Further detail

Quarter 4 2023 update
Acting Ranks: Police Promotion Exams and the Diploma in Police Service Leadership and Management (DPSLM) were previously the means to qualify constables for both substantive and temporary promotion across Police Scotland. The withdrawal of the DPSLM prior to the full implementation of its replacement (Police Leadership Development Programme) led to a workforce issue with insufficient numbers of qualified officers to fill temporary promotions primarily at the rank of Sergeant. Whilst a longer-term solution to this was developed, a mechanism to ensure operational and supervisory resilience was required in the short-term. The use of acting ranks is the sole method for temporarily moving an officer to a higher rank, regardless of whether they are qualified or not. A new Acting Ranks Procedure for officers was published on 21 February 2024.

Flexible Working: A revised procedure for authority/police staff, was published on 5 April 2024. Some minor amendments were required to comply with changes in legislation that came into force on 6 April 2024. The updated procedure is now compliant with the Flexible Working (Amendment) Regulations 2023. An assessment of how the changes should be reflected within Police Regulations are scheduled to be discussed at a Police Negotiating Board (PNB) Technical Working Group on 22 April 2024. HR Policy have requested to be informed of the outcome of the discussions which will help assess whether the interim guidance for officers needs to be updated.

SCOPE functionality allowing the monitoring acceptance/rejections of applications was implemented in October 2022 to allow the Service to have confidence that the provision is appropriately managed.

Adoption and Maternity Support: Amendments were required to comply with changes in legislation that came into force on 6 April 2024. The updated procedure is now compliant with the Paternity Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024. A revised procedure for officers and authority/police staff was published on 5 April 2024.

Grievance and Resolving Workplace Issues: The review of this procedure has faced delays caused by additional consultation feedback and subsequent concerns raised by Unison. The outstanding issues are being scoped to allow for discussion at police staff JNCC. The provision is a unified provision used for both officers and staff and has been positively received by other parties within the Policy Working Group. The delay created by the additional dialogue has pushed back anticipated publications with a projected completion date of the review now being end of May 2024 subject to JNCC discussion.
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 came into force on 6 April 2024. The HR Policy Team are currently reviewing the Organisational Change Procedure and will consider the implications of the new legislation. There has been significant engagement with trade unions as part of a wider review of organisational change related processes and supporting documentation. Two main matters identified by Unison are the need for a more formal process around early and meaningful engagement and the interpretation of policy and legislation. Significant advice has been taken to support procedural change dialogue, with a four-hour workshop being convened to progress understanding by all parties. This was helpful and allowed for significant joint understanding, and agreement while also assisting to identify areas that still require to be resolved. This has highlighted that additional guidance would be useful and has been included in the updated draft procedure to address some of the observations. It is anticipated the procedure will be sent out for formal consultation week commencing 6 May.

Uniform and Appearance Standards: Consultation on the procedure for officers was extended to include representatives from Policing Together, as well as the National Independent Strategic Advisory Group. The consultation period closed on 20 March 2024. Work to review and reconcile the consultation feedback has commenced in conjunction with Leadership, Training and Development’s (LTD) senior management team and members of the executive.

Postings and Transfers: The review of the procedure for officers is scheduled to start on 1 May. The current version (1.00) was published in May 2014 and is written in the format of a standard operating procedure. The review will provide the opportunity to align the procedure with other documents, owned by People and Development, that have been through policy simplification i.e. written in Plain English and in line with agreed accessibility and formatting standards. The review will also consider findings from other related workstreams. This includes recruitment and retention affecting remote rural and island locations and officers being transferred into protected or light duties to support them through a period of pregnancy, or rehabilitation or as a reasonable adjustment.

Promotions: A review of the Equality and Human Rights Impact Assessment (EqHRIA) for the promotion process is scheduled to start in May. Chief Superintendent Hilary Sloan is heading up a Sex, Equality and Tackling Misogyny Promotions sub-group to ensure mitigating actions and safeguards in respect of the promotions process are fair, up to date, and fit for purpose. Following approval, the EqHRIA will be published on the Force Intranet for the information of all officers and staff. It is not anticipated any amendments will need to be made to the Promotions Procedure.

Unison have raised some concerns about the schedule of work which was approved following consultation with them and other stakeholders. The trade union believes guidance on drugs and alcohol, hybrid working, and menopause should be prioritised. They have been asked to provide formal feedback. The Service has a menopause toolkit that was produced in conjunction with the SWDF and guidance for hybrid working in place currently.

Summary and Conclusion
The programme of work is progressing as intended and as outlined in formal papers to committee. As further discussion with stakeholders’ progresses any consequences will require to be subject to wider stakeholders’ engagement.