A modern police force needs a balanced workforce

The Scottish Conservative’s obsession with police numbers misunderstands the importance of getting the right skill mix in a modern police force. For a party that claims to be concerned about efficiency for the taxpayer, it also ignores the statutory duty of Best Value.

Saturday’s Scotsman ran a story on the pressure Scottish Tories are putting on the Justice Minister to set out how Police Scotland will ‘cope’ with a reduction in frontline staff. The irony of this question is that ‘frontline staff’ have been reducing because of the policy the Scottish Tories pushed the SNP into adopting. Tory austerity cuts on the Scottish budget have also impacted on the Police Scotland budget and police officers have been backfilling police civilian staff posts.

No one has been more critical of this daft SNP policy than UNISON Scotland. However, we welcomed the absence of a commitment to police officer numbers in this year’s SNP manifesto. If we look at the actual answer given by the Justice Minister, it is a broadly sensible response. He said:

“As at 30 June 2016, there were 17,242 full time equivalent police officers in Scotland – 1,008 more than on 31 March 2007. The Scottish Government budget for 2016-17 made a commitment to retain police officer numbers at 1,000 higher than in 2007 while at the same time working with the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) to consider the implications of changing demands on Scottish policing. That work is currently on-going and no conclusions have been reached on implications for the future shape and size of the police workforce. We are committed to ensuring that the police have more specialists, such as experts in cyber-crime and counter-fraud and that the service has the right mix and numbers of staff for the future.”

Why is this largely sensible?

Firstly, it is a statutory duty on Police Scotland and the SPA to adopt Best Value principles. In this briefing we set out what this means. What it doesn’t mean is continuing to take police officers off operational duties to replace specialist, properly trained, police civilian staff – at typically twice the cost.

Secondly, a modern police force needs more specialists to cope with new forms of crime, as the Justice Minister’s response indicates. This was highlighted in Saturday’s Guardian, which reported that the volume of cybercrime now matches the number of traditional crimes. It is estimated that the £193bn cost is far in excess of the value of physical goods nicked from homes, cars and workplaces. Yet we devote relatively few resources to fighting it.

Thirdly, a key recommendation from the Christie Commission on public service reform was a shift to outcomes. Specifying staff targets is an input that does not directly link to the necessary outcome. Political parties are still wedded to grand statements about inputs in their manifestos. They, and we the public need, to be weaned off this populist approach to policymaking because it doesn’t deliver better public services.

The establishment of Police Scotland was a missed opportunity to dump the police officer number target. Sadly, it wasn’t taken. With the police budget heading for a £21m overspend, we simply can’t continue to waste resources by putting square pegs in round holes. A modern police force needs a balanced workforce – not outdated rhetoric on staffing targets.

Police Scotland, Reform Scotland and reforming Scotland’s policing

Mon 25 July 2016

We don’t often say nice things about Reform Scotland. They have a tendency to favour minimal public services, the play of the free market handing things to the private sector, all a bit grimly Thatcherite for our tastes. Upon hearing that they have published a new report, reaction in these parts is more likely to be “Oh dear” rather than “Oh really”.  So when we looked at their latest publication about Policing in Scotland – it was a pleasant surprise to see that it made a great deal of sense.

The report is a précis of the evidence Reform Scotland are submitting to the Scottish Government’s consultation on Policing priorities for Scotland. They chime admirably with many of UNISON Scotland’s own observations and criticisms of Policing in Scotland over the last three years.

We have been highly critical of the way Police Scotland has been set up and run over the last numbers of years.  Centralisation, an arbitrary target for uniformed officers and a demand for cash savings have not delivered the police service that Scotland deserves.

Reform Scotland agree with us that the (thankfully now dropped) 1000 extra officer target has done policing no favours. They are also critical of the ‘one size fits all’ model of policing priorities that UNISON members have been reporting since the setting up of Police Scotland.  They attribute at least some of this to the removal of any local authority role in the governance of Police Scotland and the weakness of the Scottish Police Authority(SPA).     

These are concerns we have expressed repeatedly –  not least the weakness of the SPA. This quango  lacks the capacity to hold Police Scotland to account in any significant sense,  with local engagement a particular failing.

Reform Scotland’s proposal is for representatives from every council to sit on the board of SPA, and councils to be involved directly funding the police. Specifically they suggest monies to come from central and local government on a more or less 50/50 basis.  At this point the proposals are starting to reach the point that civil servants in Yes Minister would describe as ‘ambitious’.  Having 32 local authorities represented with whoever else needs  to be accommodated would make for a pretty big board. And local government funding is arguably under enough uncertainty at the moment. But nonetheless whether or not these ideas represent the ideal solution, their can be little argument that Police Scotland needs a more local approach and better funding.

The other thing this report shows is that criticism of the current set up is coming from all parts of the political spectrum, and on a similar range of issues.  Time for a change.

See also UNISON Scotland website Police page:
http://www.unison-scotland.org/service-groups-and-sectors/police/

and our latest briefing on Police Best Value:
http://www.unison-scotland.org/2016/07/06/briefing-079-bargaining-police-best-value-july-2016/

Time to look again at Police Scotland's budget

There needs to be a root and branch look at Police Scotland’s budget next year. We can no longer paper over the cracks caused by badly managed centralisation.

Police Scotland’s finances got off to a poor start when the hastily drafted outline business case was never followed through to a full business case as Audit Scotland confirmed. As a consequence there remain unrealistic expectations of what can be achieved. This is illustrated by a £25m (and rising) budgetary black-hole in the 2015/16 budget.

IT systems that are crucial to reform have suffered from delays and overspend. Getting systems right is not just about cost and efficiency, as the M9 tragedy showed. The HMICS report has taken into account the high level of pressure that UNISON police staff members work under in the Contact, Command and Control (C3) division of Police Scotland. Let’s hope this report shapes the C3 direction with greater accountability and assurances for the public.

The findings of the Police Scotland staff survey are a stark reminder of the impact reform has had on the workforce. A committed and dedicated workforce has become increasingly demoralised and overworked with the perception that the organisation they work for doesn’t care and won’t invest in their health, safety and wellbeing. Only 8% of staff thought the organisation was genuinely interested in staff wellbeing.

Police reform was meant to identify efficiencies through reductions in duplication of posts. However, proposals are purely designed to reduce budgets, not reduce duplication. Through the pursuit of an agenda of centralisation, we have seen the closure of mainly local service provisions such as; station front counters, call-handling, control rooms and custody. This has resulted in police staff who come from and are stakeholders in the communities they serve, being sacrificed to maintain police officer numbers at an artificially high number.

There has still been no indication that detailed work has been carried out to establish the number of officers required to police Scotland. The previous Chair of the SPA announced that this work was to go ahead shortly after his appointment, but we are still waiting. Nor has any work been carried out to establish how effective this figure is in maintaining low crime figures. Police Scotland has a statutory duty to abide by Best Value principles and a proper study is long overdue.

Significant numbers of police officers are now performing roles which can and should be performed by police staff at a fraction of the cost. Recent figures show that there may be a gap of approximately 7,000 police officers who are not frontline when compared to the 17,261 officer strength figure quoted by the SPA.

As Dr Kath Murray, from Edinburgh University, puts it: “Unlike England and Wales, data is not available on rank or officer function. There is no data on officers available for duty, nor the numbers that join or leave the force. Meanwhile, the published totals include officers on maternity leave, long-term sick leave and on secondment. The net result is that officer strength in Scotland cannot be openly scrutinised or analysed.”

The decision to employ 1000 extra Police Officers was taken pre-austerity and there is now widespread support to review this figure. For example, the Police Superintendents (APSE) has said: “There is clearly some significant budget pressure and challenges ahead. We would like to see an intelligent conversation to consider all of the options. Included within that would absolutely be whether the lock-in on 1,000 additional officers remains the right policy, or whether it’s time to review that and look at more of a mixed staffing model.

It is now time to look closely at the total workforce requirement of Police Scotland to ensure a balanced workforce; the correct types of Staff or Officers carrying out roles appropriate to their qualifications and needs of the organisation.

I would also agree with colleagues in the Scottish Police Federation that the Scottish Government would be foolish to continue with its programme of police cuts in the wake of the Paris terror attacks. This is only one of many additional burdens being placed on Police Scotland.

The unique and major flaw in police reform has been the cosmetic police officer number target that should have corrected when Police Scotland was created. This flaw does not allow management to make the right Best Value decisions to create an effective, efficient, modern police force for Scotland. It’s time to change course or it will only get worse.

Audit Committee confirm UNISON warnings over police reform

The Public Audit Committee has published a report on police reform. The report covers many of the concerns that UNISON raised at the time the Bill and the subsequent merger was rushed through.

A key UNISON concern was the lack of a full business case before the Bill was passed. Despite promising such a document it was never produced and instead was merged into a short term financial strategy. As the Committee says:
“The Committee considers that by not developing a full business case neither the Scottish Government, Police Scotland nor the SPA were able to comprehensively test the accuracy of the projected costs and savings in the outline business case following parliamentary agreement to the Bill.”

Longer term savings are only now being identified and the report says:
“the SPA and Police Scotland had not yet agreed a financial strategy (as at November 2013) to demonstrate how savings will be achieved after 2013/14”

Another key UNISON concern was that the structure chosen by the Scottish Government meant that Police Scotland would be unable to recover VAT. Again we have been proven correct as the report says:
“previously the eight police forces were able to recover VAT but that from 2013/14 a VAT liability of approximately £22 million will be required to be met each year by Police Scotland and the SPA. The Committee heard that part of the funding for police reform of £147 million was to be used to meet the additional VAT costs arising from the creation of a single police service. The Scottish Government had not yet decided whether it would meet the VAT costs of Police Scotland and the SPA from 2015/16.”

There are several other critical comments in the report, although the SNP majority on the committee has watered down criticisms of the Scottish Government. Publishing their own stronger version yesterday, MSPs Hugh Henry, Ken Macintosh, Tavish Scott and Mary Scanlon said it was not their job to put out a “flattering interpretation.”

An example of this is:
“The Committee notes the AGS comments that a lessons learned review on police reform which has been already undertaken by the Scottish Government focussed on what went well rather than what did not work effectively.”

The minority report adds, “The Committee therefore seeks confirmation from the Scottish Government that its post implementation review will scrutinise what worked well as well as not so well.”
The Committee Convenor Hugh Henry MSP said, “There’s a cult developing here of obedience and slavishness which some governments and regimes elsewhere in the world would be proud to have, and it’s unfortunate we’re seeing this in 21st-century Scotland.”

While the minority report is stronger, even the watered down version confirms the warnings UNISON gave at the time over the lack of a robust business strategy.

Police chair attacks 'arbitrary' police officer target

It would be fair to say that UNISON Scotland hasn't had a lot of good things to say about the Scottish Police Authority. It's nothing personal, but we felt that their role was confused in the legislation and their attempts to take over delivery functions were ill advised. However, in this post I am happy to give credit to the SPA Chair for clearly articulating what everyone in the service knows - Scotland's police should have a balanced workforce, not one driven by a cosmetic police officer target.

Vic Emery, chair of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), told a Holyrood conference that work was already underway on a scoping exercise to ascertain the number of police officers needed nationwide. A Scottish Government commitment not to let police officer numbers drop below 17,234 is predicated on an “arbitrary” target that needs to be reassessed.

“Over the years I have asked the question – ‘how many cops do we need?’ Senior police colleagues have always been honest enough to say ‘as many as you can give me’. However, I believe there is a general acceptance that there is an arbitrary element to how we have ended up at the figure of 17,234 officers.”

And he is not alone. Police Scotland chief constable Sir Stephen House has previously questioned the long-term sustainability of the target given savings being asked of the single service.

The SPA chair insisted there was a need for a “balanced team” between police officers and police staff a point UNISON has consistently made since the target was announced. This has been reinforced since the creation of a national police force with a major savings target. The consequence has been police officers substituting for police staff at twice the cost while taking them away from operational duties.

Vic Emery also said, “I know that concerns have been raised about decivilianization and what is termed as backfilling. I think both terms are unhelpful because it suggests a huge and clear divide between what is ‘front line’ and ‘back office’. A transformed service means a service with the right people with the right skills and powers in the right places at the right time. The roles that are carried out by police officers and civilians are not etched in stone. They have evolved and will continue to evolve. But any study of the number of police officers we need, must also look at the balance between civilian and uniformed.”

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill's defence is that this was a, "mandate we sought re-election for on in 2011 and remain committed to". This ignores the fact that the mandate predates the establishment of a national police force. This is the opportunity to change tack, not least because he, and the SPA, are also required by law to adopt Best Value. That duty trumps daft political posturing.

As the great John Maynard Keynes once said; "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do sir?"

Police centralisation process criticised by Audit Scotland

Today’s Audit Scotland report finds that the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland face continuing challenges in delivering the savings required. In particular, their limited flexibility in managing police officer and staff numbers. That’s polite auditor criticism of the political police officer target imposed on Police Scotland.

The report also confirms some key UNISON criticisms of the process leading up to the centralisation of Scotland’s police forces. In particular, that the savings estimates were based on an Outline Business Case that has never been updated or moved on to a Full Business Case.

“Both KPMG and PwC highlighted significant 
concerns about financial management in addition to the issues identified by the gateway reviews. 
A number of recommendations from these reviews were not fully implemented, including the gateway review recommendation to update and use the business case to test the validity and realism of programme assumptions.”

In addition, the report highlights the confusion over the roles of the SPA and Police Scotland - a confusion that was played out in public over many months. UNISON Scotland drew attention to the potential for conflict, given the lack of clarity, while the Bill progressed through Parliament.

The report says:

“There were a number of areas of tension, including:

·   different interpretations of the Act, the Scottish Government’s intention behind the Act, and what this meant for the role of the SPA in terms of ‘maintaining’ the police service

·   the lack of good baseline information on non-operational police activity; in particular, the lack of comprehensive financial information to identify how savings outlined in the OBC would be achieved

·   a lack of shared understanding and expectations over what effective scrutiny of the police service looked like in practice

·   the Scottish Government’s changing position over the way the SPA should operate.”

The report goes on to express concern that a number of governance issues still need to be progressed.

This report articulates what everyone close to the process knows. This was a badly planned and rushed centralisation of a vital public service, with flawed legislation and a confused governance structure. The estimated savings were optimistic and more importantly, not worked up in sufficient detail. Add to all that political targets on police officer numbers that makes a nonsense of the statutory duty of Best Value.

Huge challenges remain, but even at this stage it would help if the Scottish Government stopped its political interference and allowed Police Scotland to adopt a balanced workforce.