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SOUND GOVERNANCE & EFFICIENCY

This section is concerned with how forces manage their resources. Under the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 , forces have a statutory duty to provide Best Value ²⁴.

High Level Objectives:

• Responsive to the different needs and concerns of all communities
• Delivery of Best Value
• Delivery of value for money and efficiency
• Improved consultation and engagement with the public, stakeholders and partner agencies
• Improved communication with the public
• Openness and accountability to the public through audit and inspection agencies
• Effective management of workforce attendance
• Effective management of complaints
• Valued and motivated workforce
• Ensure that members of the workforce are equipped with the necessary skills to perform their roles
• Effective co-operation between Scottish Police Services Authority ( SPSA) and forces
• Demonstration of ethical service delivery
• Improved use of resources

Performance Measures 2007-08

• Outcomes:
  • Value of efficiency savings generated
  • Number of complaints per 100 members of the police force
• Activities:
  • Proportion of working time lost to sickness absence for police officers and police staff
  • Turnover rates for police officers and police staff ²⁵
  • Proportion of salary costs accounted for by overtime
  • Proportion of time vehicles are available for use
• Inputs:
  • Expenditure on salaries, operating costs and capital
  • Staffing profile by disability, ethnicity, gender and length of service
  • Number of police officers and police staff
• Context:
  • Number of Freedom of Information requests

Summary of performance

Multigraph 4 presents a visual summary of some of the main organisational measures in this pillar for 2006-07 and 2007-08. As with the previous multigraphs, brown points falling outside the blue circle show improved performance over time, those inside, declining performance. Two of the six measures - both relating to sickness absence - show improvement. Elsewhere, complaints per 100 members of staff and the proportions of officers and staff leaving the organisation have risen.

Multigraph 4: Sound governance & efficiency performance measures - Scotland

( NB: While most forces have been able to provide data on each of the indicators for the first full year (2007-08) of the Framework, not all could supply equivalent data for 2006-07. This has affected the presentation of statistics as follows:

• where the tables show data for 2007-08 only, all forces that supplied 2007-08 data have been included in the Scotland totals; however,
• because the multigraphs compare performance over the two years, only forces that were able to provide data for both years have been included in the Scotland totals.

As a result, there may be differences between the Scotland totals appearing in the tables and those in the multigraphs.)

OUTCOMES

Value of efficiency savings generated

In line with Scottish Government national indicators and targets, forces have been asked to generate two per cent cash-releasing efficiencies per annum, over each of the three years to 2010-11. This particular measure shows the efficiency savings generated by forces that are either cashable - the same or better output at less financial cost, or non-cashable - achieving better output (quality or quantity) at the same cost. An example of a cashable saving would be releasing a police officer from an administrative role in order to fill a front-line vacancy, and replacing them with a police staff member at a lower salary cost. Many non-cashable savings are accrued through improvements in systems and processes, often involving the use of information technology, e.g. using e-mail instead of faxes.

Table 37

Commentary

The table above shows the cashable and non-cashable savings accrued for 2007-08 only, which represents the final year in the last three-year spending period. Additional figures are unavailable or not easily extracted. Moreover, although separate amounts of savings have been attributed to each of the eight forces, the target is actually a national one for the service as a whole. For these and other related reasons, it is difficult either to comment on the achievement or otherwise of individual forces, or to extrapolate the extent to which the targets have been met by the entire service. This in turn has led us to question the value of the indicator.

Number of complaints per 100 members of the police force

For the purpose of this indicator, a complaint is defined as any complaint made by or on behalf of any person against one or more on duty members of a police force and from which it may be reasonable inferred that any act or omission which was committed or made by any of the individuals concerned amounts to professional or criminal misconduct. This means that only complaints about the conduct of individual members of staff, including police officers, police staff and special constables (part-time volunteer officers who have the same powers as regular police officers) are included.

It is only recently that forces have begun separately to record more general quality of service complaints about force policies, procedures and practices.

Table 38

Annual report on Scottish Policing Performance Framework ( SPPF) 2007-2008

Commentary

In 2007-08 forces received an average 13.3 complaints per 100 members of the force. The table shows that this is equivalent to less than a one per cent increase on the previous year. This is in spite of the fact that some forces mistakenly included their quality of service complaints in the 2007-08 figures. Past data from Audit Scotland confirms that the number of complaints received has gradually increased in recent years.

It is always a matter of concern when members of the public contacting the police are dissatisfied with the service they receive. And yet, it is also important that people have sufficient trust in the organisation to make a complaint and know that they will be dealt with fairly and professionally. We believe it is crucial that in recording complaints, forces can demonstrate a willingness and a commitment to resolving and learning from them. We are therefore pleased that from next year the number of quality of service complaints against forces will be also included as a separate indicator in the Framework.

ACTIVITIES

Proportion of working time lost to sickness absence

This measure, which is also an Accounts Commission statutory indicator, reports the amount of time lost through sickness and injury absence by police officers and police staff. It includes self-certificated absences as well as those supported by a doctor's certificate, or due to long-term sickness or industrial injury. Absences not caused by sickness, e.g. compassionate leave, career leave, special/ unpaid leave, maternity and paternity leave and maternity support, are excluded.

Table 39

Commentary

The average proportion of working time lost to sickness among Scottish police officers has decreased very slightly (-0.2 percentage points) in the latest year, to stand at 4.7%. This halts a previously upward trend, though in recent years the rate has not exceeded 5.0%. A small fall (-0.5 points) for police staff has also brought their rate down, to 5.3%. Here, trends have fluctuated more markedly, though in recent years have not reached 6.0%. While individual force rates may vary, the higher rates found for police staff irrespective of force is a consistent finding across Scotland.

To put these figures in perspective, public sector organisations typically exhibit higher rates of sickness absence than those of the private sector. In the most recent absence survey of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development ( CIPD) ²⁶, the average proportion of working days lost to sickness for the public sector was 4.3%. The highest rates reported were for health service employees (5.1%) and those working in central government (4.8%).

Turnover rates for police officers and police staff

This is a measure of the rate at which staff leave the organisation each year. It does not include temporary and agency staff, staff seconded to posts within central services, staff on career breaks or special constables. Reasons for turnover will vary from full-service retirements, retirements on ill-health to voluntary resignations and dismissals.

Table 40

Commentary

At 4.7%, the 2007-08 turnover rate for police officers has changed little on the previous year. This is in contrast to the rate for police staff, which has nearly doubled over the same period.

It can be difficult to draw conclusions from these figures alone for, as we have said, members of staff may leave for a variety of reasons. We do know that the rates for police staff have been in part affected by the numbers transferring from forces to the newly created Scottish Police Services Authority ( SPSA) ²⁷. In the near future we also expect to see a surge in the loss of experienced staff who are reaching the end of their service as a result of a previous peak in recruitment in the early 1980s.

Proportion of salary costs accounted for by overtime

While all forces aim to minimise levels of overtime, sometimes operational circumstances out with a force's control - such as major incidents or large-scale event - will necessitate additional expenditure on resources.

Police Officers (£000's)

Table 41

Police Staff (£000's)

Table 42

Commentary

While we understand that there are still some differences in the calculations forces use to establish overtime rates, it is clear from these two tables that the percentage of salary costs spent on overtime is higher for police officers (7%) than for police staff (2.9%). This is to be expected, given the differing nature of their roles. Obviously the preferred outcome for future years would naturally be a decline in both proportions. However, this will depend upon the extent to which additional demands are made of forces and their capacity and capability to respond.

Proportion of time vehicles are available for use

This indicator is intended to reflect the efficiency with which forces manage their vehicle fleets. It covers all vehicles used for police work, including demonstrator vehicles, those on sponsorship to a force and off-road vehicles.

Table 43

Commentary

There are good reasons why vehicles may not be available for use that are not about efficiency. For example, they may be being repaired because of damage or mechanical failure, or they might be unavailable through being commissioned or decommissioned. That said, the figures above show that in the last two years availability has not fallen below 96%, either nationally or for individual forces. Such a narrow margin of fluctuation suggests that forces are more or less using their fleets to capacity. However, the indicator is limited in what more it can tell us. For example, it cannot say whether this reflects an efficient response to specific demand or is more of a mix of reactive, proactive or even opportune use of these resources.

INPUTS

Expenditure on salaries, operating costs and capital

The following measures provide details on actual (as opposed to budgeted) force expenditure on salaries, operational costs and capital. The intention is to demonstrate value for money, improved openness and accountability to the public, and better use of resources.

Salaries (£000's)

Table 44

Operating Costs (£000's)

Table 45

Operating Costs (£000's)

Table 46
(Please note that the above figures have been subject to rounding)

Commentary

The information in the three previous tables essentially describes how force expenditure is shared across staff costs, activities and other resources. There are no comparative figures for 2006-07, and so our commentary is restricted to the following bullet points:

• At 21.2% of total expenditure on salaries, forces are now committed to spending more on police officer pensions than they do on police staff salaries.
• Across Scotland, the largest proportion of 2007-08 operating costs was spent on crime (37.1%), followed by support activities (30.9%) and community safety (16.1%).
• In relation to capital costs, the biggest share of expenditure in 2007-08 was used for land and property (41%).
• The data highlights a variance in the way in which forces classify expenditure, and is another of the areas where a commonly agreed and consistent approach must be adopted.

Staffing profile by disability, ethnicity, gender and length of service

The following tables present a profile of members of the police forces in terms of gender, rank, length of service, declared ethnic origin and declared disability.

Special Constables

Table 47

Police officers including additional regular police, officers on central service and officers on CS/Secondments/ SCDE not funded from force budgets

Table 48
(note - WTE means whole time equivalent)

Police Staff including Traffic Wardens and Cadets

Table 49
(note - WTE means whole time equivalent)

Commentary

The Scottish police service is committed to increasing the number of active special constables (part-time volunteers with the same police powers as regular officers). At present, the total stands at 1,394, over a third (36.6%) of whom are female. Although the percentage of female police officers is lower, the 23.4% observed for 2007-08 is a small increase on previous years. Of those police officers who self-reported their ethnicity 1.3% said they belonged to a black or minority ethnic group, while 0.5% of those who responded declared themselves to be disabled. The figures for police staff are 1.2% and 0.9% respectively. Where there are more obvious differences between officers and staff is for length of service. While the highest proportion in both cases was for three to ten years' service, police officers were more likely than police staff to stay beyond 20 years.

Number of police officers and police staff

Policing is a resource-intensive service, its ability to react effectively to the demands placed on it being directly related to its capacity and capability.

Police Officers

Table 50

Police Staff

Table 51

Commentary

These tables provide a 'snapshot' of available resources. In brief, they show a national increase in officers of half a per cent on 2006-07, and a six per cent drop in police staff.

We have already explained that the apparent decrease in police staff numbers is actually due to these members of staff being transferred to the Scottish Police Services Authority. For police officers, the Scottish government's manifesto pledge to increase police officer numbers by 1,000 in the first three years of its administration led to an additional 150 police officers being recruited across Scotland during 2007-08. However, gains will always to some extent be offset by the number of officers leaving.

CONTEXT²⁹

Number of Freedom of Information requests

The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, applies to all public authorities, including police forces, in Scotland. In essence, the legislation holds that: "A person who requests information from a Scottish Public Authority which holds it [is] entitled to be given it by the authority".

Table 52

Commentary

Recording a total of 3,140 requests in 2007-08, Scottish forces have seen a 12% drop on 2006-07. Given that this is the third year that forces have been working with the legislation, a levelling off after the initial surge in requests is not unexpected. That said, the number of questions contained within each requests (one request may contain several questions) has increased significantly in some forces, by 26.4% in Lothian & Borders and as much as 60.6% in Northern. This finding is likely to influence the way in which this context measure is counted in 2008-09.

The final multigraph below summarises the main context indicators. Because they measure demand rather than performance, brown points falling outside the blue circle indicate an increase in numerical value rather than improved performance. Similarly, those falling inside now denote a numerical decrease. While increases are apparent for registered sex offenders and missing persons, most indicators are showing declines in demand.

Multigraph 5: Summary of context indicators for Scotland

( NB: While most forces have been able to provide data on each of the indicators for the first full year (2007-08) of the Framework, not all could supply equivalent data for 2006-07. This has affected the presentation of statistics as follows:

• where the tables show data for 2007-08 only, all forces that supplied 2007-08 data have been included in the Scotland totals; however,
• because the multigraphs compare performance over the two years, only forces that were able to provide data for both years have been included in the Scotland totals.

As a result, there may be differences between the Scotland totals appearing in the tables and those in the multigraphs.)

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