Best Value Review of Managing Demand

Report: 5
Date: 8 June 2006
By: Commissioner

Summary

This report:

• Provides an update on the Demand Management Best Value Review (DMBVR) implementation plan, detailing the progress that has been made and the ongoing work still required to complete the recommendations.
• Seeks the approval of the Planning Performance and Review Committee (PPRC) to make amendments to selected recommendations.

A. Recommendation

That

1. members agree the completion of recommendations 6, 8, 11, 13, and 14 of the Demand Management Best Value Review; and
2. approve the ongoing work as detailed in the recommendation updates contained within this report.

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, C3i and the associated new technologies add new dimensions to the original vision.

Recommendation updates

Note: Recommendations 2,3,4,5,7,9,12 and 17 were agreed as completed at the May 2005 and Dec 2005 PPRC reviews and are summarised in Appendix 1 of this report.

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).

5. Cmdr Rod Jarman now leads on MPS activity on issues relating to service delivery at police station front counters. He has commissioned a paper outlining the strategic development of front counter police services with a view to increasing accessibility for every community in London. This is intended to exceed the requirements of this recommendation by some way delivering on accessibility, environment and service demand.

6. It was noted in the last report that considerable progress had been made in reducing demand in front offices through new technologies such as the FAQ database and the roll out of the Telephone Investigation Bureaux. Although some progress had been made with front office provision, this was not systematic and it was felt by the PPRC that the customer experience in many front offices was still unacceptable. To address this concern the following actions have been taken.

Additional progress to date

• Building on existing work, a detailed analysis of demand is currently underway. The analysis of this demand will help identify the best way that the MPS can meet the requirement of its customers.
• A proposal and project plan (attached in Appendix 2) is being developed to deliver the requirements of this recommendation. This plan includes the necessary associated communications and liaison with the key stakeholder groups.

Ongoing work

7. The Front Counters project plan is attached for PPRC review. Implementing the requirements of this plan along with the outcomes of the demand analysis will lead to an implementation strategy that will enable delivery on this recommendation. The finding of the demand review and how it is proposed to meet this will be brought to the notice of the next PPRC expected in Dec 2006.

Therefore, this recommendation remains as work in progress

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.

8. The current ‘real time’ resource management capability enabled though the roll out of the IBOs as part of the C3i programme was reported at the last PPRC. This enabled BOCUs to effectively deflect calls to the most appropriate resource through visibility of all the potential resources available to the Borough. This capability makes a significant contribution to effectively matching resources to demand (a high level view of Conditional Deployment and Task Management in an IBO / Metcall Environment conditional deployment and task management is attached in appendix 3).

Additional progress to date

• The rollout of the IBOs continues in line with the C3i programme to deliver the ‘real time’ resource management capability required by Metcall and the BOCUs.
• Conditional deployment has been successfully trailed in Lewisham and we are preparing to roll it out across the rest of the MPS in line with the development of the IBO, which is a key enabler. It will allow for appropriate call deflections to be made to the most appropriate resources (appendix 3), significantly increasing the numbers of resources available to respond to calls from the public without diluting the local impact of Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNTs). SNT duties are planned to address community issues and be available as local circumstances dictate ensuring increased resource at times of high demand in line with this recommendation.
• The Effective Patrolling Framework document (EPF) and associated guidance notes have been published (available to members on request). This details the corporate MPS expectations surrounding resource management.

Ongoing work

• A project team was set up within HR to evaluate different shift systems and reported back through the TP Command Team. Their research concluded that there was little difference to be found between BOCU performance with varying shift patterns. This was again recently re-evaluated in respect of 12 hr rosters and the same finding was reported. This would indicate that BOCU Commanders have correctly identified the shift roster that best fits their business.
• It is seen that the EPF and related patrol projects take this area of work much wider than simply response and as such there is seen to be little benefit in being prescriptive, preferring to allow OCUs to decide on the best shift patterns to meet their local requirements.

It is felt that the requirements have been met and that the recommendation is now complete.

Recommendation 8 - To improve the quality of front line leadership by setting and implementing MPS standards of Patrol Supervision.

9. The paper on Leadership and Supervision Within a Metcall Environment was submitted at the May PPRC. The last report also detailed the roll out of supervisor vehicles and developments with the Mobile Data Terminal interface with the CAD.

Additional progress to date

• The EPF document (appendix 4) has been released which gives additional guidance to supervisors about corporate expectations for patrol leadership.
• The Leadership Academy has been launched and is working with the TP Mod Ops Patrol Team to ensure that training incorporates the requirements of the EPF.
• The Leadership and Supervision guide exists and aids the implementation of the MPS values. This was implemented by TP Mod Ops and supported by the Leadership Academy.
• The Trial of Workplace Assessments Regime (TOWBAR) within the MPS (along with seven other forces) continues. This assessment process requires candidates to evidence consistently competence against National Occupational Standards. All of which will continue to support this recommendation.

Ongoing work

• The TP Mod Ops Patrol Team are creating a Centre for Patrol Excellence (CfPE) which is capturing patrol tips and best practice to support officers and supervisors in delivering effective patrol.
• Every borough (along with other OCUs with uniformed patrolling officers) was required to produce a local patrol framework. These are now being reviewed by the Patrol Team who are providing constructive feedback and passing on good practice.
• A number of short video clips are being created for the CfPE to support the communication of EPF.
• The Leadership Academy is creating a new website which offers additional training and guidance for supervisors and officers on effective leadership. The CfPE is developing its own domain on this site.
• A new Patrol Strategy Board chaired by Commander Jarman has been created with the first meeting on 24th May.

It is felt that all the actions above actually exceed what was envisaged when the recommendation was set but the MPS continue to build on that good work. It is proposed that recommendation 8 is now considered complete.

Recommendation 10 - To deliver a reduction in the average time taken to attend incidents by introducing new call grading and deployment protocols.

Progress to date

• The conditional deployment trial at Lewisham referred to in the last report has been successful and has been rolled out to the Boroughs that were included in tranche 1 of the IBO roll out. This enables effective call deflection to the most suitable available resource, which is expected to have a very positive impact on average call times.

Ongoing work

• The MPS has made a strategic decision to move towards average response times. Implementation will be managed by TP Mod Ops in partnership with Metcall OCU.

This recommendation is ongoing.

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.

10. The report to the Dec 2005 PPRC detailed the imminent release of a patrol policy document. This has now been released through the EPF. This document looks at far more than just crewing policy as the developments around conditional deployment of all resources requires guidance for all patrolling officers. The requirements of the EPF will require more single officer patrols and more importantly more demonstrably efficient and effective patrols.

Progress to date

• The EPF and associated guidance notes released on the 22 February 2006.
• Briefing on the requirements has been delivered to Supt Ops for appropriate OCUs on the 8, 9 and 10 of March 2006.
• Within the EPF the default position for patrol vehicles is shown as a single officer, however for health and safety reasons, vehicles whose primary function is response the default is two (a driver and radio operator).

Ongoing work

• Implementation of the EPF is being undertaken by the TP Mod Ops Patrol Team to ensure that corporate objectives for effective patrol are being met.
• All OCU local patrol policies submitted to TP Mod Ops are currently undergoing a good practise review and will be posted on the intranet. Compliance will be monitored though the newly formed Patrol Project Board.
• Further development of patrol is being delivered through the CfPE previously referred to in this report.

It is felt that the EPF exceeds the requirements of this recommendation and that recommendation 11 is now considered to be complete.

Recommendation 13 - Optimising the deployment of staff by implementing a systematic approach to retaining skills on operational teams.

11. The last report confirmed that a corporate approach to skills retention on teams was being undertaken by MPS BOCUs. It also referred to the forthcoming patrol policy now released through the EPF.

Progress to date

• The EPF has now been released and profile patrol has been significantly enhanced within the MPS along with more demanding requirements for patrol officers.
• The new CfPE will build on work already undertaken to raise the profile of patrol through the Patrol officer of the Year award and publishing guidance on best practice and patrol tips.
• The TP Mod Ops Patrol Team are actively engaged with the Home Officer National Workforce Modernisation programme on the development of the accredited officer initiative to further raise the profile and skill of patrol officers.
• Each BOCU has a postings panel and part of their role is to ensure that the needs of the organisation are considered (and if appropriate override) the needs of the individual so that skills levels are maintained.

It is felt that the posting panels, the delivery of the EPF and the creation of the CfPE has met the requirements of this recommendation and therefore recommendation 13 is now considered complete.

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.

Progress to date

12. Whilst the introduction of the free travel concession was welcomed, from experiences at recruitment events, this has not featured as a major inducement in candidates coming forward. However, a number of initiatives along with investment in resources have proved very successful. These include the use of Innovative Employer Support Schemes such as ShopWatch, CampusWatch and HospitalWatch and the Police Staff Programme, local recruitment and training initiatives. At the end of April 2006, the number of MSC stood at 1251. Of these 401 are female and 323 BME. The expectation is that by 2008 we will have 4000 special constables. In addition:

• Service Level Agreements are in place in a number of boroughs focusing on operational and administrative protocols rather than deployment criterion.
• A MSC Tasking Unit has been introduced to deal with alcohol related crime and disorder in town centres under Operation OPTIC.
• The MPS is in the process of establishing two MSC Operational Tasking Units to be based in the South and North areas of London. Each to have a complement of 96 Special Constables who will be tasked and deployed to a borough within that geographic area to deal with OPTIC and other targeted crime reduction initiatives.
• Management Board have sanctioned the mobilisation of all Police Staff MSC officers for deployment on the Safer Streets focusing on the reduction of street robberies and disorder around schools.

This exceeds the requirements of recommendation 14 and it is proposed that this recommendation is now considered to be complete.

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.

Progress to date

13. The situation for recommendation 15 remains as reported in December 2005 in that there is still no identified budget for this however, the DPA are providing communications support to the Citizen Focus Programme and this will inevitably include communicating about standards of service.

As it was agreed at the May 2005 PPRC that this recommendation would be reviewed again in November 2006, it is considered on going.

Recommendation 16 - MPS to run a campaign to reduce inappropriate use of 999 emergency calls.

Progress to date

14. A paper on the Single Non Emergency Number went before the Strategy and Policing Committee on 11 May 2006 to note. This project has the potential to reduce the inappropriate use of 999. The DPA will be working with the DOI who are in the lead on the communication of the non-emergency number.

This recommendation is ongoing.

C. Race and equality impact

It is not believed that the proposed actions in this report impact any specific groups or sections within the community to a greater extent than the general population as a whole and therefore there are no associated equality or diversity implications.

D. Financial implications

1. Although completing the recommendations contained within this report has a financial implication for the MPS, most of these initiatives are intrinsically embedded in existing work streams such as C3i, Safer Neighbourhoods and the development of the TP Patrol Policy. It is therefore not possible to identify the specific financial impact the influence of this review has had in these areas.

2. The marketing associated with recommendations 15 and 16 will have specific cost implications and a budget has not yet been identified to scope and cost this marketing requirement.

E. Background papers

• Front Counters – Project Methodology to Determine and Effectively Meet Customer Demand DPMO 0113-1, Conditional Deployment and Task Management DPMO 0104-3, Effective Patrolling Framework and guidance notes DPMO 0101-1.

F. Contact details

Report author: Superintendent Pat Shiel, Territorial Policing, MPS

For more information contact:

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

Appendix 1

Recommendations agreed as completed

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