Further Detail

HMICS Assurance Review of SWP

Since the last bi-annual update HMICS have published its Assurance Review of Strategic Workforce Planning which makes a number of recommendations and highlights a number of areas for development. This was presented to the People Committee by HMICS at the August 2022 meeting.

Due to the appointment of a new Director of People and Development and the revised commitment to deliver a workforce plan alongside the People Strategy earlier than previously anticipated many of the recommendations have been on hold whist the refreshed plan is being developed. A table has been provided in the PDF document that provides an update an update on the progress in terms of the recommendations.

Strategic Workforce Planning Update

As a result of the factors highlighted in the background section of this report much of the detail expressed in the SWP as published continues to be unachievable. In order to manage any change in the workforce distribution the lack of funds has necessitated a scheme of resource prioritisation to ensure that benefits received from efficiencies and change are directed to the highest priority areas.

In addition, the extraordinarily low numbers of officers have further necessitated an operational assessment of priorities to ensure that the large officer shortfall is being managed in order to minimise the impact on both service delivery and the wellbeing of the officers.

Outwith the realms of the original SWP, funding scenario planning has also been undertaken by Finance as a result of the RSR to look at ways of managing the demands placed on policing within a real terms reduction in funding for the next 5 years.

The cumulative impact of all these factors has meant that the original action plans discussed within the published SWP have not progressed as expected. In some areas such as Local Policing and Public Protection Units, significant pieces of work have been started to examine new operating models and resource distribution. These pieces of work now supersede most of the action plans generated by the SWP.

Further to that a new SWP has been drafted and submitted for the endorsement of People Committee. This plan reflects the changes in the working environment and resource levels taking account of potential future funding positions. A number of key dependencies have been identified that will both assist in the planning process and meet recommendations contained in the HMICS review for interconnected work.

Additionally, an interim update on the workforce as part of Police Scotland’s Strategic Assessment (STRA) was delivered earlier this year that highlights how changes in crime, society and the environment have impacted on demand and what factors will need to be considered when developing the next full SWP.

National Workstreams

The national workstreams identified within the plan have remained ongoing in various degrees across the period and updates on each of these are identified below:

Modified Duties

Officer numbers requiring duty modifications continue to rise at around 9% per year and work continues both to understand the underlying reasons for this and what measures can be taken counter the rise.

In terms with dealing with the increasing number of officers requiring modifications to their duty, a clear action plan has now been agreed and new processes have been developed to manage this. This is currently being rolled out across the force with a view to ensuring that the wellbeing of all officers is being suitably managed, and the officers are being deployed in a manner that meets their and the organisation’s needs. ACC Local Policing West has been appointed as Executive Sponsor for this workstream.

Rank Ratio Review

 Officer ranks ratios have seen two reviews across the term of the SWP both of which concluded broadly that:
• In the main, ratios are appropriate
• When being reconsidered, ratios need to be looked at individually rather than holistically
• Specialist areas have a smaller ratio than operational policing
• Further review at a detailed level is required in specific areas to ensure appropriateness

As a consequence of the ongoing organisational pressures and shortages the detailed work has not been completed in this respect and as such a review of ratios has been added to the revised version of the workforce plan. This will be influenced by the newly developed organisational design principles

Operational Base Line (OBL) Review Workstream

Operational Base Levels (OBLs) are used by the service to set the response policing staffing levels required to address demand while maintaining officer safety.

Work in this area has developed over the course of the plan but has stalled due to the requirement for software development and its roll out, which is critical for this being agreed in terms of capacity and financial investment.

It remains an element in the revised SWP in terms of
developing a baseline for officer and staff structures.

Annual Leave – Policy and Practice Review Workstream

The SWP analysed annual leave as part of the Force level analysis and identified that there was a clear spike across the Service in annual leave among both Officer and Staff groups during July, and a trough in the month of November.

In response, a national workstream was established to undertake a review of annual leave policies and establish a regular monitoring and reporting system to ensure leave is best applied in response to demand. A workshop on 20 August 2022 with statutory staff representative bodies indicated support for management of consistent leave levels, in favour of local management within nationally set parameters.

Consequently, it was reported to the October 2022 Corporate Finance and People Board that this workstream is now considered as complete and the ongoing monitoring of trends considered as a BAU activity.

Workforce Agreement for Police Staff Workstream

A review of contractual terms and conditions of police staff members was recommended in the SWP as this would ensure adequate levels of flexibility and deployability per demand in this group, preventing the use of officers in civilian roles purely due to operational flexibility. This was particularly pertinent to the C3 and CJSD business areas.

It was anticipated that training towards such ‘omni-competence’ would result in a more widely skilled and widely deployable workforce with transferrable skills and more varied career pathways for staff.

Work was undertaken in this respect on a Police Staff Workforce Agreement, and this has now been approved. This forms an agreed provision for the organisation, which will have the most significant impact on C3 and Custody.

Rural and Remote Recruitment and Retention Review Workstream

Recruitment to remote and rural areas has been much considered over the duration of the SWP and progress made on a number of fronts including additional allowances for some officers. Work continues in this area although much has now moved to BAU activity. Further development of this has also been included in the refreshed SWP under the commitment to “Explore new routes to employment for difficult to fill posts such as digital, project management and rural posts.”

Shift Pattern Review

Remote and rural areas in L and N Division have highlighted challenges with the current five-shift pattern in use and suggested that a four-shift pattern could be utilised to provide more resilience on each shift while also reducing the impact on officers having to change shift patterns to meet demand or work overtime. Whilst considered initially by both Divisions using the established process to change shift patterns this work now been absorbed into the Local Policing Service Review that is due to deliver in December 2023.

Skills Mix

In developing the previous SWP many of the local plans suggested that they could replace officers with members of staff in a number of posts where police skills were not required. The primary areas highlighted included Concern Hubs, Operational and Events Planning Teams, Intelligence Functions, and Training, Learning and Development.

Due to a number of factors, work in this area did not substantially develop over the period of the previous SWP and as such this has been included in the current iteration in an action to “Replace of officers in roles that can be covered by staff” under the commitment to identify & remove unnecessary barriers impacting on management capacity to prioritise people considerations alongside operational considerations.

Summary

Due to a change in commitments to deliver a SWP in a shorter timescale work in some areas of the HMICS recommendations have been paused until the refreshed SWP lands. The new plan has taken account however of the recommendation specifically relevant to the development of the refreshed plan and has incorporated these where possible into that development work. The workstreams identified in the previous plan have either been completed, transferred to the refreshed plan, or moved into business as usual, in that respect it is suggested that they no longer required to be tracked other than through the refreshed plan where relevant.