Public could be at risk as police service resilience is threatened
An article in Police Professional on 11th March 2010, looking at the future of policing
contained the following comments from the Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police,
Mr G Maxwell QPM- ‘it needs an independent examination of what should be delivered
locally, regionally and how that should be financed.’
In the run up to the 2010 Annual Police Federation Conference which was recently held
in Bournemouth a national media campaign was run to highlight the findings of research
which had been undertaken.
North Yorkshire.doc
Police Numbers
Police and staff
Report May 2010.pdf numbers 2000 to 2009.pdf
This research found that, in many forces across England and Wales, numbers of police
staff have virtually doubled in just under a decade and the growth in their numbers has
outstripped that of police officers. This could threaten the long-term resilience of the
police service to deal with unexpected and unplanned circumstances.
In order to prove whether or not this is a better option it is necessary not only to monitor
the effect on performance but to compare the actual total staffing costs of officers and
staff over a significant period of time. This means taking into account all additional costs
e.g. training, overtime and turnover levels. It is a time-consuming process and one which
forces are generally reluctant to undertake in sufficient detail.
In North Yorkshire the number of police staff increased by 158% between 2000 and
2009, compared to 12% for police officers during the same period. The increase in police
staff was the highest in England and Wales.
Consequently it attracted a lot of media attention and I issued a press release which I
reproduce below:
“ It is alarming that there is no tangible evidence that even suggests, let alone proves, the
value brought by civilianising increasing numbers of police officer posts. At a time of
financial restraint a rise in police staff numbers is absolute nonsense when the public
want more police officers on the beat and available in emergency situations when needed.
Britain has a new government; and a new Parliament. Now is the time to stop this
uncoordinated and ill-constructed plan that will destroy the police service in England and
Wales; to implement a full independent review and to have the courage to ask the public
what they actually want and expect from their police service.”
You will note this was not an attack on any given individual. It was a plea for the future
direction of the police service to be based on sustainable sound policy not a sound bite. It
was a plea to expose the value for money fallacy - what is the meaning of value (not
price) - a cynical device to hide cuts. And finally it was a plea for people to consider the
long term efficiency and efficacy of the police service.
As a consequence of that I received an email from North Yorkshire Police Authority who
acknowledged the position of the Police Federation and set out theirs. We acknowledge
their position.
This was expressed by the Chief Constable who said “North Yorkshire Police has taken
positive steps to free up police officers' time. Many roles can be carried out by civilian
members of staff and it makes sound business sense to fill these positions with properly
qualified people, thereby releasing police officers for frontline duty where their warranted
powers are needed.”
Several emails were received from police staff North Yorkshire Police and I reproduce
some of their comments below:
“the Police Federations comments grossly insulting and demoralising to the civilian staff
officers working for the force,” AND “I would like to stress that I am very motivated in
the job I do and like the results I am able to obtain which contributes to the NYP police
objectives. However this sort of criticism obviously effects my morale and I feel it is
unwarranted and inaccurate.” AND “I believe that work undertaken by police staff is
valuable to "free up" highly trained police officers to be visable and accessible within the
community, this is in line with the modernisation of the police report by Sir Ronnie
Flannagan.”
All these people are entitled to their views – just as I am and any other member of the
Police Federation of England and Wales. But let’s be clear the facts do not lie – these
figures are in the House of Commons library. And I have an email from North Yorkshire
Police Research department who had viewed the research done by the Police Federation
nationally and concluded “I was able to match up their stats with various HO reports.”
North Yorks
Officers
Staff
(excluding
PCSOs &
TW)
Staff
(including
PCSOs)
PCSOs
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
1,283 1,305 1,417 1,444 1,529 1,553 1,636 1,654 1,560 1,435
492
591
743
723
864
928
1,039 1,128 1,079 1,095
492
591
743
723
916
1,058 1,110 1,275 1,259 1,268
n/a
n/a
n/a
0
52
130
71
147
180
173
TOTAL
1,775 1,896 2,160 2,167 2,445 2,611 2,746 2,929 2,819 2,703
WORKFORCE
Officers as %
72
69
66
67
63
59
60
56
55
53
of total
Workforce
Therefore the issues I have raised are relevant and valid as can be evinced when one also
considers that in May 2010 the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies in a report ‘Police
Expenditure 1999-2009’ found that “proportionally, ‘other staff’ salaries have increased
more than those of police officers during the period.”
Police_expenditure_
1999-2009.pdf
And their report also references the work of the Home Affairs Committee, who when
looking at police funding in 2007 concluded:
On the basis of the data currently available, it is difficult to assess how effectively the
increased spending on the police in recent years has been deployed … It is hard to assess
the case made by the service and police authorities for more funding when there is no
comprehensive measure of how well they have spent the money they have already
received. We recommend that the Government … should place renewed effort into
agreeing a comprehensive framework for assessing police productivity, allowing a
clearer link to be drawn between investment and outcome.
The report of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies also draws on the 2008 review of
policing by Sir Ronnie Flanagan (former Chief HMI) asserting that this report suggested
that workforce reform had not been consistent:
There is currently no agreed medium to long-term strategy for workforce reform.
Reforms have been delivered piecemeal and with a lack of consistency.
(Flanagan, 2008: 39)
And therefore that is why the Police Federation believes it is time that the Home Office,
APA and ACPO had an open and thorough discussion with staff associations to ascertain:
1. the full range of police staff roles in existence throughout England and Wales
2. whether civilianising tasks that do not require warranted powers has a negative impact
on police officer diversity
3. whether specific staff roles have a positive impact on performance or public
satisfaction
4. whether that impact provides better value for money to the public than the equivalent
cost of police officer
Such a discussion must be backed by robust independent research that is supported
and trusted by all stakeholders.
Mark Botham
JBB Chairman