MPS participation in ACPO workforce modernisation programme

Report: 9
Date: 9 November 2006
By: Director of Human Resources on behalf of The Commissioner

Summary

This report outlines the ACPO workforce modernisation work and, in particular, the offer to the MPS to participate as two national demonstration sites. The paper also outlines the intended MPS approach to participation and seeks MPA support for that participation.

A. Recommendation

That members support the MPS’s intention to express an interest in participating in the ACPO work on workforce modernisation as two of the ‘national demonstration sites’.

B. Supporting information

1. ACPO, with the agreement of the Home Secretary, is running a programme of demonstration sites for workforce modernisation over the next 24 months. The overall intention of the programme is to ‘implement change capable of releasing greater capacity and capability for the same level of investment’. In order to prove a number of concepts across a series of policing capabilities, 10 demonstration sites will be chosen to participate. Participating forces will be expected to provide project support for their own work and to work within an agreed methodology. In return, the ACPO programme team will provide support for participating forces, evaluation will be externally funded, and there will be some opportunity to negotiate flexibilities in relation to roles, responsibilities and funding streams.

2. ACPO, together with the APA, has now written to all chief constables and chairs of police authorities requesting written indication of ‘expressions of interest’, by 10 November, to participate in the programme. This report sets out the nature of the MPS proposal for inclusion in the national programme, and seeks MPA support for the intended involvement.

3. The MPS proposal focuses on submitting two applications. The first application is from Territorial Policing. This plan draws together a number of existing projects and new initiatives - all with a core aim of increasing operational capacity and/or changing roles and responsibilities - into three boroughs (provisionally, Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest) in order to demonstrate the collective impact. A key aspect of the MPS contribution to the ACPO programme will be the development and application of proven methodology for benefits realisation. These projects have already been discussed with the MPA.

4. The projects and initiatives are grouped into three strands.

Flexible deployment strand - comprising:

• Regular operational deployment, on Boroughs, of officers posted to non-operational roles;
• Significantly increasing the proportion of police staff providing a (small) proportion of their employed time working as special constables. [This will include exploring the concept of developing special police community support officers]; and
• Incorporation of the work being done with the Health Commission to improve the deployment of officers on restricted duties.

Police support officer strand – comprising:

• Use of dedicated detention officers to input information into the custody system;
• Deployment of PCSOs as station reception officers;
• Deployment of PCSOs on victim focus desks; and
• Deployment of partly warranted investigators.

Criminal justice modernisation strand – comprising:

• Integrated prosecution teams, combining existing MPS and CPS resources, including development of the use of case management officers in case progression units; and
• Virtual courts, i.e. first appearance via video link to the police station.

5. The overall governance of these pieces of work will come under the MPS workforce modernisation strategy led by the Director HR. The MPS chief officer sponsor for the ACPO demonstration site is Assistant Commissioner, Territorial Policing (ACTP). As nearly all of the projects initiatives intended to comprise the MPS demonstration site are already under way with project structures etc., it is not intended to set up separate governance arrangements, although some co-ordination and standardisation of methodologies will be required.

6. The second application is coordinated by The Modernisation Strategic Forum, which is chaired by Martin Tiplady, HR Director. The application is a set of collective initiatives that tests Workforce Modernisation principles. The specific pilots are detailed in Appendix 2.

7. The programme of work has been agreed by MPS Management Board and the Workforce Modernisation (WFM) Strategy Group. This was based on a consultation with all Business Groups regarding current and future WFM initiatives, as well as consideration of national issues.

8. This programme of work, sponsored and coordinated by the WFM Strategy Group, will form the core WFM activities within the MPS. This core programme of work will deliver changes in the way in which we do business over the next 3-5 years. In 2006/7, these concern pilots for initiatives looking, initially, at staff mix with a specialisation pilot considered for 2007. It is proposed that these will be funded in 2006/7 within the current levels of budgeted workforce targets (BWT) equal to approximately one hundred police officers. In 2007/8 and 2008/9 further staff mix initiatives and issues such as specialisation, multi-point entry and advanced constable will be scoped and planned for.

9. If the MPS submissions are accepted as national demonstration sites following the expression of interest, the national programme team and HMIC will undertake a ‘preparedness process’. It is expected that within 3-4 months, a formal business case and detailed project plans will have been developed. The business case and plans will require further MPS and MPA scrutiny before formal commitment to proceed.

Abbreviations

ACPO

Association of Chief Police Officers

PCSO

Police Community Support Officer

ACTP

Assistant Commissioner, Territorial Policing

C. Race and equality impact

A full race and equalities impact assessment will be developed as part of the detailed planning phase.

D. Financial implications

A full business case, with financial implications, will be developed as part of the detailed planning phase. For the TP project, the overall intention to increase capacity within the same cost base will be significant.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Paul Minton and Clare Mehlman, MPS

For more information contact:

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

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