Agenda item

The Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner concerning a six month review of “Project Edison”, otherwise known as the Force Change Programme - a change in the policing model, aimed at improving the service to the public and identifying savings. A copy of the report, marked “Agenda Item 5”, is filed with these minutes.

The Chief Constable reported the following updates on the progress of the Force Change Programme:

·                The Programme had largely progressed well since its inception, however there had been some issues which had required fine tuning;

·                There had been a net reduction of 250 FTE members of staff. The Programme was on course to make the required financial savings. The Corporate Spending Review was likely to add further pressure, given the policing budget was “unprotected” by the Government. The Force was planning for a 25-40% reduction in government grant. The grant represented around 65% of the Force’s total income;

·                Data and informal feedback had suggested that the Force was now spending more time in local communities;

·                The Managed Appointment Unit was working well, though there had been some teething issues initially;

·                The new policing model had resulted in a change in work flow through the Force, which had presented some challenges;

·                The Force’s records management system, NICHE would result in better cross-boundary working with neighbouring forces;

·                The pressures on budgets across the public sector would inevitably place an increased focus on effective partnership working.

Arising from a discussion, the following points were noted:

          General

·                The chain of command in the Force had around 9 ranks. Some could be removed, though some were statutory. Under direction from the PCC, the Force was aiming to reduce the supervisory levels in the Force;

·                Mobile communications in rural areas had proved to be an issue with the new body-warn technology, however this had been circumvented to a certain extent by the use of wi-fi hot spots;

·                Staff attendance was at around 97%, the ninth highest in the country;

·                Some concern was expressed in relation to the way witnesses had been dealt with. The new “Victim First” service, launching later in the year was also a witness service and would aim to improve this service;

·                Staff overtime was at a higher level than anticipated, however the overtime budget had been vastly reduced over the previous five years;

·                For a trial period of three months the Police had not routinely sent a forensic investigator to odd numbered homes where an attempted burglary had occurred. The PCC re-emphasised his view that, had he known about this trial in advance, he would have advised against proceeding with it. Regardless, the PCC felt that it should be recognised that the Force would need to look at measures that might not always be popular with the public in order to identify further efficiency savings.

NICHE

·                The NICHE data recording system was used in around 20 forces across the country for the inputting of crime and intelligence data. The outputs from the system were dependant on good quality input and it was known that this had been an issue within the City. It was expected that the system would be producing meaningful data by the end of the year. It was hoped that it would ensure more consistent data was available to all the forces who used it (it was hoped that this would be of benefit for regional work);

·                It would not be possible to fully “digitise” all evidence gathering given the complex nature of some crimes. Online crime reporting could result in an increased reporting of crimes and the Force was aware of this.

Syrian Refugees

·                Meetings were taking place amongst the County, City, Rutland and District Councils in regard to the expected phased migration of around 20,000 Syrian refugees to the UK over the next five years. Safeguarding would be a concern as well as ensuring details were available to the Police as to who the individuals were;

·                The Police was very aware of the cultural needs of communities and frontline staff were encouraged to mix with communities. Some concern was expressed that some further work might be required in the City;

·                Resource patterns were altered to respond to demand. This was also the case in the night time economy. The Police would need to make very calculated decisions around risk, given the large reduction in frontline officers and the further reductions that were anticipated;

Strategic Alliance

·                The Strategic Alliance that was being discussed with Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire forces received the support of the Panel. It was hoped that it would maintain the quality of services, whilst at the same time providing further efficiencies. Further work was required, but it was noted that the formation of such an alliance would not solely bridge the funding gaps of those forces involved in the alliance. A foundation report on the Warwickshire and West Mercia Alliance was available which would give Panel members some details about how such an arrangement might operate. [The report is available here: http://www.westmercia-pcc.gov.uk/Document-Library/Publications/Police-Foundation-Report-Sept-14.pdf];

·                A view was expressed that, in order to form meaningful and enduring alliances, greater direction was required from Central Government on how the public sector should be structured going forward;

·                The opportunity of identifying savings through an alliance of back-office OPCC staff was being considered alongside the frontline and back-office Police staff, however legislation prevented a full “merger” at the time.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the report be noted;

(b)       That a report be provided to the Panel’s December meeting concerning an update on the NICHE system.