early sight of the draft document will also allow HR to identify some likely areas where work will be required to support operational policing objectives and organisational capacity-building for the future.

8. The detail of corporate arrangements for feeding back to business groups items arising from the Strategic Assessment process have not yet been notified to business groups. However, it is expected that, following the Commissioner’s Conference in September, HR will receive clearer information regarding the contribution required from HR to enable the MPS to fulfil its operational policing priorities, including the timescales within which such contributions are required. This information will be used as a basis for negotiations with operational business groups, which will in turn inform the HR Business and Performance Plan for 2005/06.

C. Race and equality impact

1. Equality and diversity implications are considered as an integral part of the strategic assessment process and feature as appropriate in the Strategic Assessment document at Appendix 1.

2. On this occasion, as noted above, the risk that the 2009 minority ethnic workforce targets will not be met, notably for police officers, has been identified. This issue is further explored within the Strategic Assessment.

3. A further assessment of equality and diversity implications will be undertaken when the Corporate Strategic Assessment has been considered and any new actions or changes in priorities have been identified for HR.

D. Financial implications

1. No financial implications arise as a direct consequence of this report.

2. In due course, as a result of the corporate-level consideration of the Corporate Strategic Assessment, any changes to the business priorities of HR requiring additional funding or a significant reallocation of budgetary provision will be reported separately.

3. By its nature, the Strategic Assessment identifies a number of issues that may impact in the future, but where this impact is not definite and the implications are not fully known. Many such issues could entail additional financial requirements, e.g. cuts in Centrex funding, the establishment of a Leadership Academy. However, the likelihood and magnitude of these impacts are not known at the present time. As developments take place and the position becomes clearer, such issues will be progressed through existing MPS financial and business planning processes and further reports will be provided to the MPA as necessary.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Avril Cooper, Head of HR Planning & Performance Unit

For more information contact:

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

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