Joint memorandum submitted by Cleveland
Police & Cleveland Police Authority
1. THE NUMBER
OF POLICE
OFFICERS AND
STAFF CURRENTLY
EMPLOYED BY
THE FORCE
As at the end of October 2009:
Police Officers: 1,736 FTE
PCSOs: 188
FTE
Police Staff:
716 FTE
2. HOW THIS
FIGURE HAS
CHANGED OVER
THE LAST
FIVE YEARS
(INCLUDING DETAILS
OF BUSINESS
AREAS WHERE
REDUCTIONS OR
INCREASES HAVE
OCCURRED IF
POSSIBLE)
| FTEs employed by Cleveland Police as at:
| | | |
| | |
| March
2005 |
March
2006 | March
2007
| March
2008 | March
2009
| October
2009 | %age change across the period
|
Police Officers | 1,685
| 1,711 | 1,726 | 1,699
| 1,757 | 1,736 | 3.0%
|
| PCSOs | 92 | 101
| 116 | 175 | 198
| 188 | 104.3% |
| Police Staff | 728 | 715
| 711 | 707 | 723
| 716 | -1.6% |
| Total | 2,505 |
2,527 | 2,553 | 2,581
| 2,678 | 2,640 |
5.4% |
| |
| | | |
| |
Police Officers:
The Force has worked to a stable Establishment of Police
Officer numbers over the above period with this growing from 1,704
to 1,727 FTEs in 2006-07. This increase in establishment provided
the Force with increased capacity to address the Protective Services
needs of the Force. While the above figures show a fair range
of movement on Police Officer numbers this should be viewed in
the light of varying recruitment dates and the fact that the Force
is mindful that when it does recruit Probationers that they will
be undertaking training for about 40 weeks. We therefore went
beyond our Establishment last year with this in mind.
In 2007-08 Cleveland Police worked with a private sector
partner to outsource our Custody and Medical Services. This allowed
the Force to release 36 Police Officers back to front line duty.
PCSOs
The appointment of PCSOs is one of the cornerstones of neighbourhood
policing in Cleveland. Since 2007-08 we have been provided with
part funding from the Home Office for the employment of 166 PCSOs.
Our current level of PCSOs is both supported and part funded by
our partners which enables us to work to an Establishment of 197
PCSOs.
Police Staff
Cleveland Police work from a relatively low base of Police
Staff in comparison to those within our MSG. This is in part due
to the outsourcing of Custody as referenced above. This allowed
for the transfer of 40 members of staff to our Partner. This partner
has then increased the staff working within our Custody Service
to 81 as it replaced the Police Officers that went back to front
line duties.
The reason that there has been no significant fall in the
number of Police Staff employed, given the outsourcing, is that
as the Force has worked hard to provide greater financial control
it has been able to recruit to those posts that were previously
vacant which has lead to an improved service.
3. ANY COMMENTS
ON THE
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
THESE TARGETS,
THE MOST
RECENT CSR FUNDING
SETTLEMENT, EFFICIENCY
SAVINGS TARGETS,
THE FORCES
OVERALL FINANCIAL
POSITION AND
ANY OTHER
FACTORS;
The Police Authority and Force believe that the current record
number of police officers and PCSOs is a significant factor in
reassuring the public and Cleveland being consistently in the
top three forces for public confidence.
Consequently, it is a stated Authority and Force policy to
maintain police officer and PCSO numbers at their current level.
However, it is intended to continue the already significant workforce
modernisation that has enabled a movement of officers out of back
office functions to front line operations through a programme
of civilianisation.
4. AN INDICATION
OF LIKELY
CHANGES TO
THE WORKFORCE
DURING THE
REMAINDER OF
2009-10 AND IN
2010-11
We have a recruitment plan in place for Police Officers that
aims to ensure that those officers that retire or leave between
now and the end of the current financial year are replaced and
that we stay as close to our full establishment as possible.
In 2010-11 we are not looking to make any changes to the
number of Police Officers we employ but we are looking at further
possibilities for civilianisation that will allow the release
of Police Officers back to front line operations.
In terms of PCSOs we will recruit back to full Establishment
by the end of the current financial year and we will be working
with our partners to ensure that we can afford to maintain these
levels throughout 2010-11.
We are currently reviewing proposals to outsource both our
ICT and some of our Control Room functions. There are currently
circa 170 Police Staff employed within these units. If proceeded
with, we would expect to be able to release some Police Officers
who currently work within our Control Room into front line positions.
5. GIVEN THE
APPARENT INEVITABILITY
OF PUBLIC
SPENDING CUTS,
WHICH WILL
UNDOUBTEDLY IMPACT
ON THE
POLICE SERVICE,
WHAT PLANS
THE FORCE
IS PUTTING
IN PLACE
TO DEAL
WITH REDUCED
FUNDING
As the above alludes to we are currently under going a procurement
process that will potential lead to the appointment of a Strategic
Partner who will work with the Force to deliver improved services
within our ICT and Control Room functions, this will be at a reduce
cost to the Force whilst also releasing Police Officers to the
front line.
The expertise that we will then be able to access through
the outsourcing of ICT is then expected to act as a change agent
for the Force to enable significant improvements to back office
functions that should significantly reduce bureaucracy and also
enable the force to protect and improve current service levels
but at a reduced cost.
The expectation is then that we will be able to maintain
and improve the front line focus of the force to protect and improve
on the levels of crime within Cleveland and also the level of
public confidence that we currently have.
In addition, we are actively exploring collaboration opportunities
with other forces in our region.
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