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CHAPTER FIFTEEN EMERGING ISSUES

Introduction

15.1 During the course of the evaluation a variety of issues emerged. This Chapter tries to synthesise these, drawing upon a number of sources, including the analysis of the templates, the final interviews with each of the scheme managers in the case study areas and the wardens' survey. The Chapter covers the following:-

• Staff recruitment and retention;
• Things the managers would do differently with the benefit of hindsight;
• Challenges in setting up the scheme;
• Challenges in managing the scheme on a day-to-day basis;
• The wardens' role;
• Training;
• Data collection and data systems;
• Sustainability;
• Displacement;
• Relationships with the Scottish Executive; and
• Overall conclusions.

Recruitment and Retention of Staff

15.2 Recruitment and retention of wardens has been an issue throughout the evaluation. There are currently (October 2006) 49 vacancies. This figure includes 21 vacancies in West Dunbartonshire, which are mainly part time. North Ayrshire also has a high level of vacancies, with 9 posts being currently unfilled. The remaining schemes have between 0 and 3 vacancies. Were these vacancies to be filled there would be 553 wardens in employment across Scotland.

15.3 The templates asked scheme managers to report on the number of wardens who had been recruited but had subsequently left. In the 12 month report managers claimed that 68 wardens had left from 26 schemes, an average of 2.6 wardens per scheme. In the 24 month reports they reported that 148 wardens have left 30 schemes. Given that the total number of wardens seems to be around 553 in the 32 schemes (Paragraph 15.2) this implies an annual turnover rate of 27%. This is equal to the turnover rate in the retail industry (Future Skills Scotland, 2005). Given that wardens need to develop good relationships with their local communities, this would seem to be difficult if a quarter of staff leave every year.

15.4 Analysis of the 12 month templates found that over the first year the main reasons for wardens leaving their jobs were:-

• Career development and promotion;
• Pay and conditions not being agreeable (or found to be more agreeable at another scheme as quoted by East Renfrewshire where wardens had left to join Renfrewshire);
• The buoyant economies in some areas (for example Aberdeen and Edinburgh) that made recruitment for many posts difficult. In Edinburgh this problem has been partially solved by use of "Deal Me In", a council run New Deal initiative;
• Looking for something more permanent (essentially related to the short term nature of the funding for the warden schemes which made such things as getting a mortgage or a loan difficult); and
• Problems with shift working.

Similar reasons were cited in the 24 month templates. There is also evidence to show that some schemes face long term recruitment problems. For example: Scottish Borders reported that one of its vacancies took 3 months to fill and another 8 months. Highland also commented that it had found it difficult to fill posts due to the temporary nature of the contract.

15.5 A small number of schemes have, however, managed to retain all of their wardens. Aberdeenshire, Argyll and Bute, Eilean Siar, Moray and Perth and Kinross all reported that no wardens had left to date. These are, however, small schemes employing no more than 7 wardens.

15.6 The reasons for some schemes being able to retain all of their staff were explored in more detail. For example , in Perth and Kinross the scheme's manager attributed retention to a number of factors:-

• The small team of 5 in Perth meant that communications between the scheme manager and the wardens was more "two-way" than it would be in a larger team;
• The manager and the wardens work together to devise new initiatives. This was said to help keep the job interesting and adds a different dimension to the nightly patrols; and
• The wardens were given ownership of specific duties. For example one has responsibility for looking after abandoned cars, and another has responsibility for resolving incidents of fly-tipping. This was felt to lead to greater job satisfaction.

15.7 If retention of wardens is to be improved then it would seem that consideration needs to be given to: ensuring that an appropriate career structure is in place supported by training and development; reviewing the pay and conditions of the posts; securing funding to enable the posts to become permanent; and ensuring sufficient wardens are in post to enable the implementation of more suitable/flexible shift patterns. The type of working practices used in Perth and Kinross may also have something to commend them.

15.8 However, despite the relatively high staff turnover, several schemes experienced significant demand for advertised vacancies. South Lanarkshire commented upon the high number of applications received per post, whilst Inverclyde received over 70 applications to fill 3 vacancies. Similarly the recent advertisement of a warden's post in Perth attracted over 30 applicants. Given this, it would seem that the uncertainty associated with the fixed term contracts offered to wardens is not so much affecting the ability to recruit new staff as the ability to retain existing ones, albeit that local labour market conditions are also likely to have an impact.

15.9 Evidence to support this view comes from the wardens' survey which found that the younger wardens saw the job as being an opportunity to move on, for example to another job in the local authority or the emergency services (see Table 4.4). The managers' interviews confirmed this. For example:-

• In Dumfries and Galloway the scheme manager reported that at least 2 of his 4 wardens intended to leave in the near future. One had secured a newly created position as an Antisocial Behaviour Co-ordinator with the council whilst the other had applied to join the police; and
• In South Lanarkshire a number of staff had left the wardens' service for promoted positions with other council departments. For example, a number of community wardens had moved to the new noise wardens' team set up by the local authority.

15.10 Low turnover was seen by several managers as a crucial element in the success of the schemes. It was felt that the relationship between the wardens and the community had the best chance of developing through retention of the same staff working in the same areas. Specific examples of initiatives to retain wardens in post were few. However some good practice was evident across schemes:-

• When recruiting, scheme managers tried to appoint individuals who were genuinely interested in making a difference and had a passion for the work the wardens undertake;
• Managers tried to manage wardens in a fair and equitable way. For example, by allowing them to swap shifts with each other if required; and
• As in Perth, other scheme managers had attempted to vary the work of the wardens by introducing new initiatives and tasks when required. This was said to be important in keeping the job interesting and preventing the monotony that can set in from nightly patrols of the same area.

15.11 The smaller warden schemes highlighted the fact that the limited number of wardens they had can cause problems with cover for sickness and holidays. This can impact on maintaining a full presence in patrol areas and had often led to a temporary reduction in wardens' services from 7 nights a week to 6 in some areas.

15.12 In summary, the recruitment and retention of wardens appears to be determined by 2 main factors. These are:-

• The attractiveness of the posts in terms of pay, conditions and availability in relation to the wider labour market; and
• The innovation and management shown by the scheme manager in varying wardens' duties.

Things Scheme Managers Would Do Differently With the Benefit of Hindsight

15.13 There were no consistent messages coming from managers on what they would do differently if they could start the scheme again. Examples of the relatively minor things that individual managers would have done differently included:-

• Aberdeen and Dumfries and Galloway would have liked partner services such as other council departments, the police and fire and rescue service to have committed resources to training at the start;
• The manager in Dundee felt it would have been useful to have had more time to consider the indicators and the impact wardens could be expected to have on them. The view was that not all the current indicators were relevant to the problems that the wardens could influence (see Paragraph 8.10);
• East Renfrewshire would have checked the pay scales of neighbouring schemes prior to employing wardens. This was done latterly in the scheme, but the view was that the initial retention problems would have been stemmed if this exercise had been carried out at the start; and
• Edinburgh would have tackled recruitment differently. The original job description was felt to have been too vague and did not give a clear expectation of the tasks that the wardens would be expected to get involved in, particularly given the differing issues faced by the area teams across the city.

15.14 The main message is therefore that most scheme managers would not do anything significantly different. There was recognition that schemes had not always got everything right, but it was felt important that they learnt from their mistakes.

Challenges in Setting up the Scheme

15.15 It was recognised by managers that establishing a service from scratch was always going to present challenges. Apart from the recruitment issues, which have already been discussed, securing acceptance of the wardens by the local community and other services was felt to be challenging from the start. Several managers reported initial resistance from community groups and local politicians. The novelty of wardens, and a lack of understanding of their roles, meant that some members of the community argued that the money would be better spent on additional police officers. The lack of powers afforded to wardens appears to have been a key factor in fuelling this resistance, with many asking the question "what can the wardens do if they do not have any powers?"

15.16 Overcoming this initial resistance was not an easy task according to the managers. They admitted there were still sections of the community who felt this way about wardens. However, through community engagement, high visibility patrols and close partnership working with other services, managers feel they have made considerable progress in changing initial perceptions, something that the Home Office (2006) anticipated in its advocacy of high visibility policing.

15.17 Establishing a permanent base for the wardens was a challenge when setting up the scheme and still remains an issue in a number of areas. The unsociable hours that the wardens work has posed problems in using local authority offices after 5 pm. In some areas, wardens start their shifts from council offices but after the offices close, they have no fixed base for the rest of their shift. This was felt to contribute to the wardens' perception of themselves as a new and even "temporary" service.

15.18 Dundee had initial difficulties in securing premises in each of the patrol areas that could be used by the wardens when taking breaks, although this has now been resolved. In Orkney, wardens are continuing to operate without a permanent base of their own. Breaks are taken in Kirkwall police station which helps to promote communication between police officers and wardens, but the lack of their own base causes problems with such things as the storage of wardens' paperwork and equipment. Similarly, in Perth, wardens started off without a base then progressed to being based in a vacant flat in Letham. They have recently moved into a dedicated office, which the manager felt brought considerable benefits by making the wardens feel wanted and a permanent part of the council.

Challenges in Day-to-Day Management

15.19 Staffing issues loomed large in day-to-day management of the schemes. These were on 2 main levels:-

• Maintaining adequate cover when operating below the full complement of wardens. Combined with holidays and sickness, this was felt to be particularly challenging in smaller schemes such as Dumfries and Galloway, East Renfrewshire and Orkney; and
• Operational management of staff including tasking and supervision.

15.20 Smaller schemes, perhaps understandably, appeared to have less capacity to absorb personnel problems than the larger ones. For example, in areas where there were already difficulties with recruitment, such as Dumfries and Galloway and East Renfrewshire, periods of sickness and holidays have caused difficulties with maintaining a full service. Even schemes which reported no recruitment difficulties, such as Perth and Kinross, reported coverage issues caused by sickness and holidays. In contrast, larger schemes like Aberdeen, Dundee and Inverclyde had more capacity to resolve coverage problems. This was generally overcome by bringing wardens in from different shifts to cover for those who were off sick or on holiday.

15.21 Operational management of staff was a challenge for a number of the managers. The fact that wardens work until 11 pm or midnight every night means that managers were not always on hand to respond to issues the wardens might face. This meant that wardens had to use their initiative. The introduction of senior wardens in some schemes had, however, helped to bridge this management gap.

15.22 Keeping wardens focused on the duties they were intended for was a challenge in Edinburgh. The devolved management structure in place, with 5 area managers reporting into the overall scheme manager, was said to have led to some misunderstandings over the role of the wardens. In the scheme manager's view, area managers were often willing to provide the wardens for duties which should be carried out by other council employees, such as housing officers. It was felt that this meant that the wardens were not always carrying out the tasks they were intended for.

15.23 The manager in Dundee reported challenges in managing a large staff of manual workers. She had moved from managing a team of professional staff to having to deal with staff from different backgrounds, some of whom could be quite challenging.

15.24 The Aberdeen manager felt that limited formal input from the partner services in the city had been a challenge. The poor recording of the meetings and the informal nature of some of them meant that it was often not clear what was expected of wardens. This issue has been raised with partner services and was currently being addressed.

15.25 The overwhelming consensus of all the wardens consulted as part of the case study visits was that they enjoyed their jobs. The majority had been in post for over a year and had experienced what they termed "the highs and lows" of the job. The positive consisted of philosophical and practical aspects and included:-

• The satisfaction that they were helping to improve people's quality of life;
• Providing peace of mind to vulnerable members of the community;
• Communicating with local residents;
• Building trust with local residents;
• Positive feedback from local residents;
• Seeing environmental improvements as a result of issues they had reported;
• The variety of duties involved in the role;
• Working outside;
• "Banter" with the local youths;
• The salary; and
• The shift patterns (often 4 days on, 4 days off).

15.26 The wardens' survey asked what respondents felt was the best thing about the job. As Table 15.1 shows, the results correlate well with the qualitative information, with over a third citing "Making a difference to people's lives". This focus upon inter-actions with the public would seem to validate the stress on inter-personal skills that typified most of the original wardens' job descriptions (see Table 4.1).

TABLE 15.1 What is the Best Thing About Your Job?

15.27 The positive aspects of the job were felt to outweigh the negative. However, there were several negative things cited. Amongst these were:-

• Verbal and physical abuse from youths and adults;
• Fears for personal safety in some circumstances;
• Lack of community understanding of the role of wardens;
• Poor response times from police;
• Slow responses to logged issues from other council departments;
• Lack of recognition and praise from within the council;
• Inadequate numbers to cover the size of the patrol area;
• Bad weather; and
• Association with the police.

15.28 Association with the police was seen as negative in that it could cause problems in developing relationships with youths. The majority of warden schemes had invested considerable effort in trying to educate youngsters that wardens and police were separate entities. However, the perceived collusion between the 2 groups had led to hostile reactions from a small minority. This was particularly the case in some parts of Inverclyde where the wardens were described as "grasses" by the young people who attended the focus group.

15.29 However, this had not been the case in the Aberdeen scheme, where the wardens were managed by the police, had worked on joint operations with the police and where the wardens were dressed like the police. The Aberdeen wardens believed that they were able to build effective relations with the local community and that they had not received any adverse reaction as a result of this close association. This may reflect the close relations that they had been able to develop with the local community and the fact that they were perceived to be making a difference. Allied to this was the fact that they did not behave in an authoritarian manner. If this interpretation is correct then the doubts that many managers have about too close an association with the police may be unfounded.

15.30 Generally these negative aspects mirrored those identified in the wardens' survey, as shown in Table 15.2.

TABLE 15.2 What is the Worst Thing About Your Job?

15.31 The survey found that satisfaction with the equipment provided for the role was fairly high (70%). However, almost a third of respondents (30%) indicated that they did not have the correct equipment to allow them to do their job effectively. Most complaints centred on the poor quality of clothing. Examples included:-

15.32 When survey respondents were asked what they would like to see to allow them to be more effective in the future, a range of answers were given, with 18% wanting improved communications with external agencies such as the police and other council departments.

Enforcement

15.33 The wardens in Aberdeen were to have the power to serve fixed penalty notices for a number of offences, such as dog fouling and littering, by the end of 2006. Other schemes, such as Orkney and Inverclyde, were considering granting limited enforcement powers to wardens. It also seemed likely that other schemes would go down this route.

15.34 The debate on whether to grant powers was a recurrent theme during our case study visits. In the main, local authorities were reluctant to take this step although a number of wardens felt that the lack of enforcement powers stopped them doing their job effectively, whilst 18% of respondents to the wardens' survey wanted increased powers.

15.35 However, those consulted during the case study visits felt that the implications of increasing powers needed to be carefully assessed. Several felt that the dynamic between wardens and the public would change dramatically if they were given punitive powers. It was also commented that this would strengthen their perceived association with the police rather than weaken it, something earlier identified as an issue (Paragraph 15.28).

15.36 Dundee appeared to deal with this issue by working closely with their partners who do have enforcement powers. Each partner knows their own strengths and weaknesses and uses the strengths of others to compensate where they are weak. One recent initiative illustrates this succinctly. The "Top 10 Project" involves Community Intelligence Unit partners targeting the top 10 addresses where rubbish is left lying around. The fire and rescue service carries out an initial fire risk assessment and the wardens then monitor the situation and re-issue warning letters as necessary. If no action is taken the matter is passed to the environmental team to take enforcement action, with further inaction resulting in escalation to the Antisocial Behaviour team to pursue Antisocial Behaviour Orders ( ASBOs).

Training

15.37 Most of the concerns raised in the 12 and 24 month template reports focused on training, something also highlighted in the wardens' survey where 20% of respondents requested on-going training support ⁴⁹.

15.38 For the managers, training was a concern as it was not fully costed in the budgets for the schemes. This was problematic as continuous development was cited by several councils as being the key to ensuring consistency of approach by the wardens. Simply organising training was seen as difficult by some of the rural authorities, as it would mean wardens being away from their posts for at least one day.

• Drug awareness training;
• Dealing with challenging behaviour,
• Disposing of sharps; and
• I.T. training.

As recruitment and retention had been stabilised across the schemes, training was emerging as a greater priority. This may be resolved through the plans for the development of a Scottish Vocational Qualification ( SVQ) for community wardens. Several schemes were participating in its development, with South Lanarkshire leading on this work. This was taking place through the Scottish Wardens network, based on a model adopted in England. In addition a number of authorities had been working in partnership to deliver joint training thereby reducing costs.

Data Collection and Data Systems

15.40 Data collection and data systems had been problematic since the schemes were first set up, although they seemed to be less of an issue in the 24 month monitoring reports. Lack of I.T. infrastructure to co-ordinate, store and retrieve data continued to be an issue in some local authorities, whilst a small number noted difficulties in obtaining data from other departments or agencies, or general difficulties gathering data to monitor progress. These issues had made it difficult to set solid baselines and track progress. However, given the amount of time since the schemes were set up, one would have expected these problems to have been resolved earlier. That they have not, may reflect the limited priority given to monitoring in many schemes.

Sustainability

15.41 Unsurprisingly the lack of clarity about what was to happen after the funding ends in 2008 was a cause of concern for many scheme managers. Making long term plans for the development of the scheme was said to be compromised by the 2008 cut off. In addition, retention of wardens was becoming more difficult and would only get worse the closer schemes got to 2008.

15.42 In terms of sustainability, 27 schemes did not mention any plans for continuing schemes post BSSAC funding in their 24 month monitoring reports. Of those that did, the Scottish Borders submission mentioned plans to look for support for the entire antisocial behaviour initiative from other funders. Stirling also mentioned this. Shetland's submission stated that continuation beyond the 2 years of funding would be decided after evaluation and on the recommendations of the Community Safety Partnership. Aberdeen City stated that it would continue to fund wardens after the 2 years, whilst East Renfrewshire planned to consider mainstreaming wardens once funding finishes.

15.43 Given that so few schemes mention their future funding it may be that, unless the Executive gives continuing support, there will be problems with continuity beyond 2008. Accordingly a timely decision from the Executive on whether wardens will continue to be funded beyond 2008 was something that all managers would welcome.

Displacement

15.44 Views were split on the extent to which displacement was an issue. However, there was some agreement that it was difficult to prove whether any displacement which did exist was due to the presence of the wardens.

15.45 In Perth, the police commented there had been an ongoing issue with youths from Letham travelling over to Scone and causing disturbances. However, this was not seen as displacement as it had been happening before the introduction of wardens. Similar issues were raised in Aberdeen, but were seen as reflecting the historical patterns of movement by youths and were not felt to have been driven by the activities of wardens.

15.46 In Inverclyde, the Broomhill/Overton area lay between 2 wardens' areas. The view was that some displacement had taken place into this area. However, it was difficult to stop this altogether. Again, this was said to have happened before the wardens were introduced when the police focused on a specific area.

15.47 Displacement was also seen as cyclical by some. It was noted that trouble could flair up in an area and then die away as quickly as it had started. This could often be driven by one off incidents or external factors. An example given was relationships between male and female teenagers from different areas. Young males from one area travelling into another to see girls was said to cause territorial issues. This could then lead to an intensive period of conflict between the 2 groups which would then tail off again as soon as the male-female relationships ended.

15.48 Displacement of antisocial behaviour was also said to be limited by territorial factors in places such as South Lanarkshire and Dundee. The gang culture which existed was said to limit the movements of youths to their own area. Fear of confrontation on another gang's "patch" meant that displacement was not a significant issue.

15.49 Interestingly, displacement was also seen as positive by some. One police officer commented that when issues are displaced they are often diluted. It was felt that the more a problem is shifted about, the weaker it gets. This gives local residents a break and the police a better opportunity to control it. It was the view of some that the only way to stop displacement entirely was to have warden schemes cover the whole of the town or city they were based in. However it was recognised that this was costly and impractical.

Relationships with the Scottish Executive

15.50 The evolution of the relationship between the Executive and local authorities delivering the schemes had been an interesting and, at times, challenging process for managers. Comments covered 4 themes:

• Guidance issued by the Executive;
• Monitoring and evaluation;
• Lack of feedback from the Executive; and
• The advice managers would give to the Executive on setting up and running warden schemes.

15.51 There were mixed views on the level of guidance issued by the Executive for setting up the schemes. There was general agreement that the guidance had not been too prescriptive. This gave individual schemes the flexibility to tailor their service to the needs of their own local community. This was welcomed by several scheme managers as they were left alone to develop the scheme with the Executive in the background to provide assistance as, and when, necessary. However, a number of managers were dissatisfied with what they termed the Executive's "hands off" approach to guidance. This sits alongside the wider issue of the Executive transferring the responsibility for antisocial behaviour to local authorities. A minority felt this was done with limited consultation and was imposed at relatively short notice. Indeed one felt that the nationwide publicity campaign on antisocial behaviour launched by the Executive was sending out confusing signals to the public. Feedback they had received suggested that the general public did not know whether to contact the police or the local authority to report cases of antisocial behaviour.

15.52 Discussions on the monitoring and evaluation requirements of the Executive tended to draw less favourable comments. The majority of scheme managers felt there were too many reporting procedures. In addition, a number were still unclear what the Executive was doing with the managers' returns. Reporting to the Executive had, generally, been a fraught process for managers. Submission of reports was seen as a repetitive process with much of the same information being asked for as was provided to the Executive in the local authority's antisocial behaviour outcome agreements. In light of this, there were calls to have the reporting requirements for wardens merged with the wider antisocial behaviour outcome agreements.

15.53 Lack of feedback from the Executive featured prominently in the final discussions with scheme managers. Several noted that they were continually asked for information from the Executive but received little feedback in return. This referred not only to the monitoring and evaluation requirements but also to the information provided to GEN as part of the national evaluation. Several managers expected some feedback from the Executive on how their scheme was performing in relation to others as the 2 year evaluation progressed. There was a degree of dissatisfaction at not getting this.

15.54 Managers were asked, with the benefit of hindsight, what advice they would give to the Executive on setting up and running warden schemes. A number of suggestions were made:-

• The Executive should provide a national template on wardens schemes which would cover things such as:-
• • Pay scales;
  • Shift patterns; and
  • Wardens' duties;
• The Executive should establish a national information sharing scheme that would allow scheme managers to see what was going on in other areas and share good practices ⁵⁰; and
• The Executive should carefully consider the publicity they are producing, relating to antisocial behaviour, as it is creating false expectations in the minds of the public about what local authorities (and by implication the wardens) can achieve.

Conclusions

15.55 This Chapter has identified some of the issues identified by managers and wardens on the development of the schemes to date. The main conclusions are that:-

• Recruitment of staff had been less of an issue in most areas than had retention. This seems to have been a particular issue amongst younger staff who wanted to move to more secure work within the local authority or the emergency services;
• Low turnover rates seemed to be associated with good local management practices. In some areas the strength of the local labour market meant that wardens' posts were not competitive. However, these problems can be overcome by innovative approaches, such as using New Deal;
• Despite this, initial guidance from the Executive on pay, conditions and job descriptions might have resulted in greater staff stability in some areas;
• One of the greatest challenges identified was getting the wardens accepted, by other departments, agencies and the public. This was not helped by such operational problems as the inability to secure a permanent base for some schemes;
• Ensuring that sufficient staff were available to cover holidays and sickness was a challenge, especially for the smaller schemes;
• Despite these issues job satisfaction was high, with the feeling that the wardens were able to make a difference to people's lives being identified as a key factor;
• Negative factors were such things as abuse from members of the community and poor management;
• Views on enforcement powers amongst the wardens were mixed. The general view was that any wholesale move towards giving the wardens powers needed to be considered carefully as it might impact upon relationships with the community;
• The wardens were generally happy with the training they had received, whilst managers were concerned about its cost. The introduction of a formal qualification should see consistent standards applied across Scotland;
• Few schemes had any future funding plans in place. Given this, most managers interviewed felt that without ongoing Executive support the future of their schemes could not be guaranteed;
• Displacement was widely agreed to be difficult to prove. There was recognition, that inevitably, there had to have been some. However, the view was also held that displacement had been going on before the wardens were introduced in response to a range of other interventions; and
• On the whole, relationships with the Scottish Executive were described as good, but there remained a lack of understanding amongst scheme managers on what the Executive expect from them and concern about the demands made for information.

15.56 Overall most of the issues, with the exception of enforcement and future funding, seem to be relatively minor. As such they are probably more a reflection of the development of any new initiative rather than being indicative of fundamental flaws in the management and operations of the warden schemes.

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