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Performance Management
1. The level of accountability and the height of public expectation of public services are particularly demanding in the police service. The pressure is on forces to provide and manage a service in a professional and business like way. Accordingly, the development of wide ranging performance management has increased over the years. Performance measurement and monitoring is an intrinsic part of management systems in place within all forces. Information technology has assisted in the collection and monitoring of data but the absence of sophisticated analytical tools can hinder the development of a performance culture. This remains an important area of development for forces.
2. The police service has never lacked innovation and one force is developing an index of operational demand and resource allocation model to improve its management of resources and performance. The index is a means of calculating reactive demand and while at an early stage of development gives a wider indication of the demands placed upon a force than using crime figures alone. The resource allocation model extends the use of the index to make calculations relating to the allocation of police officers based on customer demand thus reinforcing the best value principle of customer focus.
3. The Scottish Police Service Performance Manual details key performance indicators which have been agreed by ACPOS, Accounts Commission and HMIC and these have assisted in the evaluation of performance. The indicators continue to be reviewed annually. Currently they can be summarised as:
Briefing
4. Briefing (and de-briefing) is a most important form of communication for passing information and directing activity, particularly for operational policing purposes. However, it also provides an opportunity to reinforce the performance culture within forces. Inspections continue to show that briefings vary considerably in standard not only between forces but also within them. Discussion on performance measurement rarely featured and in some forces there was a lack of visual material relating to performance displayed on walls or notice boards. There were notable exceptions but for a performance culture to become embedded it is important that briefings include this dimension. Praise following success is also a key ingredient.
Community Safety Partnerships
5. Clearly a strategic priority for chief constables, progress is being made with community safety partnerships at council level in all forces. In many cases police officers have been seconded to Councils as liaison officers either on a full time or part time basis to assist with its development. This step receives positive comment, both from forces and senior council officials, and HMIC has noted during inspections the substantial benefits accrued, by all parties, from having police officers strategically located, usually within Chief executives departments, of council offices.
6. Tackling crime through partnership with the business community continues to be fostered by the Scottish Business Crime Centre based at Stirling University and in addition to having a full time seconded police officer (at Inspector rank) both ACPOS and The Scottish Executive are represented on the Board of Governors. Such collaboration and partnership with the business community can only bring mutual benefit in action against crime. During the year a community based initiative, entitled 'Safer Trading Environment', aimed at city centres, shopping centres and trading estates was developed to co-ordinate partners with common interests and goals in tackling crime.
Force Structures
7. Last year's report highlighted the value of strong partnership with local authorities and how that had resulted in a review of force organisational structures. Particular emphasis has been given by forces to aligning operational command areas with local authority boundaries and giving commanders devolved authority to manage their own affairs. HMIC inspections during the year have continued to identify progress in this regard. Strathclyde Police, for example, have embarked on a restructuring process which has seen the reduction of the number of divisions with the creation of substantially larger command areas. Such rationalisation has brought about a redirection of resources to meet customer demands and shorter and more direct lines of communication with customers.
8. Internal communication is a vital part of any restructuring process. The participation of and consultation with staff at an early juncture about the changes is vital to a successful outcome. The Inspection process has indicated that in most cases involvement has been good although in some instances this has fallen short of an acceptable level.
9. It remains important that the inspection programme carefully monitors what is happening in organisational or rank restructuring to ensure that the outcome secured is an improved service to the public. Command resilience and supervisory cover are also important considerations.
Financial Delegation
10. The delegation of financial responsibility has moved on since last year and the joint Accounts Commission/HMIC report ('Credit to the Force') published in November 1998 noted there was a strong shift towards devolved resource management (DRM). This is to be welcomed as it ensures greater financial responsibility is moved closer to the point of service delivery and should promote flexibility of action. Some forces have devolved responsibility for expenditure for certain strategic items such as staffing costs and can result in substantial local budgets. However such financial delegation will not bring operational benefits unless the freedom to manage locally is supported by the appropriate management skills. While divisional commanders should not be overburdened with too detailed aspects of financial management a level of financial awareness and training is necessary. This is recognised by forces and in some cases appropriate professional training courses have been sourced externally (eg the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accoutancy).
11. Devolved management of resources succeeds where there is an appropriate level of support in staffing, training and information systems. Increasingly this has led to the development of administration units comprising support staff within command areas and during Inspections the good quality of personnel employed in this capacity is clearly evident.
Area Responsibility
12. Increasingly forces are employing operational inspectors with a geographic area responsibility rather than a more traditional time based responsibility for a group of officers. This development brings with it a need to consider carefully appropriate arrangements for 24 hour supervisory capability and the timely fulfillment of important tasks such as staff appraisal. To address these issues some forces have a combination of inspectors, some with geographic and some with group responsibility, although this attracts the risk of overlap and lack of definition of individual roles. Area responsibility certainly encourages ownership of problems and solutions at Inspector level and is to be encouraged. The fact that forces continue to test different options to increase effectiveness is commendable.
Shift Arrangements
13. Forces have continued to experiment with a variety of time based shift systems in an effort to develop rotas which both meet the demands of the service and consider the welfare of individuals. Striking a balance is difficult and forces have been forced to adjust schemes as they discovered it impacted adversely on the quality of service to the public. Matching finite resources to an expanding demand brings tough choices. Priorities have to be set and some tasks not undertaken at all. In large measure this is the role of a Force Annual Policing/Business Plan.
Chief/Senior Officer Ranks
14. Last year's report addressed the issue of senior ranks within the service and how, at that time, there had been little evidence of change. One year on the number of superintending ranks has reduced as indicated in the table below. Some forces have undergone restructuring while others have looked critically at senior officer posts within their force. Efforts to scrutinise management on costs are welcomed but comparison of absolute numbers is not in itself enough: qualitative issues, such as adequate supervision and command resilience are also critical factors. The HMIC view and advice will be strongly influenced by best value and outcomes.
15. In the period between December 1987 (previously annual statistics were based on calendar years) and March 1999 the change in rank profile is as follows (secondments included):-
|
December 1987 |
December 1992 |
March1998 |
March1999 |
|
| Chief Officers (CC + DCC + ACC) |
29 |
28 |
28 |
27 |
| Superintendents (incl. Chief Superintendents) |
212 |
218 |
217 |
203 |
| Inspectors (incl. Chief Inspectors) |
940 |
973 |
953 |
964 |
| Sergeants |
2,012 |
2,045 |
2,075 |
2,066 |
| Constables |
10,283 |
10,848 |
11,688 |
11,550 |
| Total |
13,476 |
14,112 |
14,961 |
14,810 |
16. The reduction in the total strength of police officers during the past year (including the 138 constables) is in some part a reflection of budget provision and the choice that chief constables (and police boards) make about the usage of the funds at their disposal. The public debate is too often about the visibility of police officers rather than effectiveness. Public reassurance should not only derive from a police presence but be influenced by the extent and nature of police activity.
Best Value
17. The Best Value framework (a Government initiative) also stresses the importance of performance management and in 1998 the (then) Secretary of State requested joint police boards and chief constables to make a Best Value submission to secure a commitment and to demonstrate how the Best Value ideas will be implemented in forces. The assessment of submissions, undertaken jointly by The Scottish Executive, Accounts Commission and HMIC, was completed early in 1999 and an announcement of approval of the submissions was made by the (then) Minister on 25 March this year. Forces made commendable efforts to produce substantial and constructive plans in a short period of time. This was particularly impressive since the plans needed to take account of efficiency gains set by Government following the comprehensive spending review. (See paragraph 15 of Introductory Remarks.)
18. Discussions are ongoing with the Accounts Commission to agree inspection protocols for Best Value and progress by forces will be noted during regular inspection reports and by an HMCIC visit.
Legal Document Servers
19. The use of support staff in this capacity is increasing whether headquarters or divisionally based. Their functions have a positive effect on the day to day work of officers releasing them from non core policing activity for operational front line policing. These initiatives contribute significantly to efficiency and the pursuit of Best Value. On a more general front all forces must be prepared to critically examine and question the extent to which duties continue to be carried out by police officers (or in some cases why the police service is involved at all). (See paragraph 9 of Introduction).
Use of Police Officers in Court
20. A recent force Inspection highlighted the use of civilian court assistants at a sheriff court. Although the number employed was small and the gains modest nevertheless it is another example of the release of police officers from non core policing activity.
Finance
21. During the financial year 1998-99 the level of public expenditure on the police was almost £700 million. Since 1996-97 police grant has been subject to a cash-limit. The available funding in 1998-99 was 3% higher than in the previous year.
22. Capital provision for police buildings continues to allow for the completion of existing building projects, notably a new Headquarters and Area Command for Northern Constabulary, and for a start to be made on a limited number of new ones. Following the recommendation in the joint HMIC and Accounts Commission document Credit to the Force about capital allocations, a Capital Allocations Working Group which includes representatives of ACPOS, Scottish Executive and COSLA is looking at a method for allocating capital provision in the future.
23. Allocations made full provision for authorities' plans for acquisition of new vehicles. Some authorities continued to fund the acquisition and replacement of their vehicles from current revenue, which qualified for police grant. The police capital programme continued to be ring-fenced in 1995-96, ensuring all receipts received from the disposal of police assets were applied to police expenditure, thus substantially augmenting capital allocations. HM Inspectorate of Constabulary continue to scrutinise the financial management of forces for value for money and cost effectiveness.
Scottish Parliament
24. In September 1997 a large majority of the electorate voted for a devolved Parliament for Scotland. The new Parliament took on its full powers on 1 July 1999. With very limited exceptions, the Government's responsibility for policing in Scotland will fall to the Scottish Parliament. It will ultimately be for the new Parliament to consider the results of the work on the review of policing in Scotland, announced by the (then) Secretary of State in April 1998. The process of review has taken some time to be agreed and established. Work is now being led by the new Scottish Executive.
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