Met People - valuing our officers and staff

6. Met People

Our people are our greatest asset. We must ensure that they are properly equipped, led and managed to deliver the quality service that Londoners rightly expect.

All staff must subscribe to, and demonstrate through their actions, the values and standards of the organisation – professionalism, pride and customer focus.

The Met must continue to be an employer of choice, reflecting the diversity of London. Only if we get this right can we win the hearts and minds of Londoners.

Effective police leadership

Ensuring that our police leaders reflect the diversity of Londoners is critical. As part of the recommendations stemming from the Mayoral Race and Faith Inquiry report the Met must ensure that diversity is more clearly incorporated into its leadership philosophy, and the Authority will hold the Met to account for delivery of this goal. The Authority will explore in further detail how the diversity of officers in senior ranks can be increased. To facilitate that discussion the Authority held a national symposium in January 2011 exploring the benefits and practicality of multi-point entry and removing the time-based requirement for promotion. The concept of multi-point entry was broadly welcomed and work will continue to progress this concept further.

Effective police leadership is vital to inspiring commitment and embedding a clear vision for improved policing in London. Effective leaders will drive the organisation’s values and standards by setting a personal example and through effective education and training. Leading police officers and staff in one of the most challenging policing environments in the country requires a number of skills. The abolition of the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) will enable the Authority and the Met to have more freedom to develop recruitment, promotion and training opportunities for both police officers and staff. The Authority will challenge the Met to do all it can to ensure that police leaders have the required skills to be effective and professional.

Effective leaders have the capacity to lever in additional resources from partner agencies, which is becoming more critical in light of reduced public sector resources. Police leaders will be aware of the benefits of partnership working and have the tools to get the best from those partnerships to drive performance.

By 31 December 2012, 3,088 police officers (9.5%) will have served 30 years and will be eligible for retirement.
Effective succession planning is crucial to sustaining knowledge and continuity of service. The Authority will require the Met to produce detailed plans on how it intends to plan for succession.

Ensuring a representative workforce

Ensuring that the Met represents the diversity of London is a vital part of retaining the confidence of our communities. In addition to the work progressed through the Met Streets strand (Met Specials and Volunteers), the successful implementation of recommendations in the Mayoral Race and Faith Inquiry report will be critical. The Authority will hold the Met to account for delivery and report progress to Londoners.

Workforce development

The Met must continue to develop its workforce to respond to the challenges of 21st century policing. The training review has delivered efficiencies but the Authority will continue to challenge the effectiveness and flexibility of training provided. Reduced public sector funding will require the Met to be more imaginative about the staffing models used to deliver policing services. There are risks attached both in the short and longer term, and the Authority must be fully aware of the potential impact decisions will have on front line policing. The Authority will require that any changes to staffing models, including the review of shift patterns and the development of the Service Improvement Programme, are fully risk assessed and include equality and diversity considerations.
There are also a number of opportunities to use the expertise of our staff to collaborate or manage services on behalf of other forces or public sector organisations, such as members of the GLA family and other criminal justice sector organisations. The Authority will require the Met to think more creatively about how this can be achieved.

Responding to the review of police officer pay and conditions and ACPO review

It is likely that the independent Home Office review into the pay and conditions of public sector staff by Tom Winsor, together with John Hutton’s review of public sector pensions, will have implications for policing. The Authority will study the outcome of these reviews and work with the Met to implement changes.

Although the Authority has made progress in reviewing the bonus scheme for ACPO officers there is still more to be done. The Authority will complete a review into the terms and conditions of ACPO officers to inform the next pay round which commences in September 2011.

Met benefits and family support

Although the Vectis discount card offers access to additional benefits for officers, staff and their families, the Authority will require the Met to develop its benefits package and explore how more can be done by using existing resources more creatively.

Health and well-being

Policing exposes officers and staff to a unique set of pressures and demands. Ensuring the health and well being of all Met officers and staff is crucial to delivering an effective and efficient policing service. The Authority will require the Met to regularly report on issues relating sickness, stress and those on recuperative and restricted duties to ensure that where problems are identified they are effectively dealt with.

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