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6. NATIONAL AND FORCE ISSUES

6.1 As part of our revised review inspection process, the force was asked to provide information on a range of issues that have come to prominence nationally or locally since the 2004 review inspection. The findings of this exercise are presented below.

Force response to the Civil Contingencies Act 2004

6.2 The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 is a major piece of legislation that sought to create a single framework for civil protection in the UK. The Act is separated into two parts: local arrangements for civil protection (Part 1) and emergency powers (Part 2). This review inspection focuses on Part 1.

6.3 Part 1 of the Act, supporting regulations and statutory guidance on 'Emergency Preparedness', together clearly set out the roles and responsibilities of those involved in preparing and responding to emergencies at the local level. The Act divides what it terms local responders into two categories, imposing a different set of duties on each. Category 1 consists of organisations that are typically core to most emergency responses ( e.g. emergency services such as the police, local authorities, NHS bodies). These responders are subject to the full set of civil protection duties and are required to do the following:

• assess the risk of emergencies occurring and use this to inform contingency planning;
• put in place emergency plans;
• put in place business continuity management arrangements;
• put in place arrangements to make information available to the public about civil protection matters and maintain arrangements to warn, inform and advise the public in the event of an emergency;
• share information with other local responders to enhance co-ordination;
• co-operate with other local responders to enhance co-ordination and efficiency; and
• advise and assist business and voluntary organisations on business continuity management (local authorities only).

6.4 The force has actively embraced the requirements of this Act. With Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service as the lead agency, the force has worked with other Category 1 responders to draw together a comprehensive community risk register ( CRR). The CRR is published on the Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service website and on the partner-sponsored "Lothian and Border Alert" website referred to below.

6.5 The force has also developed a generic major incident plan that complies with the template approved by ACPOS. To build on this, a number of specific plans have been developed for sites or types of incident where the risk assessment requires these. The Emergency Planning unit, which is located within 'O' Division (operational support), is responsible for maintaining both generic and specific plans. HMIC is content that procedures and monitoring arrangements are in place to make sure that these are regularly maintained.

6.6 The Central Services department leads on business continuity management, and has overseen the development of business continuity plans for the force headquarters, 'O' Division and the Force Communications Centre. HMIC was concerned that plans for territorial divisions were still in the process of being finalised, and would expect the force to make their completion a matter of priority. The present situation is clearly a risk to the operation of the force as well as a failure to comply with the Act. HMIC will maintain an interest in this matter.

6.7 The duty to keep the public informed is another area in which the force is active. Category 1 responders within the force area jointly operate the "Lothian & Borders Alert" emergency management system. This web-based system has two distinct components. One is an incident management system, which acts as a multi-agency task manager and messaging system. The other is a public website, designed to be a one-stop source of information about current incidents, travel disruption or school closures. The force has also made excellent use of the Police Information Technology Organisation ( PITO) portal as a public communication system for sending messages by mobile telephone, land-line and email. In conjunction with "Lothian & Borders Alert", the PITO portal was used to inform people of the cancellation of the 2006 Hogmanay event in Edinburgh. Some 3,000 people had subscribed to the telephone messaging facility. HMIC considers this use of the PITO portal to be good practice.

6.8 The Lothian and Borders area has a formal structure of regular meetings to ensure that information passes freely between multi-agency responders at strategic, tactical and operational levels. The force is fully involved at all levels of this structure. The Strategic Co-ordinating group co-ordinator manages the business of the group, which includes organising meetings, advising the partnership's emergency planning officers and acting as the conduit for communication and information sharing. The co-ordinator also ensures that minutes of meetings are circulated and monitors progress against any minuted actions. An indication of the comprehensive range of topics and issues covered is given by the chart below.

Fig 3: Strategic Co-ordination Structure

6.9 Apart from failing to complete business continuity plans for a substantial number of areas, HMIC is content that the force has adopted a robust and sometimes innovative approach to its duties under the Civil Contingencies Act.

Force approach to the requirement to develop and publish a Gender Equality Scheme

6.10 The Gender Equality Duty, which came into force on 6 April 2007, puts an onus on public sector organisations to promote gender equality and eliminate sex discrimination within the work place. This means that instead of simply reacting to complaints of alleged victims of discrimination all public bodies, including police forces, must work proactively to tackle sex inequality. In 2004 Lothian and Borders Police published a Gender Agenda action plan which, since the advent of the force multi-equality scheme, has been subsumed into its overarching multi-equality scheme action plan. The force believes that this has been instrumental in bringing about positive changes. Tangible, positive outcomes include the introduction of female representatives on promotion panels and on the uniform working group, and the development of positive action courses for women.

6.11 The force acknowledges that there have been criticisms of its 2004 scheme, primarily concerning its exclusive focus on female members of staff. Expanding the multi-equality scheme and existing action plan to include the requirements of the Gender Equality Duty should help to allay these concerns. To prepare for these new duties, the force has set up a gender awareness group. The group is currently considering revisions to the Gender Agenda action plan, and is working with other local public bodies (including councils and the nhs) to co-ordinate action where appropriate.

6.12 HMIC notes the force's intention to advertise the new duty to both internal and external audiences. To this end, members of the force diversity unit have devised a questionnaire that will be distributed to a wide cross-section of the public in order to measure their awareness of the duty. The vice-chair of the Gender Equality group has also contacted the Performance Improvement unit, which is responsible for producing and analysing the force's staff and customer surveys, to ask for its help in identifying any significant findings. Internally, details of the forthcoming Gender Duty can be found on the 'What's New' page of the force Intranet. A 'truths and myths' fact-file is also being developed in poster format and for the Intranet. HMIC is satisfied that the force will meet the 29 June 2007 deadline for implementing its Gender Equality scheme.

Force approach to age discrimination

6.13 The force has set up an internal working group to consider the impact of the new age discrimination laws and to make certain that the force complies with all aspects of the legislation. At the same time the director of Human Resources, through ACPOS, chaired a national review group to ensure that Scottish forces took a nationally consistent approach to age discrimination.

6.14 HMIC notes that the internal force working group was made up of key stakeholders from trade unions and the Federation, representatives from personnel, training, career development, and pensions departments, and the diversity and equal opportunities adviser. A number of staff from the personnel department have since been sent on external training courses to enhance their skills in this area. A review of human resource policies and procedures resulted in the following remedial action being taken:

• changing the holiday entitlement criteria for support staff from ten to five years of service;
• ensuring that the retirement process for both police and support staff is reviewed and updated to reflect the changes, including meetings in person with staff immediately affected by the new legislation;
• altering one of the special priority payments ( SPP) categories criteria from eight to five years of service; and
• amending the redundancy policy to reduce the service age criteria.

6.15 The force has also conducted an advertising campaign, including a poster campaign, to raise internal awareness and understanding of the various aspects of age discrimination. The 'age' section of the diversity intranet site contains no information, however, and we urge the force to rectify this as soon as possible. Nevertheless, we are satisfied that the force is adopting a structured and pragmatic approach to age discrimination.

Force approach to developing processes and measures for business benefits and efficiency savings

6.16 With the emphasis on efficient government, Best Value, continuous improvement and improving services, the police service in Scotland recognises the importance of providing its services in the most effective and efficient way possible. While in the past this has tended to be measured in a very subjective manner, the service now acknowledges the need for a more structured and accountable approach. Lothian and Borders Police has made considerable progress in this area, in a manner that has the potential for considerable positive impact not only on the force but in support of the service as a whole.

6.17 In 2005 the force identified the need for a business change manager and duly appointed a senior police officer to the role. The role has since developed into that of a business change co-ordinator and is now performed by a member of support staff. One of the post's first priorities was to establish a more structured approach to assessing the business benefits that might accrue from standard processes, change projects and existing work. Since attending a benefits realisation course at Cranfield University, the force has worked closely and productively with the university. Output from this partnership has included workshops on benefits management within the force, and a national workshop attended by all Scottish forces, the ACPOS Business Benefits unit and other agencies. Two follow-up sessions to train facilitators are currently being organised for May and June of this year. HMIC commends the force for its lead in establishing a structured approach to benefits management in Scotland.

6.18 At a local level, the force has adopted a Benefits Management strategy and a methodology for completing a Benefits Dependency Network, in order to look critically at possible benefits to be accrued from projects. Nationally, the force supports the ACPOS Business Change Board and takes a similarly active role in the Continuous Improvement sub-group of the ACPOS Performance Management Business Area.

6.19 HMIC is pleased that the force has been so proactive and innovative in this area, and that it is sharing its knowledge and experience to the benefit of the Scottish service as a whole.

Force approach to responding to the outcomes of Her Majesty's Inspectorate for Education joint inspections on Child Protection

6.20 The Scottish Executive-led three-year reform programme of Children's Services 2003-06 included, as key projects, the publication of a Children's Charter and the development of a Framework for Standards. This initiative led to the founding of the Services for Children unit based at Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education ( HMIE) and whose staff includes two seconded HMIC officers. The Children's Charter and Framework for Standards have had major implications for the way in which the police service interacts with children, young people and their families. Nevertheless, it is important that the above projects and the unit's ongoing inspection process are acknowledged in the context of other substantial areas of national work.

6.21 The force's approach, HMIC is pleased to note, clearly takes this into account. It is also well placed to respond to the demands of the inspection process and any issues that might arise from it, containing, as it does, the following elements:-

• establishing a self-evaluation process based on the five quality indicators (drawn from the Framework for Standards);
• developing strategic processes, structures and policies on an external, multi-agency basis; and
• force representation and leadership on Edinburgh, Lothian and Borders Executive Group ( ELBEG) and local Child Protection Committees ( CPCS).

6.22 ELBEG provides an overarching strategy for the force and its partners. This group was in fact in part assembled in order draw up a detailed strategic plan that would enable chief officers to meet the obligations described in the Scottish Executive's national guidance on 'Protecting children and young people: child protection committees (January 2005)'. The strategic plan sets out the framework for developing children's services and improving the protection and detection of children living at risk of abuse and neglect. ELBEG provides the governance, accountability and authority for implementing its vision through its co-ordinating group, which in turn oversees implementation across the agencies.

6.23 Nationally, the force itself leads in a number of important areas relating to child protection. It is also strategically placed to respond to the extended, inter-related 'public protection' agenda covering issues such as domestic abuse, vulnerable adult protection, drug and alcohol abuse and youth justice.

6.24 An important contributor within the force is the child protection forum. This bi-monthly meeting is chaired by the detective superintendent (crime support) and consists of all territorial or specialist operations' detective chief inspectors and detective inspectors, the Edinburgh, Lothian and Borders child protection office executive officer and the detective sergeant, crime policy (child protection). The forum appears to be an excellent arena in which to share knowledge and expertise, spread good practice and maintain clear, strategic direction across the four territorial divisions.

6.25 The force recognises that simply reacting to the findings of inspections is not enough. For this reason it has proactively taken a number steps to improve its approach. These steps include the following:-

• a self-review/inspection of child protection by the force in 2005;
• building on the process of self-inspection, the introduction of regular review and self-inspection meetings on both an internal and multi-agency basis, dealing with the decision-making processes involved in child protection;
• adding child protection to its control strategy to ensure an appropriate focus on and recognition of the importance of the issues;
• compiling a child protection action plan, supporting the force structures and processes by providing a positional statement based on the Scottish Executive document 'Protecting Children and Young People: Framework for Standards';
• focusing on training and developing appropriate training in child protection issues for all staff; and
• putting processes in place to make sure that current and future policies are influenced by the outcomes of the inspection process.

6.26 HMIC is pleased to note the force's commitment to child protection as a whole, and in particular, to preparing for the inspection process. We consider this type of approach to be good practice.

Force approach to the review of marches and parades

6.27 The force is represented at senior level on the ACPOS sub-group that leads on implementing the recommendations of this review. The same person is also responsible for policing the majority of potentially problematic marches and parades in the force area.

6.28 The force's response to the review's recommendations appears to HMIC to be logical and practical, and we are pleased to note that the force has already addressed all but two of these.

6.29 Discussions are continuing, through the sub-group, on the planned training of stewards (recommendation 32) and the policing of onlookers (recommendation 34). The force has proposed that an independent and accredited training scheme for stewards at marches and parades be introduced, similar to that available for door stewards at licensed premises. We support this proposal and would be keen to encourage police input to any such scheme.

6.30 Although the force generally concurs with the principle of holding post-event debriefs, it is not convinced of the value of holding them after every event. It is reluctant to release detailed information on the circumstances of arrests or on offenders, but will put general crime and arrest statistics into the public domain once the events are over.

6.31 Each of the force's divisions has an event planning officer ( EPO). In accordance with the report's recommendation, this person provides a "single gateway" for dealing with the local authority, organisers, local communities and businesses. To provide resilience, each EPO has a deputy. Though the review's recommendations mean an increased workload for each EPO, the force does not see this as being problematic.

6.32 Although there is no formal meeting structure for the force's EPOs, they communicate regularly by e-mail and telephone. HMIC sees value in the EPOs meeting in person to discuss the consequences of the new recommendations, impart good practice, examine problems and share and discuss information and intelligence on a formal basis, and believes the force should give further thought to this.

6.33 While sectarianism is not considered to be a significant issue across the force area, it is seen as a potential problem in West Lothian Division. During the summer a series of parades and marches takes place within the various towns and villages of West Lothian, some of which experience public order incidents that have sectarian connotations or undertones. HMIC notes that the force has had little contact with the Scottish Executive Justice department's sectarian unit, and has since organised a forum to discuss prevention, enforcement and educational matters.

6.34 HMIC recognises the force's overall commitment and progress in addressing the recommendations of the review of marches and parades in Scotland.

Force approach to tackling sectarianism

6.35 The force set up a public order intelligence unit in November 2006. Based in Drylaw police station, the unit comprises one detective sergeant and two detective constables and deals with both public order and football matters. The unit also has one support staff member who administers football banning orders. There is no dedicated analytical support but such work can be carried out by other staff. HMIC was impressed by the enthusiasm and professionalism displayed by the unit head. Although the unit has only been operating for a few months, the work achieved so far suggests that it will become a valuable asset. It would, however, benefit from greater involvement with covert human intelligence sources ( CHIS) in collating and developing public order and football intelligence.

6.36 As mentioned above, sectarianism is not seen as a significant problem for the force. There is no overt religious bigotry between the force area's major football clubs. In fact the main cause for concern at local football matches is more likely to be homophobic behaviour.

6.37 For this reason the force has had limited contact with the Scottish Executive's sectarian unit. Nor is it engaged in any education or prevention projects on sectarianism. However, as stated earlier, HMIC has since established a forum in which to discuss these and related matters.

6.38 The force's policy is to identify sectarianism as a hate crime, and there are clear and robust general orders detailing how such crimes should be investigated. The force's Diversity unit, which sits within the Safer Community unit, monitors all faith and hate crime on a daily basis. It also checks to see that these incidents are recorded properly, and monitors any potential or active critical incident. The unit found no record of a sectarian crime of note having occurred within the force area. HMIC suggests that the Diversity unit may benefit from the support of an analyst in researching its hate and faith crime records in greater depth.

Force approach to ICT convergence

6.39 The force is fully committed to the national ict convergence programme. There is very close liaison with national teams, and members of the force's ict department have been assigned to national projects. The force has also seconded police officers to national teams, including the Platform project, the Information Management project, the National Business Design team and the ACPOS Business Benefits team. At the national level, the deputy chief constable represents the force on the ACPOS Business Change Programme Board.

6.40 The force has developed governance arrangements to oversee business change. In recognition of the impact of change and the cross-cutting nature of many of the projects, a Business Change Programme Board has been set up. This is chaired by the deputy chief constable and attended by assistant chief constables and directors who chair the existing thematic boards. Other attendees include the heads of Information Technology, Finance and Corporate Development and the holder of the newly created business change co-ordinator post.

6.41 The force has reviewed existing work streams and projects being run by the thematic boards. Priority strategic projects have been identified that are now overseen by the Business Change Board. To support these, the business change co-ordinator meets regularly with the project managers of the strategic projects to ensure that any impact on operational policing is minimised. Any issues that cannot be resolved at project board level are referred to the Business Change Board. The business change co-ordinator also represents the force on the National Business Design advisory group.

6.42 There are 12 strategic projects that the force considers to be critical. These are now being tightly controlled to ensure that they remain complementary to the force's ict convergence plans. Difficulties, risks and the current status of these projects are reported to the Business Change Board on a monthly basis. A 'Business Change Board Project Summary' report allows significant issues and risks to be managed on an exception basis. Individually, each of the projects has a project board and project manager who manage their individual projects daily using the force's project management process and with the support and assistance of the programme management office. Full use is made of structured project management methodology and reporting tools. Highlight reports are prepared for individual project boards and thematic boards. A summary report is also prepared for the Business Change Programme Board, highlighting issues and risks that require consideration or intervention as described above.

6.43 HMIC is content that the force is well prepared and making satisfactory progress in this area.

Force approach to the development and use of electronic notebooks

6.44 The force has applied a Systems Thinking approach to its work on electronic notebooks. Systems Thinking requires that business processes are designed from the customer perspective, and aims to increase the value of work being carried out, eliminate wasteful working practices and minimise duplicated effort. This work has followed a structured programme since it began in 2003.

6.45 The main aims of the project are to do the following:

• improve processes;
• reduce duplication of effort;
• reduce time spent by operational police officers on administrative duties;
• increase police visibility / effectiveness;
• make best use of available technology; and
• explore future use of technology.

6.46 Phase III of the project started in October 2005 and is nearing completion. Nearly 260 police officers, including all the force's road policing branch officers, all community patrol officers in the west local policing area of 'A' Division and all officers in the Professional Standards & Complaints and Conduct department are now involved in the project. The following are the main processes around which use of the electronic notebook is being developed:

• crime and vehicle accident recording
• conditional offer/fixed penalty notice procedures
• note and statement taking
• HO/ RT1 forms
• vehicle defects
• sudden deaths
• missing persons
• social work referrals
• domestic incident reports
• incidents on licensed premises
• Scottish Intelligence Database reports.

6.47 The findings of an internal evaluation exercise suggest that there are considerable efficiency savings to be made from using the notebooks. Of particular note is the force's markedly improved performance in issuing conditional offers. Working with staff from the Clerk to the Edinburgh District Council office, the force examined error rates and time taken to issue conditional offers over a single month. Of the 848 offers issued using traditional forms during this time, 36 or 4.2% were returned because they contained errors. Furthermore, the forms took an average of eight days to reach the Clerk of the District Court, but could take up to 29 days. Over the same period, 344 conditional offers were issued using the electronic notebook. Of these, three or 0.9% were returned to officers because of three separate errors, and all reached the Clerk of the Edinburgh District Court on the next business day after being issued.

6.48 The force has also been working with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to trial and develop the use of electronic notebooks in court. The notebook's stringent built-in procedures mean that all information entries are stored and locked, and any changes clearly audited. Because of this, the notebook is accepted at all the summary courts within the force area. Work is currently underway to introduce the electronic notebook into solemn cases. The force has commented positively on the support, help, assistance and advice of both the Crown Office and the Procurator Fiscal, which has undoubtedly contributed to the success of this part of the project.

6.49 The force is currently developing a business case to introduce Phase IV of the project. This phase will equip all 2,500 of the force's operational police staff with an electronic notebook. It will also look at how to achieve the following:

• enhancements to current functionality;
• improvements to the current data transfer model; and
• research and development of a wireless solution.

6.50 The force considers its Mobile Data project the cornerstone of its business case for the future use of mobile data across the Scottish police service. At the time of the inspection the intention was to present this to the ACPOS Business Change Board early in 2007.

6.51 HMIC supports the force's efforts in developing the use of electronic notebooks both locally and nationally. In particular the force must be commended for its success in establishing their use in court. However, the major benefits will come when single, automated data entry to force systems via these electronic notebooks becomes possible. We are in no doubt that there are significant savings to be made as a result of this important and innovative work, and we encourage the force to continue to work with other forces to achieve this.

Force approach to the operation of the Scottish Police Services Authority

6.52 Recognising the complexity of the change management processes associated with setting up the Scottish Police Services Authority, the force sees this area of work as a key strategic project. It has set up a forensic science change management group within its Business Change programme, whose aims are to assist the transfer of forensic science services to the Scottish Police Services Authority and to maintain business continuity over the transitional period. We will take great interest in how such processes are managed over the forthcoming months, not just within Lothian and Borders Police but throughout the service as a whole in Scotland.

Force approach to responding to the recommendations of the Bichard report

6.53 The ACPOS National Bichard working group ( ACPOSNBWG), chaired by the deputy chief constable of Lothian and Borders Police, has been influential in guiding the Scottish response to Bichard. HMIC notes that, as well as participating at the highest national level, the deputy chief constable is also responsible for driving the force response to Bichard.

6.54 As part of this response, the director of Corporate Services is in charge of a force project to implement the ACPOS versions of the Management of Police Information ( MOPI) codes of practice and guidance 2006 and the National Intelligence Model guidance 2005 ( NIM 2). Among the many factors driving this work, the force sees one of the key elements being the need to enhance information management to increase public protection, and in particular, to reduce the risk to children and vulnerable adults from serious crime. An internal review of information management made a number of recommendations which the executive policy group has agreed should be implemented:

• allocating executive ownership of information management to the deputy chief constable;
• adopting a "centre of excellence" approach and creating an information management business area within Corporate Development ('M' Division) by merging elements of audit, inspection and compliance monitoring capability from 'M' and 'N' Divisions;
• bringing the data protection and freedom of information functions together with the Crime Registrar and Policy Branch;
• assigning the role of force information officer to a senior post-holder in Corporate Development, to oversee information management on a daily basis on behalf of the deputy chief constable.

6.55 HMIC notes the high priority the force has given to information management administration and will follow with interest how this work progresses.

6.56 Lothian and Borders Police has appointed an officer to lead on matters relating to Bichard within the force. One of this officer's duties is to make sure that the work developed through the ACPOSNBWG is reflected locally. An example of this is the force's pilot of the impact Nominal Index ( INI) on behalf of the Scottish service. The lead officer also liaises with those involved in the major work streams of the ACPOSNBWG. He/she has helped to develop ACPOS guidance and the associated training strategy for the Management of Police Information, as well as the policy and standard operating procedures for the INI, and has been involved in assessments of the impact and costs to ACPOS of the proposed Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Bill.

6.57 The force is also active at various levels in the arena of public protection. Locally, for example, it takes part in the 'Under 16 Sexual Activity Group', a local multi-agency group covering Edinburgh and the Lothians. Nationally, it represents ACPOS on the Scottish Executive short life working group on Reporting and Handling of Disclosures of Underage Sexual Activity. It is also developing a child protection action plan based on the Framework of Standards. HMIC is satisfied that the force is well sighted on protection issues affecting both children and vulnerable adults, and we will watch with interest how it develops its response to the Bichard agenda.

Force approach to human trafficking

6.58 In recognition of the seriousness of the problem of human trafficking, the force has included organised immigration crime within its current strategic assessment and intelligence requirement. It has adopted a victim-focused approach to this area and is in the process of signing a 'victim support protocol' working in conjunction with key partners and stakeholders. Following Operation Reflex, a national multi-agency funded operation tackling organised immigration crime, the force has maintained an albeit reduced intelligence resource to focus on people trafficking and human smuggling. Though aware of the link between drugs and human trafficking, the force acknowledges its current gap in intelligence on specific human trafficking issues and associated links to organised crime including the drug and sex industry. In the UK, the link between organised crime and human trafficking was highlighted by the tragic deaths of the 58 Chinese nationals at Dover in 2000. In response, significant partnerships have been established not only to disrupt the criminal networks and their financially lucrative operations, but also to alleviate the misery of their vulnerable victims.

6.59 Their key tasks include the following:

• identifying and disrupting organised immigration crime involving one or more designated nationalities;
• identifying and disrupting organised trafficking in women and children, to and via the UK, for sexual or other exploitation;
• supporting improvements to systems and procedures designed to prevent people smuggling and human trafficking to the UK, within the UK, EU, at designated key nexus points and source countries;
• identifying and disrupting organised immigration crime affecting national security, including private and public sector corruption; and
• supporting partner agencies in preventing systematic abuses of immigration rules and processes.

6.60 Organised immigration crime includes various areas of activity, as follows:

• people smuggling and organised facilitation of illegal immigration;
• trafficking in human beings ( THB);
• vice and prostitution;
• document fraud and passport factories;
• child exploitation; and
• money laundering.

6.61 HMIC is aware of the force's plans to conduct meetings in person and at various levels with colleagues from the Serious and Organised Crime Agency ( SOCA), the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency ( SCDEA), the Metropolitan Police Service's Serious Crime Directorate, the UK Immigration Service and the UK Human Trafficking Centre ( UKHTC), in order to share and learn from good practice and address the current intelligence gap.

Force approach to the Independent Custody Visitor Scheme

6.62 The Lothian and Borders Independent Custody Visitor scheme has been running since February 2002. It is administered by the Clerk to the Police Board in liaison with a designated senior police officer, and complies with the national Independent Custody Visiting Association Training manual ( www.icva.org.uk).

6.63 As well as regularly inspecting custody holding areas, to which 142 such visits were made between during 2005-06, visitors have a bi-monthly opportunity to meet with the designated senior police liaison officer. A representative of the Joint Police Board often attends these meetings too. HMIC is particularly pleased to note support for the scheme from the most senior levels of the force, and observed that the deputy chief constable recently addressed one of the bi-monthly meetings.

6.64 HMIC is satisfied that any issues raised by custody visitors have been promptly acted on, and notes that the force provides regular training inputs for lay visitors. The designated senior police liaison officer also makes sure that any pertinent issues are discussed through either the force custody focus group or the force Criminal Justice steering committee, or informally with local divisional managers.

6.65 The role of independent custody visitors is well documented, in force General Orders, the force Procedures manual and the Prisoner Security and Welfare manual. Moreover, all force custody centre staff are fully conversant with the role and value of the scheme. We are pleased to note the force's approach this area and we commend in particular the visible support of the force executive.

Force approach to dealing with anti-social behaviour

6.66 The force is involved in a wide range of anti-social behaviour ( ASB) initiatives with partner agencies and stakeholders, whose active participation it clearly values. Each division has specialist staff co-located with local authority staff to deal specifically with anti-social behaviour. In the city, an inspector, three sergeants and a number of constables from 'A' Division are being placed in council premises in order to co-ordinate and drive ASB projects. There are also 72 local authority-funded police posts in 'A' Division aimed at tackling ASB and youth crime. HMIC hopes to see a formal evaluation of the impact of these officers in the near future.

6.67 We are reassured by the force's appreciation of the need for long-term partnership strategies to provide resilient and permanent solutions to ASB; legislation is only one of many tools available. The integration of NIM into various force business structures signals the extent of the force's collaboration and engagement with partners. A NIM tasking meeting, involving partners from health, education, housing, social services and chaired by the local authority representative, sits to discuss and provide solutions to local ( NIM Level 1) issues.

6.68 Examples of force activities revealed a wide use of ASB legislation, including dispersal and closure orders, post-sentence ASB orders (Crasbos), in addition to a motor vehicle project tackling the anti-social behaviour of drivers.

6.69 In the Borders, an ASB analyst produces problem profiles and charts hot spot areas from information received from police and partners including fire, health, housing and the local authority ASB manager. This approach is considered good practice. Furthermore, force satisfaction surveys throughout the force area suggest that the community is both aware and appreciative of the force's ASB policing operations.

6.70 The Community and Police Partnership ( CAPP) project is an innovative initiative designed to tackle local problems. A panel of partners, chaired by the local councillor, is responsible for coming up with solutions to problems identified through the NIM process. By including the head boy or girl from the local school on the panel, local youth issues can also be captured. Through this pilot, the CAPP panel has collated a wealth of community intelligence and has developed solutions to various local problems. The CAPP structure will be rolled out throughout the force from April 2007.

6.71 HMIC is pleased to note particular strengths in the force's approach to anti-social behaviour.

Force approach to ensuring that its estate remains fit for purpose

6.72 The force has a clear understanding of the many interdependencies that flow from the management of its estate. These are proactively managed and underpinned by a series of policies and strategies. The Infrastructure strategy sets out the strategic context in which infrastructure assets, including buildings, radio masts and land, are managed. In the context of corporate objectives and planning processes, the strategy also meets the commitment to establish an integrated asset management and investment planning system. This system defines the capital objectives to support service delivery and achieve targets.

6.73 The force also has a comprehensive Asset Management plan ( AMP) for its property. The plan takes a high-level view of the property estate as a whole and sets out to consolidate the prime aspects of property management into one document. The principle objectives relating to land and property are as follows:

• minimising cost in use;
• optimising the use of land and buildings;
• generating capital receipts where applicable;
• maximising return on investments;
• managing properties in the most economic and effective manner;
• ensuring that properties are appropriate for delivering the force's services and objectives;
• ensuring accessibility to all; and
• ensuring that end-users recognise the opportunity costs of property.

6.74 The force also has a comprehensive Property strategy, which states that all properties within the estate should be individually examined or reviewed on a regular basis. The Property strategy also considers procurement options for properties where these are needed. On a day-to-day basis, however, the force's Property Maintenance policy looks after its 60 properties and 14 radio sites.

6.75 The force's Environmental strategy aims to integrate sustainability into the force's strategies. As a result, the force has recently issued its own Guide to Sustainability in Construction Projects. The guide sets out how the force can procure and deliver construction projects that best promote sustainable development while still achieving value for money.

6.76 The force proactively pursues opportunities to improve its estate. This may mean replacing properties before they need to be replaced, as is the case for the 'Centres for Excellence for Justice' in Livingston. The Livingston project was seen as an opportunity to bring together different justice agencies to deliver improved and integrated services to the community, victims, witnesses, suspects and offenders of West Lothian and Peeblesshire. Representatives from all agencies have been involved in every aspect of the project, from influencing the design layout and furnishings of the Centres to finding new ways in which partnership working can improve services and reduce crime.

6.77 The force is aware that its Headquarters needs to be replaced and has outlined a business case to this effect. Discussions in force and with the Police Board revealed that the cost of providing a new headquarters could have a major adverse impact on other police services. Given the imminence of the next major Spending Review (autumn 2007), national and local elections and possible changes to the make up of the Police Board, a decision has been delayed until after the results of the Spending Review are known.

6.78 HMIC believes that the force has approached the management of its estate in a structured manner that reflects well on its professionalism.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary
October 2007

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