Further Detail

Quarter 3 2023 update
Recruitment and Selection: A new Recruitment & Selection procedure, aligned with the Scottish Government's Minority Ethnic Recruitment toolkit and Police Scotland/SPA commitment to Race Equality in Employment, was published on December 21, 2023.

Allowances and Expenses: A revised procedure for staff, which includes new allowances agreed as part of the 2023 pay deal.

Disruption: Has been revised to include hybrid working practices.

Grievance and Acting Rank: Our goal to finish reviews of these procedures by the end of the 2023 has faced delays caused by additional consultation feedback and compliance issues. We now expect to complete these reviews by the end of February 2024.
2024 Policy Work

Appendix A details the proposed schedule of policy development for 2024, which incorporates the below:

Organisational Change: The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023 comes into force on April 6, 2024. This provides for the extension of existing redundancy protections while on maternity leave, adoption leave, or shared parental leave to also cover pregnancy and a period after returning to work. Redundancy protections will start when an employee tells us about their pregnancy (on or after April 6, 2024) and will end 18 months after the expected week of childbirth/date of placement, meaning more people will qualify for priority treatment. This will be relevant to organisational change where roles are removed and there is scope for employees to remain employed in suitable alternative roles. This legislative driver will be used as a catalyst for a wider review of the procedure to encompass early engagement and other trade union concerns.
Flexible Working: The Employment (Amendment) Regulations 2023 removes the service requirement for making a flexible working request, giving new employees a day-one right. In addition, the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 enhances the existing rights for employees allowing an additional request each year; removes the need for employees to explain the effect on the business; reduces the time for employers to make decisions to two months; and provides that requests cannot be refused without consultation with the employee. These changes come into force in July 2024 and will require amendments to our systems and processes to meet the new ACAS code of practice. An assessment of how these changes should/could be reflected within Police Regulations also needs to be undertaken.

Equality, Diversity, and Dignity: The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 introduces a positive duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees. This is an additional obligation to the current position where employers are (and will continue to be) liable for actual harassment by their employees. This document is no longer fit for purpose but could be instrumental in supporting our strategic objectives and aligning content with NPCC activity around Abuse of Position for Sexual Purposes (APSP) and Sexual Misconduct investigations.

The Probationer Governance Department has reviewed procedures associated with the management and development of probationary constables and has made a request to have these procedures updated so that they are more considerate of neurodivergent officers and rectify outdated information and updates to the probationary program. A review of the information supplied has been applied to the rational decision-making model increasing the weighted score from 22 to 32. However, a Score of 38 is required to fall within our existing resource capability, which means alternative authoring solutions need to be explored with LTD.

Further, a review of the organisations position on the provision of references has taken place. This aims to address recommendations made by Dame Elish Angolini around gross misconduct hearings and outcomes. Proposals to include more information on a person’s ‘reason for leaving’ have been put forward which will require minor amendment to the Leaver’s Procedure. The proposals should strengthen public confidence and promote the standards of professional behaviour, ensuring all leavers receive a fair and factual reference, particularly where future employment may involve work with vulnerable people.

An independent review is underway to look at the 2004 Home Office Guidelines in respect of medical standards for probationer officers.
Summary and Conclusion

The programme of work is progressing as intended and within tolerance of acceptable timescales. The consideration of appropriate measures to assess the relevance and success of policies will be integrated into dashboard reporting to complement consultation, stakeholder engagement and data-driven insights.