Memorandum submitted by the Police Superintendents'
Association of England and Wales
THE ASSOCIATION
1.1 The Police Superintendents' Association
of England and Wales (PSAEW) represent 1,600 officers holding
the rank of Superintendent and Chief Superintendent.
1.2 Our members lead Basic Command Unit
(BCU) Command Teams and at Force Level, command Support Departments
and are responsible for managing the provision of operational
and specialist support to their BCU colleagues. In particular
our members perform the critical role of Senior Investigating
Officer for murder and other serious crime enquiries and silver/gold
command for firearms incidents.
1.3 At a National Level our members are
seconded to the Home Office and other National Agencies where
their expertise and experience inform policy making and delivery
of high level National Policing Services.
1.4 Chief Superintendents and Superintendents
are integral to the delivery of policing at local, force and national
levels.
OFFICER PRESENTING
SUBMISSION
2.1 Chief Superintendent Ian Johnston is
the President of the Superintendents' Association of England and
Wales. He has been the full-time President of the Association
since March 2007 and was the Vice President for the previous three
years. He served with the Gwent Police for 33 years prior to taking
up his full-time appointment with the Association in 2004.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
3.1
— Our Association does not fundamentally
disagree with the APA/ACPO document Sustaining Policing.
— We believe that proper delegation
to BCUs/Departments is vital to improved efficiency.
— Workforce Modernisation is the
only way to get more for the same and is best done at the local
level to meet local demands (hence the need for delegation).
— We need to decide what success
looks like—the current performance framework doesn't assist
because it does not prioritise. We need to acknowledge that the
Police Service cannot have everything as a priority.
— The 43 Force structure is still
unhelpful. Local means BCU and not Force. Collaboration may help
in some very specific areas but is not ultimately the solution.
SUSTAINABLE POLICING
DOCUMENT
4.1 Our Association is in broad agreement
and supports the sentiments expressed in the APA/ACPO Document
Sustainable Policing—an overview of the APA/ACPO approach
to the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007.
4.2 We also acknowledge the current financial
climate and that the Government will aim to restrain future public
spending.
4.3 We support the view expressed that Police
Performance has improved significantly and that the success is
not always recognised by the public or indeed certain elements
of the media and political commentators. Additionally, the Police
Service has delivered significant efficiency gains.
4.4 The document refers to Policing Priorities
and particularly identifies implementing and sustaining neighbourhood
policing teams. It also refers to closing the Protective Services
gap. Response Policing is not highlighted and the challenge for
the Service will be to deliver all three elements simultaneously
ie response policing, neighbourhood policing and protective services.
POLICE PERFORMANCE
MANAGEMENT
5.1 The Police Service has come under greater
scrutiny with the introduction of increasingly sophisticated "Police
Performance Monitors". The monitors established within the
Police Performance Assessment Framework (PPAF) were set in place
to enable Chief Officers and others to raise questions about Performance
Variation between Forces and Basic Command Units. We welcome the
changes made in respect of the new APACS Performance Framework
as this better reflects the growing importance of crime reduction
partnerships at BCU Level.
5.2 The Police Superintendents' Association
commissioned a survey of BCU Commanders in 2003 and found that
"Performance" was seen to relate almost entirely to
targets and the collection of data on crime statistics, complaints,
sickness rates, charge and caution rates. The data required did
not link to the quality of service delivery and the use of National
indicators proved to be not sufficiently discriminating to allow
for the impact on policing of the Local environment.
DELEGATION TO
BASIC COMMAND
UNITS AND
DEPARTMENTS
6.1 A recent Home Office Publication from
the Police Standards and Crime Directorate, detailed guidance
was given to all Police Forces to encourage effective delegation
to both BCUs and departments.
6.2 The Guidance stated that significant
delegation within Forces had already been achieved and identified
a range of benefits arising from full delegation.
6.3 The Guidance recognised the need for
a balance to be struck between delegated and centralised functions
and budgets in each Police Force. It highlights the fact that
the effect on both motivation and innovation can be very positive.
This is linked to the sense of empowerment experienced by BCU
Command Teams and staff arising from full delegation.
6.4 It is also stated that a range of operational
gains can come from delegation. These include more effective partnership
work, less force bureaucracy, greater scrutiny of expenditure
and the greater impact at the BCU Level. It is also stressed that
the effect of non-delegation can mean that "budgets and resources
are divorced from the reality of policing on the ground".
6.5 The report draws attention to the need
to counterbalance delegation with a commitment to what is described
as "corporacy". However, rather than encouraging delegation,
corporacy has currently interpreted appears to justify a commitment
to the status quo.
6.6 Yet the Guidance also refers to Public
Sector Reform and acknowledges that delegation forms a central
element of the Police Reform Programme. We are also aware that
delegation also remains one of the Prime Minister's four principles
of Public Sector Reform. It reiterates the argument from the Office
of Public Services Reform that B.C.U.'s should have the freedoms
they need wherever possible to meet the demands of the public
on the ground.
6.7 The Guidance encourages Chief Officers
to:
"Show trust in Commanders and Departmental
Heads and hold Commanders to account by introducing effective
internal management inspection."
6.8 The tenor of the guidance from the Home
Office is one that encourages delegation of responsibility to
BCU Level but also demonstrates a regard for Force Corporacy.
This in effect reinforces the central responsibility and power
base of the Chief Constable by requiring all BCU activity and
decision making to reflect centrally determined management priorities.
Corporacy requires conformity to decisions taken at the centre
and works as a significant counterbalance to delegation. One question
that remains unanswered is indeed whether delegation and a commitment
to "corporacy" can be expected to successfully coexist
when each represents a radically different interpretation of what
constitutes an effective management system.
6.9 There appears to be a clear assumption
within the Guidance that a great deal of delegation has already
been achieved within many forces. Our Association believes that
this is not the reality and that a more centralist approach is
being adopted by the majority of Forces.
6.10 Full delegation to Basic Command Units
and Departmental Heads will bring about more effective delivery
of local policing and prove to be extremely cost effective.
6.11 We also believe that greater local
accountability will drive down crime.
6.12 The Government's 2004 White Paper stated
that "the main thrust of our reforms is to pass power from
the political centre to local citizens and communities etc etc.
6.13 Our Association believes that the word
local refers to BCUs and not Force Level.
6.14 Our Association believes that the building
block for Police Service Delivery is the Basic Command Unit. The
introduction of BCUs was intended to help reduce the traditional
police hierarchy as the "original" Basic Command Unit
provided a span of control that could be exercised by one Senior
Officer.
6.15 In recent years we have witnessed a
reduction in the number of Basic Command Units from 319 to 244.
BCUs have become much larger and many now question the original
concept.
WORKFORCE MODERNISATION
7.1 Our Association continues to support
the Workforce Modernisation Project. The introduction of Workforce
Modernisation will produce a number of benefits and we would urge
the Government and our colleagues within the Police Service to
fully support a Workforce Modernisation project.
7.2 Our Association is on record as supporting
the introduction of Police Community Support Officers. We believe
that this initiative has proved to be hugely popular with the
public in terms of visibility and reassurance. There is a desire
within our Association to mix the workforce with sworn and un-sworn
officers to best deliver policing utilising the skills of all
members of the Police Service.
4 May 2007
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