Best value review of managing demand

Report: 5
Date: 12 May 2005
By: Commissioner

Summary

This report:

• Provides an update on the Demand Management Best Value Review (DMBVR) implementation plan and the progress being made in delivering each of the recommendations.
• Seeks the approval of the Planning Performance and Review Committee (PPRC) to make amendments to selected recommendations.

A. Recommendations

That

1. the proposed amendments to the original DMBVR recommendations be approved; and
2. five recommendations be agreed as completed.

B. Supporting information

1. The Demand Management Best Value Review examined the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) response to demand from the customer’s perspective. Frontline MPS staff encounter the public each day and are sometimes frustrated that they are not able to deliver the standards of service that people need and that our staff would wish to provide. The DMBVR was designed to enable front line staff to deliver an improved better quality of service to our customers.

2. The seventeen recommendations are intended to transform the way the MPS delivers its services to the public by adopting a policing philosophy of ‘getting it right first time’.

3. The DMBVR was completed in May 2003. The progress of each of the seventeen recommendations has been managed through the project board with regular updates being made to the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) PPRC.

4. It should be noted that this review was undertaken in 2003 and the advent of new initiatives such as Police Community Support Officers, Safer Neighbourhoods and C3i will have superseded the original vision and given the organisation products that supersede the original vision.

The following twelve recommendations are ongoing:

Recommendation 1.

To improve customer satisfaction by better matching police station front counter services to demand (e.g. opening hours, self reporting, internet, telephone access and triage)

This recommendation is in progress.

5. The responsibility for police station front counter opening times rests with individual Borough Commanders and is based on need, usage and staff available for this function. To address the strong public desire for front counters to be open at all times, boroughs have at least one Police station open 24 hours a day and the others operating on restricted hours.

6. The review team focused on making improvements to the quality of service provided by existing counter services whilst enhancing alternative channels of delivery. It was proposed to improve customer satisfaction by better matching front counter services to demand (e.g. opening hours, self-reporting forms, internet and telephone access and triage).

7. The MPS has made efforts to improve the services provided at police station front counters through:

• Triage of callers
• Self-reporting forms for various incidents and occurrences
• Increased functionality of Telephone Investigation Bureaux (TIB)
• Internet crime reporting has reduced the need for members of the Public to attend police stations to report certain crimes.

8. These measures are already monitored through regular public attitude surveys (conducted by Directorate of Public Affairs) and specific front counter surveys.

9. The introduction of volunteers to work alongside Station Reception Officers on many boroughs has enabled Borough Commanders to open front counters that had previously been closed. Whilst not the sole solution to front counter issues volunteers have had a significant impact on the ability of Boroughs to provide an improved customer focused service.

10. Commander Rose Fitzpatrick, North West Territorial Policing (TP) now leads on MPS activity on issues relating to service delivery at police station front counters, and is in the process of identifying resources to carry this work forward. They will make progress reports to PPRC on request.

Recommendation 2.

To increase public satisfaction, achieve greater accessibility and identify opportunities for joining up access to partners by assessing the potential value of one-stop shops, police shops and mobile police stations.

Recommendation in progress

11. This recommendation proposed to evaluate how one-stop shops, police shops and mobile police stations could deliver increased accessibility, recognising the need to balance this against actual demand and usage.

12. An essential part of the recommendation was to identify and evaluate how police services can be integrated with those of partners, allowing a holistic service provision for communities and make available other funding opportunities through partnerships.

13. Many existing police stations suffer from poor locations and capacity but are commercially attractive sites. A more effective approach to the police estate would be the separation of front counter services from operational sites and relocate front counters in purpose built locations, readily accessible and convenient to members of the public. These may be provided in multi-agency one-stop shops, neighbourhood police offices and mobile police stations. Safer Neighbourhood teams are located in premises that provide other community functions such as schools, housing offices and libraries. These are ideal locations from which to provide access to police services.

Proposed change

14. To provide greater accessibility to police front counter services by seeking to provide front counter services in multi-agency premises, in addition to the deployment Safer Neighbourhoods Teams within local communities working with partners to provide access to a full range of police services.

15. Chief Superintendent Mark Gore, Safer Neighbourhoods is to manage this recommendation with a new completion date of June 2008. Regular updates on this recommendation will continue to be provided to the PPRC on request.

Recommendation 3.

To improve the resolution of non-emergency calls by developing a help desk function that in the short term enhances Borough Operational Command Units (BOCU’s) ability to respond to enquiries, in the medium term to build on the capabilities of C3i and the frequently asked questions database and in the long term establishing a fully functioning contact centre.

This recommendation is ongoing.

16. The original DMBVR saw potential to join up MPS public help desk functions with other public services in London. However, it is unlikely that the help desk function will be provided as originally envisaged. The original conception of a multi-agency Pan-London help desk is not economically viable. There are currently no funds available for such a venture and difficulties in persuading partners of the benefits and need.

17. However the help desk function will be increasingly provided by the Metcall Operational Command Unit (OCU). Prior to the start of the C3i implementation members of the public trying to get through to local Police Control rooms for non-emergency matters was difficult particularly at peak periods of demand. The early indications are that Metcall OCU has improved the police telephone-answering rate in terms of non-emergency calls through this method and will continue to do so.

18. In addition to the increasing functionality of Metcall OCU, Telephone Operating Centres (TOC) have trialed a frequently asked question (FAQ) database which has meant that a large number of calls approximately 40% have been fielded by operators and not put through to police station Control rooms or Metcall OCU and have been dealt with by TOC’s at first point of contact. No callers have received the busy signal (i.e. cannot be put through by the TOC).

19. Lewisham and Southwark BOCU’s have moved over to Metcall OCU. Metcall OCU has dealt with a daily average of 212 non-emergency calls for Lewisham. The caller abandoned 3.1% of these calls. The average time to answer is 22 seconds. Southwark’s experience is that Metcall OCU deals with a daily average of 236 non-emergency calls. The caller abandoned 5.2% of these calls. The average time to answer is 25 seconds.

20. Many calls to police are being resolved at the first point of contact and not referred on. This improvement in service delivery will increase as the roll out of Metcall OCU progresses. The TOC/Metcall FAQ database concept meets the requirements of the helpdesk concept and will increasingly do so as Metcall OCU is rolled out.

Recommendation 6.

Defining the roles and responsibilities of response teams, setting and maintaining their target staffing levels to better match available BOCU resources to local demand.

Recommendation in progress

21. The MPS is currently delivering a demand resolution strategy ‘Right First Time’ and it is being incorporated into the 2005/2006 control strategy. The current Service Review is looking at general methodology and it would be premature to articulate at this stage how the demand resolution strategy will be implemented.

22. The roles and responsibilities of core response teams are explicitly linked to corporate policing plans and local partnership strategies. Once the role and responsibilities of a response team have been determined, it will be possible for Borough Commanders to set their optimum size to meet operational demand and the resulting quality of the service provided by the MPS to the public enhanced.

23. A consultation process was undertaken and this work has confirmed that roles and responsibilities for response teams can vary considerably from Borough to Borough, which would make it difficult to develop a tool to meet all requirements. In addition there are a large number of fixed, variable and location specific constraint factors that impact on the decision.

24. The work concluded that the development of a decision support tool to assist Borough Commanders in the allocation of resources to response teams is not appropriate at the present time.

25. To meet the requirements of this recommendation work has been undertaken by the MPS Corporate Performance Group. They have developed a monthly performance and staffing report, which links to the Operational Policing Measures and monitors the allocation of resources. The report further monitors demand and indicates areas of good practice and learning. The report recognises the diversity of the individual Boroughs in seeking to achieve key objectives.

Proposed change

• This recommendation be formally remitted to be dealt with as part of the MPS 2005/2006 control strategy.

Recommendation 7.

To improve the quality of service by increasing the ratio of experienced staff to probationers in response teams.

This recommendation in progress.

26. The relative numbers of experienced officers on response teams are declining as the volume of probationary constables (officers with less than two years police service) and others young in service grows. Experienced police officers are more likely to get things ‘right first time’, thereby satisfying customers. It follows therefore that larger numbers of experienced personnel need to be retained in the response function to provide a quality public service and an experience resource to their more junior colleagues.

27. At the end of March 2005 there were 3557 probationers representing 11.4% of total police strength of 31,175. However they make up an average of 36% of response teams. At some Boroughs as many as 44% of response team officers were probationers.

28. The recommendation of the original DMBVR was that experienced staff would be encouraged to stay within response teams if the status of response policing was raised. It was concluded that a rewards package (financial and non-financial) for staff would act as an incentive.

29. The review team concluded that the Special Priority Payments (SPP) scheme would, therefore, influence the choice of post for some officers, but family friendly shift patterns would also have great potential to encourage experienced staff to remain in the response team role.

30. In line with this recommendation the MPS has completed a review of the SPP scheme. Amendments have been made as to who will receive SPP payments and a further review upon its impact is planned for next year. In 2004 10,889 officers applied for SPP’s, which was a decrease on the number of applications received for 2003. MPS HR has attributed this to the moving of increasing numbers of staff to the safer neighbourhoods programme.

31. The MPS implemented the new training standards at Hendon, Sunbury, Orpington, and Hampstead from October of 2004, which will increase the skills of probationers and increase the ability of BOCU Commanders to deliver services that meet the needs of the local communities.

32. The MPS is investigating training in which probationers are trained on slower time teams to develop their skills. At Bexley as part of the Workforce Modernisation Pilot, Probationers undergo a development programme whereby they are not placed straight onto a response team, but rather gain experience and skills in slower time environments such as Safer Neighbourhood Teams, Case Progression Units, Task and CID units until the end of their first year when they go to a response team. The full benefits of this scheme are still under evaluation.

33. Another aspect that has assisted in retaining experienced officers on response teams is the variable shift systems. This is perceived as being beneficial to family life and as such encourages stability of personnel on response teams. Over time as officers successfully complete their probation and gain experience the experience levels on response teams will rise but this is an ongoing process.

Recommendation 8.

To improve the quality of front line leadership by setting and implementing MPS standards of Patrol Supervision.

Recommendation in progress

34. The Leadership and Supervision Standards within the Integrated Borough Operations (IBO) and Metcall OCU environment have been developed and is in the final stages of production.

35. Leadership and Supervision Standards set out the roles and responsibilities for key individuals such as the Senior Management Teams, Chief Inspector Metcall OCU and their staff, Duty Officer, Patrol Sergeant, Integrated Borough Operations (IBO) Sergeant and Safer Neighbourhood Sergeant.

36. Intrusive supervision is key to these roles, setting standards, closely linking activities and standards to the National Competency Framework (NCF) and ensuring that quality service is provided throughout the organisation.

37. MPS Human Resources (HR) has been consulted to facilitate Leadership and Supervision standards incorporation into future training for supervisors and that links are made with selection and progression processes.

38. The development of a dedicated Patrol Sergeant role with the addition of a patrol supervision vehicle and the facilities it provides will enable Boroughs to provide support and guidance to Officers at the earliest stages of incidents and ensure that good practice and effective standards of service delivery are promulgated. The Leadership and Supervision Standards will be published July 2005.

Proposal

• Chief Superintendent Peter Goulding, TP Modernising Operations, continues to manage this recommendation for completion July 2005.

Recommendation 10.

To deliver a reduction in the average time taken to attend incidents by introducing new call grading and deployment protocols.

Recommendation in progress

39. The DMBVR identified an opportunity to move away from pass or fail targets based on speed of response, rather to concentrate on an average response time and the quality of service provided when police arrive. This would allow the MPS to focus on reducing the average response time in an appropriate way and does not compromise Public or Officer safety while equally taking account of distances travelled to calls particularly in outer Boroughs.

40. The core objective within this recommendation is to introduce performance measurements that deliver a reduction in the average time taken to attend incidents. The figures for March 2005 show that the MPS average attendance at immediate response graded calls within twelve minutes was achieved in 70% of instances.

41. The MPS is currently supporting the ongoing National Standards for Incident Recording (NSIR) Home Office project. NSIR supports the Government’s Citizen focus agenda, and provides improved data in areas of Anti-Social Behaviour, Public Safety and Road Related incidents allowing more informed decision making on the allocation and deployment of resources. NSIR sets national definitions of non-crime incidents and recording standards, establishing the totality of demands made on Police services in the non-crime arena. It is anticipated that in supporting of piece of work the MPS will have to consider the whole issue of call grading and definitions.

42. Work is still under consideration to implement a new method of calculating response times by moving to an average response time. Further updates will be provided in the near future.

Recommendation 11.

To improve the availability of resources to meet demand by introducing an MPS effective crewing policy that increases the number of single officer patrols.

Recommendation in progress

43. Single officer patrols promote greater visibility and increases public reassurance. It is clear that not every unit can be single-crewed; equally it is the case that not every patrol needs to be double-crewed. A robust risk assessment process is required to decide whether it is appropriate to employ the option of single or double-crewed patrols.

44. The MPS is producing a Patrol Strategy. The aim of this project is to provide a menu of options for Borough Commanders to consider for their borough’s default patrol strategy. It will deliver a good practice guide for Operations Managers to use when developing patrol strategies within Territorial Policing and for other Pan London Units.

45. The Internal Consultancy Group (ICG), working with Modernising Operations are producing a guide to patrol practice. A pilot scheme is proposed to identify the best monitoring and control method for single Officer Patrols. The pilot is proposed to encompass five BOCU’s and one Pan-London Unit. This work will be completed in October 2005.

Proposed Change

• To ensure the MPS Patrol Strategy includes provision to match resources to demand.

Chief Superintendent Peter Goulding, TP Modernising Operations manages this recommendation for completion October 2005.

Recommendation 13.

Optimising the deployment of staff by implementing a systematic approach to retaining skills on operational teams.

Recommendation in progress

46. The MPS must retain an effective capacity to promptly respond to requests for assistance from members of the public. Sufficient skilled officers must be available on BOCU response teams to meet this demand.

47. Improved succession planning is required so that sufficient skills are available on response teams and that maximum value is obtained from training courses. The original recommendation proposed to adopt best practice from BOCU’s who already use local posting panels to make informed decisions about whom, where and importantly when a member of staff may be transferred.

48. This recommendation remains valid, although it should be amended to compliment other succession planning and workforce deployment initiatives. Work is still ongoing.

Proposed change

Dianna Marchant, TP Business Development Director leads on this recommendation with a completion date of 31 December 2005.

Recommendation 14.

To increase membership of the Metropolitan Special Constabulary (MSC) to 1000 officers by offering the inducement of free rail travel and improve their availability at the time of greatest demand by the introduction of service level agreements.

Recommendation in progress

48. The review proposed to enhance the attraction of membership of the MSC and increase their numbers to 1000 officers by offering the inducement of free rail travel and to improve their availability at the time of greatest demand by the introduction of service level agreements.

49. The issue of free travelling for the MSC has been resolved. It was agreed that members of the MSC would receive free travel on London Underground and London buses. A paper outlining the agreement was submitted to the full MPA Committee in October. The Mayor of London and the then Commissioner of the MPS have launched the concession. Bexley Borough has been in the forefront of MSC recruitment piloting local training and recruitment. Since 2002 they have successfully recruited, trained 94 new Special Constables.

50. Corporately the MPS has 726 Special constables. The MPS anticipates achieving the recruitment target of 1000 by September 2005. In support of this the MPS is engaging in proactive external recruitment including the latest Home Office campaign, the recruitment of Police Staff into the MSC and the Shop Watch initiative.

51. In order to sustain the MSC establishment numbers once the target has been reached human resources are working with workforce planning to devise a strategy to maintain these numbers.

52. Service Level Agreements have been introduced locally on Boroughs and MSC Officers are encouraged to give of their time at peak demand hours and are specifically tasked according to local priorities. At a corporate level a MSC Tasking Unit is being set up to deal primarily with alcohol related crime under the umbrella of 'Operation Optic' and also to deal with anti-social behaviour, crime and disorder. This will be a dedicated OCU with officers deployed every Friday and Saturday night initially on Westminster Borough for the first three months. Thereafter, other BOCU’s will be able to bid for the unit to support local crime reduction initiatives around alcohol related crime etc.

53. The MPS has additionally sought to develop the extended Police Family that recognises the importance of volunteers beyond the MSC and currently has some 740 volunteers across the MPS in a huge variety of roles. The extended police family has also been augmented and benefited from the valuable contribution to service delivery made by Police Community Support Officers.

Proposed change

• Completion date be amended to October 2005

54. No change should be made the wording of the original DMBVR recommendation. Chief Superintendent Mark Gore, Safer Neighbourhoods to manage this recommendation.

Recommendation 15.

To develop a marketing communications strategy that informs the public about the standard of service that can reasonably be provided by the MPS.

Recommendation in progress

55. The MPS is undergoing a transition period as it transforms the ways in which it connects with the Public. A campaign at this time is unlikely to be effective and may lack credibility if redefined expectations are not realised. There are several products such as C3i demand management and operations management that need to be in place before such a campaign is appropriate.

56. The centrepiece of any campaign will undoubtedly be e-comms based. The Directorate of Public Affairs (DPA) is developing an improved e-comms strategy. It will deliver the initial message of MPS capabilities, provide mechanisms for public feedback and manage the expectations and demands of the public.

57. DPA has updated the MPS website and intranet among its features are Citizen Focused two way communication, Frequently Asked Questions and a map driven MPS service locator.

58. This recommendation was based upon the belief that the MPS simply cannot respond to every call for service in the way that every person making that demand would want. A marketing and communications strategy will improve public understanding about the responsibilities and role of the police, thereby reducing inappropriate demand on the MPS.

59. Such a strategy will assist the MPS to absorb any additional demand generated by improving accessibility. The strategy should set out the standards of service that the public can expect from the MPS.

60. Such standards may include:

A member of the public may expect from the MPS:

• A timely response to telephone calls
• A timely response from officers attending scenes of incidents
• A timely response from office based staff
• A timely response to appointments
• Getting things right first time
• Follow-ups within reasonable times
• Victim and witness care in accident and crime cases
• The provision of direct contact numbers

61. These standards would pull together the four main strands of Territorial Policing Core Business, Patrol, Criminal Justice, Safer Neighbourhoods and Crime investigation. The roll out of C3i continues across the MPS and there is some reticence within DPA to launch a campaign relating to this issue whilst issues are still being resolved.

Proposed change

• Directorate of Public Affairs to lead work with C3i, Modernising Operations and Safer Neighbourhoods to communicate to the public alternative appropriate methods to contact the MPS.

It is proposed that this recommendation is reviewed in November 2006.

Recommendation 16.

The MPS Collaborate with other emergency services on publicity campaigns to reduce inappropriate 999 emergency calls.

Recommendation in progress

62. The DMBVR established that the MPS had not efficiently collaborated with the other emergency services regarding publicity campaigns to reduce the number of 999 calls. Collaboration offers the opportunity to send consistent messages from the emergency services in London. Moreover, publicity can be sustained over a longer period, greater impact will be achieved and this will create better chances of a successful outcome.

63. MPS has worked to meet the requirements of this recommendation. However, following consultation with the London Ambulance Service (LAS) and the London Fire and Civil Defence Authority (LFCDA) they are unable at this stage to collaborate with the MPS due to conflicting priorities, causes of inappropriate calls and financial commitments. In general, the LAS do not engage in such campaigns and the LFCDA only participate in national campaigns through the Home Office.

Proposed change

• MPS to run a campaign to reduce inappropriate use of 999 emergency calls.

64. The Directorate of Public Affairs leads on this recommendation with a completion date of 31 March 2006.

Recommendation 17.

To develop and implement a performance management system encompassing measures relating to demand resolution and public satisfaction.

Recommendation in progress

65. The original DMBVR concluded that MPS performance in relation to demand management and resolution should be consistently assessed and reviewed. The key performance indicators must be customer focused, employee related and cover financial and operational aspects of the activities. The indicators must be in line with the Home Office police Best Value Performance Indicators, the National Policing Plan and the Public Attitude Survey. The review proposed to develop and implement a Performance Management System encompassing measures relating to demand resolution and public satisfaction.

66. The Directorate of Strategic Development (DSD) unit now works with Directorate of Information and other business groups when major new Information Technology (IT) systems are introduced in order to ensure that corporate data will be available from these systems in line with any business requirements. Delivery of Management Information from new systems is now an integral part of the development of new IT systems.

67. The DSD also works with other business groups to ensure that key performance indicators are in place for MPS objectives, and is responsible for the design of the corporate report suite. DSD also works with business groups and policy leads to develop new performance indicators and management information in line with business requirements.

68. The specific issue of demand resolution and public satisfaction is, and continues to be, an on going commitment for the MPS. New public satisfaction measurements have been introduced in line with Home Office Police Performance Assessment Framework (PPAF), which include victim satisfaction surveys and major changes to the public attitude surveys for the 2004-05 year, bringing these into line with British Crime Survey and Home Office requirements. The Home Office’s NSIR project will standardize all force’s recording of incidents on their Command and Control systems and allow demands to be tracked in a more consistent manner. (NCRS plays a similar role for crime recording).

69. The 2005/2006 Policing plan outlines Citizen Focus as one of the seven MPS corporate priorities and is therefore one of seven corporate control strategies. Corporate Planning Group (CPG) is preparing the first drafts of these control strategies. Demand management is one of the key action plans for the delivery of Citizen Focus.

70. The MPS has introduced a wide range of measures for this objective. These will be measured monthly and quarterly the majority of the data drawn from the Crime Victims' survey and the British Crime Survey. Other information will be provided by DOI (Subject access, FOI requests and 999 call answering). CPG are still investigating how the call answering for external standard calls will be measured.

71. The MPS is developing a Performance Management System to encompass measures relating to demand resolution and public satisfaction. The targets and types of measurements will be set by the control strategy and include performance measures and targets agreed with the MPA and other measure from Police Performance Assessment Framework (PPAF). Performance will be managed via the MPS performance management system being developed as part of the Management Board Operating Framework.

72. Led by Corporate Performance Group update to be given following July Review of Citizen Focus delivery structure.

The following five recommendations are completed

Recommendation 4.

To improve accessibility by considering the introduction of a single non-emergency number at the earliest opportunity subject to the results of the national pilot and the implementation of the C3i programme.

This recommendation is completed

73. The National Shared Non-Emergency Number (SNEN) Project, part of the National Call Handling Standards Programme has been discontinued. The Home Office suspended all ACPO activity directed at the development of a national solution to the shared non-emergency telephone number pending a further consultation process. However, although the project has been discontinued, the concept of a single number for non-emergency telephony remains a live issue for the Home Office.

74. Consultation has identified support amongst the public and Government for a single non-emergency number. Accessibility of contact with the MPS for the public would be significantly improved by the introduction of such a number. The Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Group Communications (MPS) has negotiated an agreement with the MPA and Government for the MPS to revisit the introduction of this project following the full implementation the Metcall OCU.

Recommendation 5.

To improve access to the MPS Website, to increase the range of services available on-line and actively promote usage.

This Recommendation is completed.

75. This recommendation has been achieved by the introduction of an updated MPS website on 1 September 2004 as part of an on going development programme. The updated site allows contact and crime reporting to be made on-line. The site additionally provides useful information regarding Police Services. Although not everyone will have access to the Internet or choose to use it there is clearly willingness by many sections of the public to access services electronically.

76. In support of this recommendation an e-Policing Strategy has been published setting out the MPS’s approach to compliance with the Government’s “2005 Agenda”; that all transactions between Citizen and Government should be capable of being delivered electronically by 2005.

78. As a direct result of this recommendation the MPS E-Communications team commissioned an external review of the MPS website accessibility and usability in March 2004. The outcomes of this review were used to structure the programme of work to revise accessibility standards applied to the site on 1 September 2004.

79. In 2004 there were around 1.2 million hits on the MPS web site. The public, accessing a wide range of topics, makes extensive use of the Web site. The latest data available relates to December 2004 when the most commonly requested topics were:

• Recruitment
• Contact numbers
• Most wanted
• History ‘Jack the Ripper’
• Fraud alert
• Computer crimes

80. The Crime Notification System is a national system. The average monthly usage is approximately 2,500 reports with approximately 1,500 of those reports coming to the MPS, the rest are divided in varying degrees amongst the other forces nationally. The next highest recipient is British Transport Police who receive approximately 120 reports per month.

81. The Directorate of Information run regular monthly public awareness campaigns and each Borough is encouraged to promote the MPS Unique Reference Log (URL) locally. There are no specific campaigns run to promote the website alone, but every opportunity is taken to promote the site where appropriate in connection with specific campaigns and issues. Additionally the MPS server hosts the successful Operation Trident web site (www.stoptheguns.org) supporting local communities against gun crime.

82. Over the last nine months a number of initiatives have been launched via the web site including “Ask the Met”, containing the answers to the top 100 questions asked by the public also an interactive local crime statistics service and the new MPS Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Publication Scheme.

83. The MPA actively supports the new London Portal website sponsored by the Greater London Authority and have been actively involved in the project with London Connects.

Recommendation 9.

To optimise the availability of resources to meet demand by developing a methodology to assess the efficiency of BOCU shift patterns.

This recommendation is completed

84. This recommendation has been achieved with the development and publication of a tool to develop and manage BOCU shift patterns.

85. The efficient use of resources requires staff availability to be aligned with patterns of demand. A methodology was required to enable managers to assess the efficiency of existing and potential BOCU shift patterns in terms of meeting local needs. As local demands change over time and it was envisaged that the methodology would enable managers to review the efficiency of shift patterns.

86. The recommendation seeks to optimise the correlation of the availability of resources against demand. In achieving this the MPS created a Shift-work Centre of Excellence (SCE). The benefits of implementing the SCE are the creation of a unit with corporate responsibility for MPS Shift-work Policy Management; the provision of advisory and information service for shift work issues; coordination of quality assurance, facilitation and resolution of shift work related issues within the MPS. Ensures BOCU shift systems meet the needs of the Service Mobilisation Plan.

87. The SCE has developed a shift-work review toolkit. The toolkit places emphasis on health and safety, legal requirements, risk assessment and consultation. The toolkit has defined requirements and options for shift pattern review and implementation.

88. The SCE is completing a study of the feasibility of the twelve-hour shift pattern and the general direction the MPS ought to be taking in terms of matching resources to demand through its shift rosters. The findings of this study are yet to be published.

Recommendation 12.

To enlarge the skills available to BOCU’s to meet demand by providing all recruits with basic driver training and selected probationers with level two public order training.

This recommendation is completed.

88. Initial recruit training currently includes the theoretical part of the MPS basic driving test. Following local assessment probationers are then deployed on mobile patrols after completing their street duties courses on their BOCU’s. This policy was implemented by the MPS in January 2004.

89. A proportion of probationary constables are now trained to level two public order standard in order to provide a more flexible use of resources. The change has been made not to increase the number of public order trained officers but to enlarge the pool from which they are trained, thus enabling BOCU’s to select suitable probationers for training. This policy was implemented by the MPS is May 2004.

C. Race and equality impact

All equality implications were fully evidenced within the Demand Management Best Value Review final report. No new issues with regards to equality have been identified.

D. Financial implications

All financial implications are evidence within both the DMBVR final report and update project plan previous provided to the PPRC meeting. There have been no amendments to those figures.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report authors: Chief Inspector Graham Phillips, Territorial Policing, MPS.

For more information contact:

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

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