The Scottish Government

« Previous | Contents | Next »

Listen

Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary Primary Inspection 2002

Annex A

A Joint Report on Best Value within Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary

1. Best Value requires relevant public sector bodies to develop a performance management and planning framework. This is fundamentally about establishing clear standards and targets for all the body's activities, identifying where and how improvements can be made, and reporting on performance. Four key principles, accountability, transparency, continuous improvement and ownership underpin Best Value. The essential elements are sound governance (customer focus, sound strategic, operational and financial management) performance management and monitoring, continuous improvement through competition, option appraisal and other tools, and long-term planning and budgeting.

2. The design and development of a co-operative model for the future monitoring and inspection of Best Value that limits bureaucracy and duplication in inspection scrutiny, was introduced in the HMIC Thematic Inspection Report 'A Value Judgement' published in July 2001. In partnership with Audit Scotland, HMIC have made use of a Best Value protocol and Joint Inspection Team within the Primary Inspection of Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary.

3. This joint report is structured in accordance with headings derived from the Business Excellence Model and reflects the overall structure of the Primary Inspection Report. The protocol uses criteria analogous to those used by Audit Scotland in their approach to assessing the progress of a Scottish Council, namely arrangements for performance management and planning, known as the PMP audit. The aim is that the framework for inspection and self-evaluation prior to an inspection will be sufficient to allow Audit Scotland and HMIC to discharge their statutory duties in a co-ordinated and integrated way.

4. Audit Scotland and HMIC would emphasise that Best Value is not a stand-alone concept but one that permeates all facets of an organisation. This was reflected in the conduct of the primary inspection. Protocols covering Senior Management, Strategic Planning, Community Consultation, and Financial Management were considered alongside the Best Value protocol. Some issues arising from the protocols have already been covered in earlier chapters. For the purposes of joint reporting, however, it may be necessary to re-visit specific issues within this section of the report, and where relevant, appropriate cross-reference will be made to the earlier chapters. Rather than duplicate the necessary information here, a summary will be provided where appropriate.

LEADERSHIP

5. The expectation is that senior managers have translated Best Value into a clear set of expectations for the force which reflect core Best Value principles such as: consulting with stakeholders, providing services to meet customer needs; continuous improvement; getting the best cost/quality balance; equality; and public accountability and responsiveness.

6. Staff should be involved in developing these expectations to ensure ownership. They should be communicated widely to generate awareness of Best Value across the force and expressed in terms that provide a clear direction for staff, with feedback gathered to ensure that the communication has been effective. Finally, elected members should provide consistent support for a methodology for the force that will deliver Best Value.

Best Value awareness

7. The following practices and initiatives were noted by the joint inspection team in support of action taken by the force to increase awareness and develop principles that will assist in the delivery of Best Value:

'To seek continuous improvement utilising Best Value principles' is listed as an Action Point within the Force's Strategy

8. The force reports regularly to the Police, Fire and Public Protection Committee (PFPPC) on Best Value issues. It is also anticipated that the Council's Scrutiny Committee may consider issues associated with policing from a Best Value perspective.

9. Continuous improvement has been sought through both internal and external scrutiny of the force's policies and processes. The force was accredited during 2001 as an Investor in People for the second time. The force is also a current holder of the Charter Mark Award, having been successful in the assessment process on three occasions - 1993, 1996 and 1999.

10. At the point of compilation of the initial Best Value submission, the force requested the formation of a Best Value sub-committee within the PFPPC. The Committee met on only one occasion and thereafter agreed that Best Value issues could be brought to the Committee as a whole. The Force Policy Group now carry out the following functions of the former Best Value Group:

Hear review findings at their completion
Consider options for further action
Monitor action plans
Ensure that service review outcomes are presented to PPFPPC on a quarterly basis

11. The joint inspection team, however, believe there is scope to develop the Best Value culture within the force. It is intended that the Best Value Officer who will circulate material, undertake training presentations and liaise as required outwith the force (for example the Modernising Services Department within Dumfries and Galloway Council) will perform this role. Our general impression is that many staff consider Best Value to be concerned solely with service reviews and the identification of potential savings. It is not considered as a management framework that includes many activities already being undertaken by the force.

12. There are also awareness issues for elected members. At the present time they receive many outputs - e.g. service review reports, financial and performance monitoring reports - but they are not involved in setting direction with regard to best value.

Policy and Strategy

Consultation with stakeholders

13. A Best Value service is responsive to the needs of its communities, citizens, customers and other stakeholders and its plans and priorities are demonstrably based on such an understanding. It requires the identification of stakeholders and their involvement in helping to identify policy and service priorities.

14. A Best Value service will also review its approach to consultation to see how it can be improved. The service is clear about why it is consulting; it employs cost-effective approaches to consultation and reviews the methods adopted. The service can demonstrate links between the findings from consultation exercises and service planning. A Best Value service is proactive in responding to the changing needs of its customers and communities.

15. One of the main aims of a Best Value service should be to reach as many stakeholders as possible. For Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary, these include citizens, elected members, business community, voluntary and independent sectors, government staff and inspection bodies. Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary demonstrate significant commitment to community consultation. For example:

'Encourage greater activity and engagement with the community to increase shared problem solving and consultation' is listed as an Action Point within the Force Strategy document.

16. The Public Performance Report for 2000/2001 clearly identifies that the Force Strategy, the Charter and the Force Action Plan have been put in place only after extensive internal and external consultation.

17. The Chief Constable updates the PFPPC on the force's performance at the programme of meetings.

18. Divisional Commanders and Area Inspectors are responsible for ensuring that elected members are personally updated on relevant issues. These officers must also ensure that issues raised by elected members are properly addressed.

19. On an annual basis, Inspectors hold an area briefing to which members of the general public are invited. This forum provides an opportunity for the general public to raise any policing issues.

20. Public satisfaction surveys are carried out via postal questionnaires which are sent out every three months.

21. Examples of other ways in which the force consults the public are:

A programme of surveys of community organisations
Open days are held at the main police stations around the area
The force use Opinionmeters to record views of the public on particular issues.

22. Five Focus Groups have been assembled to consider the following subject headings (under the chairmanship of the primary stakeholder for that area):

Community Safety
Crime
Road Safety
Drugs
Quality of Service

23. The groups are responsible for considering all local and national matters arising from the consultation process and translate these into a workable set of strategic actions and targets for consideration of inclusion in the final Force Strategy and Charter.

24. A Force Strategy Event is held on an annual basis that covers the main themes of the Strategy and the Charter. The Event is prepared by the five focus groups.

25. Consideration needs to be given, however, as to whether public meetings are the best fora for consulting with all stakeholders. Staff feedback suggests involvement of community group representatives who already work closely with the force. The force will wish to be sure that its consultation exercise reaches a wide range of people.

26. In December 2001 the force conducted a staff survey of all police officers, support staff and special constables. The survey covered the areas of communication, training/career development, equal opportunities, continuous improvement and job satisfaction. The survey was then used to inform the force strategy day in January 2002. HMIC has viewed the results of this survey and regards it as an example of good practice.

27. The force does not compare costs and outcomes amongst the different formats of consultation currently in place. Given the importance under Best Value of developing a clear customer/citizen focus, the force may wish to enhance current arrangements by setting out clear evaluation criteria to assess whether consultation exercises demonstrate value for money.

Service Planning

28. Clear and concise policing plans should set out what the service intends to do, its overall priorities linked with the strategic plan, performance standards and targets to be met and the resources involved in order that progress can be measured and reviewed. They should also be properly costed and budgeted, on a multi-year basis, and be realistic and achievable given the available resources.

29. The force should listen to stakeholders as it formulates its plans to ensure that it is responding to the needs and priorities of its communities. Commitments set out in policing plans ought to be translated into SMART tasks for teams and individuals to undertake and management should ensure that staff understand the plan, associated tasks and their role in the delivery of the service.

30. There is a need to establish clear links between the Force's Strategy for 2001/2002 and the Policing Plan for 2001/2004. The Strategy refers to five Strategic Intentions (Community Safety, Crime, Road safety, Drugs and Quality of Service) which are not replicated in the Policing Plan.

31. The 3-year Policing Plans for the two Divisions do not conform to an agreed template. This makes it difficult to monitor progress or draw comparisons.

32. No attempt has been made to link multi-year budgeting with Policing Plans by costing key activities to ensure resources are available to finance objectives and priorities included in plans. The Best Value agenda advocates costed service plans linked with multi-year budgeting and in this theme this issue has been addressed in Paragraph 4.81, Financial Resources.

Public Performance Reporting

33. The aim of Public Performance Reporting is to provide the framework for a service to identify the performance information stakeholders need in order to form a view on the achievements of the service and present this in a form that people find useful. The content of Public Performance Reporting should be easy to understand, concise and include:

Information on what services it provides, what people can expect of them, and how people can get access to them

Information on what the service has learned from consultation about what matters to its stakeholders and what it is doing to respond to these concerns

Information that shows how the service is working with other bodies to best meet the needs of its communities

Information that allows the public to see that the service is focusing on priorities and achieving value for money on behalf of its communities

Trend information, comparative information, and performance against targets or benchmarks to help stakeholders assess how well the service is performing.

34. The process of consultation for compilation of the PPR includes wide liaison with elected community representatives and Public Satisfaction Surveys.

35. The force produces a Public Performance Report (incorporating the Chief Constable's Annual Report and the Policing Plan) which provides a commentary on each of the force's Strategic Intentions and performance information from each of the local command areas/force departments against the objectives described in the Policing Plan. The PPR also documents the Goals that the force has set itself for the forthcoming year and beyond. An updated Service Review Schedule is also included with the Report.

36. Whilst taking into account liaison with community councils, area committees, elected representatives and annual Inspector's area briefings, there is a need to consider whether the PPR is sufficient as the only reporting mechanism to be used in providing information for stakeholders. We were concerned that the PPR is produced only on an annual basis. The force will wish to move towards more specific, regular information, for example, the development of the web-site or local newsletters/press releases on the outcome of local initiatives.

People Management

Use of people

37. Having developed the Policing Plan and identified the available resources, it is important that there are mechanisms in place for informing staff of what is expected of
them, setting objectives and reviewing performance.

38. In common with all Scottish Forces, Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary have an established performance appraisal system which allows for an individual's contribution to force, divisional, departmental or beat priorities to be reflected in their role requirement.

Specific to Best Value review teams:

39. Responsibility for carrying out the review lies with the Heads of Department who have responsibility for the area being reviewed. They are responsible for drawing together a Review Team.

40. The force's Best Value Officer and Service Review Officer attend initial Service Review Team meetings in order to outline assistance available from Corporate Services.

41. Best Value Review Teams are determined according to the requirements of the review, staff availability and other demands.

42. Consideration of skills and competencies is given at the formation of a review team.

43. No formal skills analysis or training relevant to service reviews has been undertaken

44. The force may wish to give consideration to the development of a selection process, encompassing determination of the required skills and competencies, for the staffing of teams engaged in best value service reviews.

Partnership and Resources

Financial Control and Reporting

45. Elected members and senior management should regularly review the financial health of the service. Monitoring reports need to show the budgetary position and allow the reader to see clearly whether it is being controlled and whether previously agreed actions have been taken and are having the desired impact in terms of controlling the overall budget.

46. Budget holders should have clear responsibilities and receive training and support to ensure that they have the necessary skills for managing budgets. They should receive adequate and timely information to enable them to manage their budgets and performance and take effective action to deal with under/over-spends.

47. The joint inspection team identified a number of satisfactory practices with regard to financial monitoring and control. For example:

'Monitor performance and the use of resources to enable sustained and continuous improvement and ensure best value' is listed as an Action Point within the Force Strategy document.

Devolved financial management was introduced on 1 April 2000 with all service departments receiving monthly monitoring reports.

Specific budgetholders have been identified as part of the scheme of devolved financial management.

Members of the Force Policy Group receive monthly revenue and capital monitoring reports.

Members of the Council's Finance sub-Committee receive monthly reports on projected revenue outturn

A manual on devolved budgeting and general financial management has been prepared and ongoing support is available from the central finance team

48. Scope for improvement, however, was identified with regard to the following areas:

Financial Regulations specific to the force have not yet been developed.

Support services are not covered by service level agreements and the charge to the force matches the budgeted cost. It is appropriate that agreements exist between the force and service providers which quantify the services to be provided

49. In addition, consideration needs to be given to review of the documented scheme of 'Devolved Budgeting'. Currently this provides no information on the procedures to be followed by budgetholders with regard to reviewing and taking action on the revenue budget monitoring reports.

50. The Internal Audit section within the Council is embarking on a programme of major change and there is no formally approved strategic plan in operation for internal audit in the current year. The level of internal audit activity should be targeted at those areas of risk that merit investigation and/or validation, based on the overall audit strategy within Dumfries and Galloway Council. A Strategic Audit Plan therefore requires to be developed which will result in audit work within the force being based on an overall risk assessment undertaken within the Council.

51. As explained in paragraph 4.81, no attempt has been made to link multi-year budgeting with Policing Plans by costing key activities to ensure resources are available to finance objectives and priorities included in plans. The Best Value agenda advocates costed service plans linked with multi-year budgeting. Again this theme has been further developed in Section 4.81, Financial Resources.

52. The Head of Financial Services has prepared a three-year Financial Services Strategy. While this provides an overall statement of the purpose of each service within the Section, it does not provide an overall framework within which service provision and improvement for the finance function sit. This issue has been addressed previously in section 4.82 and is the subject of a recommendation

Processes

Continuous improvement

53. A Best Value service should actively develop performance measures for its own use and review the key processes that determine whether its services deliver customer centred, cost-effective services. There should be a broad and structured approach to learning from other organisations, including comparing the service's performance, what it does, and how it does it. In addition, staff should be encouraged to share knowledge and learn from others.

54. There are many activities the force could promote under this heading e.g. benchmarking, developing performance measures, establishing improvement groups, providing fora for staff to share experiences both within the force and with other forces/organisations, developing databases of good practice and making staff aware of what is available and where they can access it.

55. The joint inspection team noted the following practices taken to promote continuous improvement within the force:

Responsibility for the force's approach to Best Value falls to the Superintendent, Head of Corporate Services. Within this department the Chief Inspector and Inspector undertake a range of activities to promote and co-ordinate Best Value. The dedicated members of staff - the Best Value Sergeant and an Administrative Assistant, assist them.

Officers have the opportunity through secondment to compare performance against that delivered elsewhere. The force is also represented at the full range of national police committees where good practice is exchanged.

Focus groups are responsible for considering all local and national matters arising from the consultation process and translating these into a workable set of strategic actions and targets for consideration of inclusion in the final Force Strategy and Charter. The Groups consist of a representative number of staff at various levels.

A Force Strategy Event is held on an annual basis that covers the main themes of the Strategy and the Charter. A report of the Event day is prepared by the five focus groups.

56. As noted in Paragraph 11, the joint inspection team believe there is scope to develop the Best Value culture within the force. It is intended that the Best Value Sergeant who will circulate material, undertake training presentations and liase as required outwith the force (for example the Modernising Services Department within Dumfries and Galloway Council) will perform this role.

57. The joint inspection team believe there is also scope to develop mechanisms to make staff aware of good practices

Service Reviews

58. Best Value reviews should rigorously assess what the activity is aiming to achieve, whether it is still required, and whether it will continue to meet future needs. There should be a systematic approach for evaluating options for providing a service, including competition where appropriate, to ensure that customers receive the highest quality of service possible within the resources available.

59. All activities should be reviewed and involve the application of the four 'C's (i.e. consult, compare, compete, challenge). Senior management should agree a service review programme which includes topics of a reasonable size that link with the service's priorities as laid out in the strategic plan and/or policing plans. Such a programme should have specified targets for completion of tasks in order that the programme can be monitored and corrective action taken as appropriate.

60. The corporate centre should perform a support role in terms of providing advice and guidance with the involvement of staff actually delivering the service in the review team. Guidance should be available on how to conduct a service review covering, for example:

The application of the 4 'C's - compare, consult, compete and challenge
Undertaking an option appraisal exercise
Providing a template for the report, and
Specifying the reporting framework that will deal with the final report (i.e. who will give consideration to the recommendations and decide whether and how they should be implemented).

61. Finally, an organisation needs to consider resources and training with regard to service reviews. A service review which deals with a significant area will require appropriate resources to fully explore the issues. Training will be necessary to ensure that the review is rigorous enough to address the 4 'C's option appraisal and provide an element of independent challenge.

62. The following practices were noted by the joint inspection team in support of action taken by the force in relation to service reviews:

The force has a Service Review Manual which outlines the procedures to be followed in relation to undertaking service reviews.

The force has a two-tier service review structure whereby service reviews are initially carried out only in respect of a summary benchmarking exercise. Thereafter, a preliminary report is submitted to the Policy Group as a 'business case' for or against a full service review.

A Review Initiation Document is used for all new reviews, which confirms that the Policy Group has approved a proposed review. This Document allows the Policy Group to ratify the composition of the Service Review Team, agree with the proposed terms of reference, and to have an input on completion date.

The force's Best Value Officer and Service Review Officer attend initial Service Review Team Meetings to outline assistance available from Corporate Services (in respect of benchmarking, process mapping, surveys etc) and others, and as required to give continued advice and assistance.

Day to day management of the service review programme falls to the Best Value Officer who ensures that the timetables and progress of review activity are pursued and reported.

The force acknowledges that progress against the original timetable was hampered by a number of factors and the original timetable has therefore been subject to change.

While many of the reviews undertaken to date have produced useful results and in some cases savings have been made (e.g. a catering review which identified annual savings of 26,000 per annum), we would have difficulty classifying a number of them as Best Value service reviews (e.g. Missing persons Review).

63. In addition, scope for improvement was identified with regard to the following areas:

There are no obvious links between the selected reviews and the force's priorities. (Heads of Department set review priorities in consultation with one another.) Criteria need to be established by the force in determining the overall programme of service reviews.

Final reports arising from service reviews incorporate an improvement plan with targets to secure improvement. The Policy Group endorses the reports. No formal Implementation Plan is prepared, however, to provide a framework for continuous improvement.

There is scope to develop management information in respect of the cost of carrying out each review and the resulting gains or savings in terms of efficiency, effectiveness or cost.

64. Serious consideration needs to be given to the independent challenge role of service reviews. The force's Service Review Manual includes the requirement that a Service Review Team should examine:

The objectives which relate to the process or function under review
What meets its needs and whether there are any needs which it should meet but doesn't
Whether it is required at all
The level and way in which services are delivered
Whether there are better ways of meeting the needs.

65. This requires the reviewer to consider how the service could be provided in a more efficient and effective way. The force has introduced the concept of a "critical friend" to introduce independent challenge to the review process.

Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary 'Self Selected' Best Value Service Review

66. Best Value reviews should assess what the activity is aiming to achieve, whether it is still required, and whether it will continue to meet future needs. The four 'C's should be rigorously applied. In addition, there should be a systematic approach for evaluating options for providing a service, including competition where appropriate, to ensure optimum quality in service delivery within the resources available.

67. Arising from the HMIC report 'A Value Judgement? A Thematic Report on Best Value within the Police Service in Scotland', Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary were requested to self-select a Best Value service review, representative of their overall approach, for consideration during the primary inspection. Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary self-selected 'Warrants Review Part 1' (Administrative and Operational) as a representative example of their service reviews and this was examined in some depth as part of the joint inspection. The Review is complete having been undertaken during 2001.

68. The Review was undertaken in two parts: Part 1 deals with the internal administration and processing of Warrants; Part 2 deals with the issues arising from the receipt of Warrants form the Procurator Fiscal, Sheriff Clerks and District Courts. The Review Group was headed by a Chief Inspector (Corporate Services). The Review Team Leader was an Office Manager (Corporate Services). The remit of the Warrants Review Group was to review and examine the processing of Warrants (Administratively and Operationally), taking cognisance of the disciplines of Best Value and where appropriate to make recommendations for improvement. The terms of reference for the review were to consider the following:

69. A comparison of the review against the 4 'C's revealed the following:

Compare - Process Mapping/Flowcharts were completed for all areas concerned in the processing of Warrants, detailing the current procedures and resources involved. These processes were amalgamated and forwarded to all forces in Scotland stating that Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary were undertaking a review of the warrants function and wished to benchmark against other forces. Members of the Review Group visited two forces, Central Police (Stirling) and Fife Constabulary (Dunfermline) for closer examination of workflow and staffing levels.

Consult - Correspondence from several areas in the force had previously highlighted a variety of issues that were of concern relating to the processing of Warrants. All areas of the Force were represented on the Review Group to ensure that views relating to the internal administration and processing of Warrants were gathered and taken forward. Consultation with the Procurator Fiscal, the Sheriff Clerks, and the District Court was undertaken during Part 2 of the review.

Compete - Owing to the legality of the function carried out by the Warrants Department the review did not offer scope for competition or option appraisal. It was proposed during the review, however, that representations be made to ACPOS Best Value sub-committee to explore the possibility of legislative change in order that processing of certain types of warrants could be undertaken by authorities other than the police.

Challenge - The force has a legal obligation under the Police (Scotland) Act 1967 to carry out all legal directives from the court including the execution of warrants. In addition, effective and efficient procedures are required in order that Warrants will stand up to the close scrutiny of judicial examination. No clear challenge was provided by the review.

70. The report arising from the review included eleven recommendations.
Comments arising from the joint inspection examination of 'Warrants Review'.

71. While acknowledging the scope and quality of the review and that detailed comparison and internal consultation was carried out, the joint inspection team view is that this service review falls short of being considered a Best Value service review. The particular remit of this study did not provide for independent challenge by someone outside the review group. Provision was not made for competition or appraisal of different service delivery options and consultation did not include service users and other stakeholders outwith the force (we acknowledge that this latter element will be covered by the second part of the review). It is therefore questionable whether this review was conducted in accordance with the full rigour of the Best Value process.

Results

Performance Monitoring and Reporting

72. The aim of performance monitoring and reporting is to link targets and goals set in the Force Action Plan with actual performance, in order that progress can be reported back to stakeholders and the next action plan amended accordingly.

73. A Best Value service has a rigorous performance monitoring system in place. It has identified a broad range of measures that cover all important aspects of performance. Information is reported clearly and in a timely manner. Trend information is used to help assess how the service's performance is changing. Comparative information is used to help identify scope for improvement and managers review the information regularly and use it to control performance.

74. In Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary, the joint inspection team noted that a full range of performance information is presented monthly to the Policy Group in the form of the Performance Information Briefing Schedule (PIBS). This document includes Crime (Incidence & Detection), Road Collisions and Casualties, Response Times, Visibility, Absence Absence, Firearms and Explosives Licensing, Finance, and Charge Report Submission Times. The Schedule is circulated internally and includes performance information for the period compared against the force's targets.

75. HMIC and Audit Scotland attach considerable importance to the level of performance and communication of the 'results' achieved by an organisation. On a quarterly basis all action managers (identified in the Force Action Plan) are now required to report on progress made in respect of the identified actions for which they are responsible. This information is circulated internally and also to the Police, Fire & Public Protection Committee and other community groups and representatives. The progress made in relation to the actions is recorded in a monthly diary format. There is however no direct link between the progress recorded per the diary and the targets set out in Force Action Plan.

« Previous | Contents | Next »