Managing Our Resources
In order to achieve the level of service West Mercia seeks to achieve we have to manage our resources effectively.
Finances
The planned budget for 2008/09 is £190.7 millions after use of reserves. This comprises:
| £m | |
| Employee costs | 179.5 |
| Premises | 7.3 |
| Transport | 6.0 |
| Supplies and services | 22.0 |
| Capital financing | 1.5 |
| ------------------------------ 216.3 | |
| Income | 23.6 ------------------------------ |
| 192.7 | |
| Less use of reserves | 2.0 |
| ------------------------------ 190.7 ------------------------------ |
The budget is received from the following sources:
| Government Grants | £m 118.9 71.8 |
| ------------------------------ 190.7 |
The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy has issued a Code of Practice for Best Value Accounting. This code serves to re-analyse the expenditure of the Police Authority to show the cost of a number of functional activities as follows:
This area of work will be monitored by the Police Authority’s Finance & Resources Panel
Investment Programme
The investment programme for 2008/09 will allocate £18.9 million to priority areas. This will include:
- Improvements to custody facilities at Hereford, Ross-on-Wye, Telford and Redditch
- First steps towards new police stations for Bromsgrove, Market Drayton, Bewdley and Ironbridge
- A new force helicopter
This area of work will be monitored by the Police Authority’s Finance & Resources Panel
Efficiency and Productivity Plan
West Mercia has a good track record of achieving efficiencies and since 1999 when the Home Office introduced a formal regime of recording, the force has complied with and exceeded the specified efficiency targets, with a cumulative total of £37 million efficiency savings identified and re-invested.
For the three years of Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) period 2008 – 2011, police forces are expected to identify efficiency gains to a total of 9% of gross revenue expenditure. For West Mercia the amount required will be £19.5 million.
The surplus of efficiency gains from 2007 – 08 is estimated to be £5.75m leaving a further requirement of £13.75 million over the CSR period 2008 – 2011. The table below details by method of sourcing and by reference to the Four Better Outcomes the potential areas for efficiency savings of £7.4 million. The three year programme will be reviewed to monitor progress against these potential areas and a 3% efficiency gain will be established as an annual rolling target.
| Workforce Modernisation | Procurement | Process Improvement | Sustainability | Total | |
| £000 | £000 | £000 | £000 | £000 | |
| Tackling Crime | 76 | 0 | 401 | 0 | 477 |
| Promoting Community Safety | 84 | 32 | 22 | 0 | 138 |
| Improving Satisfaction & Confidence | 0 | 0 | 180 | 0 | 180 |
| Protecting the Public | 810 | 0 | 360 | 0 | 1,170 |
| Organisational Management | 3,201 | 739 | 1,411 | 84 | 5,435 |
| Total | 4,171 | 771 | 2,374 | 84 | 7,400 |
The focus of the Home Office’s Efficiency Planning regime is on productivity. The following performance / cost matrix illustrates that West Mercia is a value for money force since it delivers upper quartile performance on lower quartile resources.
In accordance with Home Office guidelines the sources and reinvestment areas of efficiency initiatives will be subject to assessment by the Key Performance Measures listed in this document and the Statutory Performance Indicators listed at Appendix 1 .
Procurement Statement
The "Best Value and Planning Guidance for Police Authorities and Forces 2003" requires the inclusion of a statement on procurement to confirm that the Authority is abiding by guidance in relation to staffing matters.
The Authority’s Standing Orders under Contracts provide for awarding contracts on a value for money basis and we use a standard approach to evaluation which takes account of both quality and whole life costs. Evaluation models are tailored to each exercise and tenders follow the Authority’s Tendering Procedures.
For all major contracts that involve staff transfer, compliance with the ‘Code of Practice on Workforce Matters in Police Authority Service Contracts’ is part of the contract documentation. During 2007/08 there were no contracts awarded which involved the transfer of Police Authority staff.
This area of work will be monitored by the Police Authority’s Finance & Resources Panel.
Human Resources
The Human Resources (HR) Plan sets out our priorities to meet the requirements of the Annual Policing Plan. Key areas for improvement include:-
- Continue to focus on the well being of staff.
- Ensure the corporate application of HR procedures.
- Review our HR processes to streamline systems and improve productivity and efficiency.
This area of work will be monitored by the Police Authority’s Human Resources Management Panel
The Association of Police Authorities (APA) has recommended that the following framework should be used to cover the core issues, which need to be addressed in an integrated plan. The key priorities for 2008/09 are set out below within the headings used in this framework: -
A - Embracing Diversity
| A1 | To further develop positive action initiatives to achieve a workforce representative of the communities we serve – particularly women police officers and black and minority ethnic police officers and staff, for whom our 2008/09 targets will be 27.5% and 2.0% respectively. |
| A2 | To continue our review of recruitment, retention and progression strategies to support the overall objective above with a particular emphasis on increasing the numbers of female Police Sergeants and Inspectors. |
| A3 | To develop the HR and employment aspects of our Equality Schemes including Gender Agenda 2. |
| A4 | To implement a mentoring scheme for officers and staff in under represented groups (subject to provision of funding). |
| A5 | To monitor and audit our employment data and address issues to achieve a workforce representative of all our communities. |
B - Recruitment
| B1 | To recruit 120 student police officers and 40 transferee police officers and maintain a staffing level of 2500 police officers. |
| B2 | To fully implement the National Recruitment Standards for Community Support Officers supplemented by review of our local standards including medical and fitness. |
| B3 | To continue the phased transfer of our vetting and security clearance arrangement to the Force Vetting Unit to reduce the risks associated with the selection of officers and staff. |
| B4 | To review and simplify Integrated Competency Framework role profiles and our Performance and Development Review process. |
Promotion
| B5 | To meet our anticipated promotion requirements for police officers in 2008/09 viz. Up to 3 Superintending ranks, 3 to 5 Chief Inspectors, 10 to 14 Inspectors and 50 to 60 Sergeants. |
Pay and Pensions
| B6 | To review our job evaluation process. |
C - Retention
| C1 | To identify staff groups where staff turnover exceeds 12.5% and identify any necessary remedial action. |
| C2 | To assess the reasons why individuals leave the organisation, provide feedback to managers and act on the information where appropriate and relevant. |
Worklife Balance
| C3 | To review and update the following policies and procedures: - Worklife Balance - Part Time Working - Job Sharing |
Employment Relations
| C4 | To ensure effective staff consultation on all issues. |
Good Employer
| C5 | To commence completion of the Grapevine Project which over the next two years will review all of our HR business processes, upgrade our computerised Personnel Information System, integrate this with other relevant systems. |
| C6 | To maintain the standards identified for recognised national accreditation processes including Investors in People. |
| C7 | To review and consult on the following policies and procedures: - Recruitment and Selection - Redundancy - Redeployment - Business Interests - Medical Retirement |
| C8 | To ensure corporate application of all our policies and procedures. |
| C9 | To consider opportunities for progressing Shared Services |
D - Development
Training and Development
| D1. | To monitor the delivery of the Annual Costed Training Plan. |
Assessment
| D2 | To formally implement the Force Strategy assessment of performance against National Occupational Standards. |
| D3 | To establish a system for recording attainment of competence. |
| D4 | To establish a system for maintaining professional registers. |
Setting Standards
| D5 | To establish a system that can identify and record current skills, required skills and associated skills gaps for our people. |
Succession Planning / Career Planning
| D6 | To further develop routes for career progression (Workforce Modernisation/ Initial Police Learning & Development Programme Plus). |
| D7 | To implement arrangements to ensure the identification of potential senior and key vacancies within the Force. |
| D8 | To develop a Succession Planning Policy and Procedure. |
E - Health and Safety
Health Safety and Welfare
| E1 | To assist managers reduce the number of days lost through sickness to less than 9 days per annum for police officers and police staff. |
| E2 | To implement the action plans arising from Phase One of the Health & Safety Executive (Corbiere) Stress Audits for all Divisions including progression of any identified Forcewide issues. |
| E3 | To continue the programme of Health & Safety Executive (Corbiere) Stress Audits for all departments with completion before December 2008. |
| E4 | To maintain the number of medical retirements at less than 12 per annum for police officers and less than 4 per annum for police staff. |
| E5 | To review our Audiometric Testing Policy and Procedure. |
| E6 | To implement Safety Audits. |
| E7 | To enhance the provision of Health and Safety training for Managers. |
| E8 | To monitor the working time of police officers and staff and take any necessary action to ensure compliance with the Working Time Directive. |
| E9 | To implement pre appointment health checks and annual health checks for senior and key posts. |
| E10 | To review fitness testing within the Force. |
Note: This HR Plan will be subject to ongoing review during 2008/09 in the light of any emerging issues or unanticipated priorities.
STATISTICAL TABLES
1. STAFFING
| Detail | Detail | 2007 / 08 | 2008 / 09 |
| Police Officers | Constables | 1932 | 1917 |
| Sergeants | 410 | 405 | |
| Inspectors | 118 | 116 | |
| Chief Inspectors | 31 | 32 | |
| Superintendents | 17 | 17 | |
| Chief Superintendents | 8 | 8 | |
| Chief Officers | 4 | 5 | |
| All Officers (total) | 2520 | 2500 | |
| Police Staff | All police staff (total) | 2039 | 2002 |
| Special Constables | Special Constables | 300 | 300 |
2. OVERTIME
The targets for reduction in overtime were achieved in March 2006. No further targets or actions have been set.
3. POLICE OFFICER STRENGTH AND RECRUITMENT
| In post during 2007 / 08 | Recruitment Target 2008 / 09 | ||||||
| BME | White | Total | |||||
| M | F | M | F | M | F | BME | Total |
| 29 | 7 | 1815 | 639 | 1844 | 646 | 50 | 2500 |
BME – Black and Minority Ethnic
4. ILL HEALTH RETIREMENTS
| 2007/ 08 | 2008 / 09 | |
| Police Officers | 11 | < 12 |
| Police Staff | 4 | < 4 |
5. ABSENCE (Average Days Lost Per person Per Annum)
| Number of equivalent days lost and average cost | 2006/ 07 | 2007 /08 | 2008 / 09 |
| Police Officers | 11.0 | 9.5 | <9.0 |
| Police Staff | 9.3 | 9.0 | <9.0 |
6. NUMBER OF STAFF IN THE HR DEPARTMENT INVOLVED IN …
| 2007 / 08 | 2008 / 09 | |||
| Central HR departments | BCU/OCU HR functions | Central HR departments | BCU/OCU HR functions | |
| Recruiting police Recruiting police staff | 6.25 | 3.50 | 6.25 | 3.50 |
| Occupational health, safety and welfare | 11.00 | 2.00 | 12.00 | 2.00 |
| Employee resourcing | 11.75 | 3.75 | 11.75 | 3.75 |
| Employee relations | 0.50 | 2.00 | 2.00 | 2.00 |
| Corporate support and planning | 8.50 | 2.00 | 8.50 | 2.00 |
| Training and development | 140.6 | 4.00 | 154.10 | 4.00 |
| Other | 1.00 | NIL | 1.00 | NIL |
| TOTAL | 179.60 | 17.25 | 195.60 | 17.52 |
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