A REPORT BY HM INSPECTORATE OF CONSTABULARY
SECOND YEAR REVIEW OF SCOTTISH CRIMINAL RECORD OFFICE PRIMARY INSPECTION OF 2000
CHAPTER THREE : RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE 2000 PRIMARY INSPECTION
Recommendation 1 - HMIC recommends that the SCRO Executive Committee determine arrangements to ensure that the Director, Deputy Director and other senior staff of SCRO are subject to an annual performance review. (Paragraph 2.9)
SCRO Position
The Deputy Director and all other senior staff of SCRO are subject to annual performance reviews in line with SCRO policy. Performance reviews for all seconded police officers are carried out in accordance with their respective force procedures and relevant documentation is forwarded to the force personnel departments. All force support officers attached to SCRO are direct employees of Strathclyde Joint Police Board and their annual personal development reviews are in line with that of the Strathclyde Police Personnel Department, on behalf of the Board.
The annual performance review of the Director remains the responsibility of the incumbent's police force. At this time, this is considered adequate, until addressed by the review of common police services.
The Director now reports to the Chairperson of the SCRO Executive Committee and not, as previously, to the Strathclyde Police, Assistant Chief Constable (Crime) on a day-to-day basis. However, this has not adversely impacted on the ability of the ACC (Crime) to carry out the necessary review and assessment of the Director, as the officers frequently meet and interact at a variety of forums.
These arrangements are to be placed before the SCRO Executive Committee of 12 December 2001 for consideration.
HMIC Comments
HMIC notes that staff appraisals in respect of all seconded staff are carried out in accordance with their respective force procedures and that this arrangement continues to apply in respect of the Director. HMIC will revisit this recommendation at the next review inspection.
Recommendation 2 - HMIC recommends that the Director of SCRO's scheme of delegation be considered as part of the re-positioning of SCRO within a new Common Police Services arrangement. (Paragraph 2.9)
SCRO Position
A draft Scheme of Delegation is being prepared for presentation to the SCRO Executive Committee at their meeting on 12 December 2001.
In order to initially develop the HMIC recommendation, the Director of SCRO has been given direct access to the Strathclyde Joint Police Board in relation to all personnel and discipline matters, a function that was previously carried out by the Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police, on behalf of the SCRO Executive Committee.
The Director's role and responsibility as regards recruitment is now more influential, thereby reflecting the enhanced corporate identity of SCRO and the level of independence of the organisation.
The Scheme of Delegation will also form part of the review of common police services in due course.
HMIC Comments
HMIC notes that a draft scheme of delegation has been prepared and notes the progress made in terms of personnel matters. Following the formalising of the draft scheme of delegation HMIC will revisit this recommendation at the next review inspection.
Recommendation 3 - HMIC recommends that the issues identified within the Corporate Plan are supported by detailed action plans, with SMART objectives, specific to these issues and designed to achieve the desired outcomes. (Paragraph 3.3)
SCRO Position
All of the Issues within the Corporate Plan are divided into modular actions, the delivery of which has been attributed to a nominated co-ordinator. The co-ordinating person or group has ownership of the relevant action and is responsible for the underlying action plans.
Action plans, in the form of project management charts, have now been fully developed by the co-ordinating individual or group, detailing the specific activities required to complete the required actions.
An electronic activity monitoring system, relating to these actions, has been established within the SCRO computerised network and these are updated with activities undertaken and validated on a regular basis. This system can be accessed and updated by all relevant SCRO staff.
HMIC Comments
HMIC considers this recommendation to be discharged.
Recommendation 4 - HMIC recommends that outcome performance measures be developed for each of the Bureaux to reflect activities within the Corporate Plan, the statements of intent and planning statements published in the Annual Report.
(Paragraph 3.3)
SCRO Position
Individual Bureau objectives, linked to the corporate issues, are set for each year and are detailed in the annual report. The objectives are supported by detailed action plans, again linked to activity monitoring sheets which are available to relevant staff.
Outcome performance measures are currently being developed for each of the action plans. These outcome performance measures will be monitored on a regular basis as part of the objective achievement assessment.
HMIC Comments
HMIC recognises that outcome performance measures are currently being developed, welcomes the progress made in this area and will revisit this recommendation at the next review inspection.
Recommendation 5 - HMIC recommends that where possible benchmarking of processes be employed to gauge effectiveness and secure Best Value. (Paragraph 3.4)
SCRO Position
Benchmarking is being carried out where applicable and possible. For example, in respect of the IT Bureau, the design of the replacement PNC Interface has been discussed with PNC and SPIS to ensure the development is in accordance with the philosophy of both organisations. Various statistics are maintained regarding the performance of the SCRO systems. Due to the nature of the SCRO systems, the only comparable type of system for which statistics are available is PNC and these are reviewed on a regular basis. Comparison of the appropriate statistics for the two systems indicates that SCRO is performing well.
Within the Fingerprint Bureau, benchmarking is carried out at several levels. This ranges from the macro perspective of a 'lessons learned' exercise being carried out regarding the England & Wales police forces move to the non-numeric standard to the detailed work by the 8 Scottish forces working group benchmarking the existing bureaux procedures in generating the Scottish fingerprint procedure manual. Currently, the office management system being installed in the fingerprint bureau at SCRO is being expanded across the other fingerprint bureaux in Scotland to provide national statistics that will allow benchmark comparisons of caseload, resources and timing.
A decision was made to exclude the User Support Bureau (USB) from such benchmarking due to the implementation of new procedures in terms of Part V of the Police Act 1997. Benchmarking of processes within USB, at this time, was not deemed to be best value. It should be noted that at the time of the HMIC's report, the implementation date for Part V was imminent and any changes to processes within USB, following a potentially lengthy benchmarking exercise, could well have been superseded within a short space of time.
HMIC Comments
HMIC notes the benchmarking work that has been undertaken and the reasons why similar work has not, as yet, been progressed within the User Support Bureau. This recommendation is considered discharged but progress will be assessed at the next Primary Inspection.
Recommendation 6 - HMIC recommends that SCRO develop an absence management policy detailing the effects employee absence has on SCRO, the function of return to work interviews, the consequences to the member of staff of repeated absence and put in place robust absence management monitoring arrangements. (Paragraph 4.13)
SCRO Position
SCRO have adopted the absence management policy of Strathclyde Police for all force support staff and those police officers seconded from Strathclyde Police. Other police officers are subject to their own forces' absence management policy.
SCRO has introduced a computerised personnel system which includes an absence management facility. This will allow SCRO to conduct a closer and more detailed examination of sickness trends and remedial action taken by supervisors. A personnel officer has also been appointed whose duties include the monitoring of sickness trends and comparing these to the targets set.
All sickness reports for Strathclyde Joint Police Board staff follow the correct procedure through Strathclyde Police to their Health and Welfare Unit. This facilitates the provision of support and advice to the employee whereby appropriate action can be implemented.
HMIC Comments
It is noted that a computerised personnel system is now in place and a personnel officer appointed with a responsibility for sickness monitoring. HMIC will review the outcome of these measures as they impact upon the areas highlighted in this recommendation at the next review inspection.
Recommendation 7 - HMIC recommends that the Financial Memorandum be completed and ratified as soon as possible. (Paragraph 5.14)
SCRO Position
A draft memorandum has been drawn up and is presently with the Justice Department - Police Division of the Scottish Executive (SE) for consideration and development. The memorandum has only recently been commented upon by the SE Office of the Solicitors and is now in the process of awaiting a decision from the Audit Unit with regard to their responsibilities outlined in the document. It is anticipated that the memorandum will be available as an approved document early in 2002.
HMIC Comments
It is recognised that progress in this area is influenced by external parties. HMIC will revisit this recommendation at the next review inspection.
Recommendation 8 - HMIC recommends that SCRO in conjunction with the Scottish Executive review the account structure within the corporate accounting system in order to facilitate the direct extraction of meaningful monitoring information from the Scottish Office Accounting Package (SCOAP). (Paragraph 5.16)
SCRO Position
Following the HMIC report, all recommendations in relation to financial and accounting matters were raised and discussed with Scottish Executive (SE), Justice Department – Police Division. This particular issue remains with the SE for a decision.
However, it is understood that the SE will be moving to a new accounting system in the near future known as Scottish Executive Account System (SEAS) and this will replace the existing SCOAP system. In addition, the likely review of the structure and delivery of common police services as a whole will impact on any decision to alter the present accounting processes between the SE and SCRO.
It may, therefore, be considered inappropriate by the SE to enforce changes at this time to the accounts system which is operating effectively at present with SCRO. Any changes to the accounts processes may be superseded, in the short term, in relation to proposals for the overall budget system for the common police services.
However, the SE have confirmed that this issue will be further evaluated and monitored.
HMIC Comments
As per recommendation 7.
Recommendation 9 - HMIC recommends that another support staff member within SCRO is identified and trained as cover to maintain financial records in the absence of the designated post holder. (Paragraph 5.17)
SCRO Position
A finance officer has been seconded to SCRO as part of the Part V project and when the period of secondment has been completed, it is intended to employ a full time finance officer with responsibility for financial systems and information within SCRO. In addition, a second member of clerical staff has been trained in the essentials of maintaining the financial records.
HMIC Comments
This recommendation is discharged.
Recommendation 10 - HMIC recommends that SCRO investigate, in conjunction with Justice Department Police Division, the resource and technical requirements to enable direct payment of creditors. (Paragraph 5.20)
SCRO Position
As with recommendation 8, this is still under consideration by the Scottish Executive and is being examined with the prospective review of common police services in mind.
HMIC Comments
As per recommendation 7.
Recommendation 11 - HMIC recommends that a framework be established which identifies the nature and level of delegated responsibility for expenditure within SCRO.
(Paragraph 5.21)
SCRO Position
A devolved system of delegated responsibility in relation to budget was put in place in 1998/99 but was not thought to improve efficiency or reduce costs. This was, in particular, due to heavy demands within the fingerprint bureau, during a period of considerable change. This trend still continues and tends to consume any cost savings elsewhere in SCRO.
Central budgetary control by the Deputy Director was, therefore, re-introduced and this is considered by SCRO senior management to be the appropriate method, at this time, of ensuring best value within the organisation as a whole. However, bureau heads are able to communicate their requirements to the Deputy Director and these can be debated on a corporate basis, when necessary, at the regular SCRO management meeting.
It should be noted that, within the budget submission by SCRO for 2001/2002 financial year, the costs of the establishment of the Scottish Fingerprint Service have been defined separately within the totality of the SCRO budget.
It is recognised that this issue will be re-visited when the full time SCRO finance officer is in place. The finance officer will be required to fully examine the overall budgetary structure and to formalise the arrangements in relation to delegated responsibility. A framework document will be constituted within SCRO which determines levels of authority in respect of expenditure.
HMIC Comments
It is noted that the issue of devolved budgeting will be revisited when a full time finance officer is appointed and progress will be noted at the next review inspection.
Recommendation 12 - HMIC recommends that the cost centre structure within SCOAP be revised to enable the direct identification of costs at bureau level. (Paragraph 5.22)
SCRO Position
As with recommendations 8 and 10, this is still being examined and considered in conjunction with the Scottish Executive. Should the Executive decide to revise the cost centre structure at this time, SCRO will provide the necessary account codes to enable direct identification of costs at bureau level.
HMIC Comments
As per recommendation 7.
Recommendation 13 - HMIC recommends that a service level agreement be established between SCRO and Strathclyde Joint Police Board detailing the services to be provided, the costs of such services, the monitoring arrangements and payment mechanisms and that such an agreement should be subject to regular review. (Paragraph 5.23)
SCRO Position
An initiative is currently ongoing within SCRO to identify, research and evaluate all services provided by Strathclyde Police. When this part of the process has been completed, a report will be compiled for full discussion with Strathclyde Police which will be assessed by their finance section in relation to the costs of the services being provided. The ultimate aim of the exercise is to reach a consensus and to establish a formal service level agreement with the Strathclyde Joint Police Board detailing the services to be provided, the costs involved, monitoring arrangements, payment mechanisms and review procedures.
As an initial step, a draft document detailing the personnel and recruitment protocols has been drawn up by SCRO and discussed with Strathclyde Police Personnel Department. Strathclyde Police are presently considering the content of the report with a view to agreeing the strategy contained therein.
HMIC Comments
Progress in this area is noted and will be reviewed at the next review inspection.
Recommendation 14 - HMIC recommends that a bank account be established consistent with the procedures operated within the Scottish Executive for the operation of local bank accounts and that all receipts and payments be accounted for in accordance with Government Accounting. (Paragraph 5.24)
SCRO Position
At present, a bank account is being operated in the name of SCRO via Strathclyde Police. This gives SCRO the necessary flexibility and availability of funds to pay for imprest type claims. Should the Scottish Executive decide that a local bank account for SCRO is appropriate, this will replace the existing one.
HMIC Comments
HMIC notes that SCRO have placed the onus for change in terms of this recommendation with the Scottish Executive. The position will be reviewed at the next review inspection.
Recommendation 15 - HMIC recommends that ACPOS in conjunction with SCRO take action to maximise the crime prevention and detection potential of the Criminal History System.
(Paragraph 6.7)
SCRO Position
In order to maximise the usage and effectiveness of the criminal history system (CHS), the following activities have been undertaken in consultation with the Scottish police forces.
GENERAL AWARENESS
Scottish Police College
Continuous Development Programme
SCRO participates in the above programme and provides an annual seminar 'Using Technology to Tackle Crime'. This seminar is targeted at specific audiences of a supervisory capacity to try and ensure full awareness of the various facilities afforded by SCRO and to maximise their use for the detection and prevention of crime. The targeting of supervisory ranks is designed to ensure that the information is cascaded appropriately at force level.
Probationer Training / Initial Detective Training
Inputs are provided to the above courses with the emphasis placed on the crime investigation aspect of the various facilities contained within the CHS.
Force Level
Inputs are currently provided to Strathclyde Police Trainee Detective Courses. In addition, all forces have been informed that SCRO will provide awareness training at force level. At this time, Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary has taken up this offer and dates are currently being arranged. Northern Constabulary has declared a similar interest and steps are being taken to progress this.
LIAISON
Changes, as they affect the CHS are circulated directly to each force's liaison officer. The collective liaison forum meets quarterly to discuss all SCRO issues. Two representatives of the liaison officers' forum were invited to directly represent the interests of the forces in this area. This offer was accepted and the representatives now have an active role within the SCRO Force Change Request Group. Consequently, forces are afforded a greater appreciation of the changes and procedures that are made to the CHS.
Further, SCRO has actively pursued communication with ACPOS and has provided inputs to meetings and seminars including the ACPOS Community Safety Sub-Committee and the ACPOS Racial Diversity Strategic Review Team regarding all aspects of the recording of racially motivated crime as it affects the CHS. In addition, SCRO now has membership of the working group relative to the above review team which is examining ethnic appearance categorisation.
SCRO continues to take full cognisance of developments as they affect policing and the impact they may have to the SCRO service provision. The recent seminar at the Scottish Police College on asylum seekers resulted in an appreciation of the need for further developments in relation to the recording of information pertaining to both the offenders and victims in relation to asylum seekers. To this end, dialogue has been entered into with the Strathclyde Police asylum seeker liaison officer, with a view to obtaining specific requirements to further enhance the capacity of recording accurate information relative to this group.
ENHANCEMENTS
SCRO has for some time recognised the importance of being able to fully record and reflect the detail associated with the commission of racially motivated crime and it was appreciated that development and improvement was required in this area. This has been addressed by the provision of specific keywords. The HMIC report, 'Without Prejudice' further highlighted and reinforced the need for SCRO and ACPOS to liaise to ensure the effective recording of relative information pertaining to racially motivated crimes and offences. As a direct response, SCRO communicated with all Scottish Chief Constables to offer any assistance to achieve compliance.
SCRO has also increased the range of available MO keywords for use with the detailing of racially motivated crimes. This in turn will further enhance the recording of such crimes and thereby increase the potential for crime detection and prevention. In addition, the development of the Integration of the Criminal Justice Information Systems (ISCJIS) programme, has allowed for 'aggravators' to be appended to any case that is deemed, at any stage, of the criminal justice process, to contain a racist element. When all of the Scottish forces are fully ISCJIS compliant, the facility which currently exists to provide relevant information on racially aggravated crimes will be fully realised.
CHS RECORDING AND WEEDING POLICY
ACPOS has directed SCRO to review the current recording and weeding policy of the CHS. A working group of SCRO and force representatives has actively pursued this request and it is anticipated that a draft report will be submitted to the SCRO Management Committee in November 2001.
However, due to the requirements of the ISCJIS Programme and with ACPOS approval, one of the report's recommendations was fast tracked and given an early implementation. This change relates to the requirement to initially record all detected crimes and offences and, as a direct consequence, the number of records contained within the database has significantly increased. The benefit of this change also extends to the ability to retain and proactively utilise the associated DNA, fingerprint, photograph and descriptive elements of offenders.
DISCLOSURE
The increase in the number of records held on the CHS has an influence on the volume and content of disclosures made, not only by SCRO but also locally by individual forces. It will also have a direct bearing on the information supplied in terms of Part V of the Police Act 1997 by providing increased and more meaningful disclosure information, thereby enhancing the protection afforded to the young and vulnerable in our society.
HMIC Comments
HMIC recognises the amount of effort that has gone into this area and considers the recommendation discharged.
Recommendation 16 - HMIC recommends that ACPOS and SCRO (and where appropriate the Police National Computer (PNC)) further develop standards, measures and management information in order to secure maximum efficiency of the Criminal History System. (Paragraph 6.11)
SCRO Position
Research has been carried out to provide various statistics regarding the data on SCRO. This addresses a number of areas, including the length of time for data to be input and the completeness of data, e.g. to enable speculative searching to be meaningful and useful etc. The transfer of data to PNC is also monitored from an error rate perspective and to ensure that as much data as possible is transferred under the present arrangements. The whole subject of access to SCRO data by users outwith Scotland is being reviewed.
SCRO, having taken cognisance of the comments made by the HMIC following the review of December 2000 and those recommendations contained within the review of the Scottish Police Record Offices, is seeking to develop a national, centralised training facility relative to the use of the CHS. A request was forwarded to ACPOS Personnel and Training for consideration and currently remains within that forum.
SCRO recognises and accepts the need for a data standard manual with an appropriate change request structure. It is appreciated that, if the above development is approved by ACPOS, this manual will be initiated. This will ensure a standardised approach to the training of users and the recording of information.
Recent developments concerning PNC data quality has focussed attention on data quality in general and SCRO is now playing a pivotal role in the pursuance of accuracy, as it affects both the CHS and PNC databases. Active dialogue and a monitoring procedure are in place to assist in this strategy. The ACPOS TARC representative has established the requisite timescales to ensure compliance for the considerations of the Information Commissioner. However, such compliance has a direct benefit to the SCRO CHS.
SCRO is committed to ensuring that data quality is at the core of service provision. This will take cognisance of the standard of input relative to the quality, sufficiency and timeliness of information recorded on the CHS. Particular emphasis will be placed on key dates, modus operandi and descriptions. This will enable more meaningful management information to be provided for SCRO and forces.
HMIC Comments
HMIC recognises the progress made and considers this recommendation discharged.
Recommendation 17 - HMIC recommends that SCRO review and define their IT security policies to ensure that they encompass the requirements of the ISCJIS Data Protection & Security Baseline Security Requirements. (Paragraph 6.16)
SCRO Position
An SCRO information and security data protection handbook has been published and issued to all staff. An information security / data protection officer has been appointed and is reviewing existing documentation.
The required documentation and procedures are being produced for PNN2 extranet connection which includes an information security policy for SCRO. The SCRO information security policy will fully encompass the ISCJIS Data Protection & Security Baseline Security Requirements.
HMIC Comments
HMIC considers this recommendation to be discharged.
SUGGESTIONS OF THE 2000 PRIMARY INSPECTION
No 1 – HMIC suggests that SCRO develop and implement regular customer satisfaction surveys at the earliest opportunity (paragraph 3.7).
SCRO Position
In general terms, it is recognised by SCRO senior management that regular customer satisfaction surveys would be advantageous to the organisation by potentially improving the quality of service provision and enabling further good practice measures to be put in place. However, it is also acknowledged that the in house resources are not presently available to permit proper development and evaluation of such surveys. Consideration is, therefore, being given to possible use of external consultancy to initiate and evaluate customer satisfaction surveys provided this is consistent with the concept of best value.
As an interim measure, a customer satisfaction pro-forma was recently included in a section of the distribution list for the SCRO annual report. This will inform management in relation to the content and presentation of the report which will provide customer indicators of possible areas of improvement.
Further, within the fingerprint bureau and driven by the change in ISO certification from ISO 9002 to ISO 2000, a programme of customer satisfaction surveys is being developed and implemented. With the planned roll out of ISO certification to the IT bureau, similar measures will be developed.
HMIC Comments
HMIC recognises the positive action that has been taken and the consideration that is being given to the use of external consultancy and will review progress at the next review inspection.
No 2 – HMIC suggests that careful consideration is given to establishing a new date for the implementation of Part V of the Police Act 1997, given the work that remains to be done. Linking the start date with that of the parallel organisation in England and Wales remains a sensible approach, even if that means delaying the start date of the Scottish operation (paragraph 5.13).
SCRO Position
Following the visit by HMIC, the Project Team undertook a full evaluation of the project requirements. It was recognised that it was more important to deliver a secure and effective service, rather than working towards an unrealistic implementation date. Further, it was announced that the parallel service for England and Wales would not be introduced until January 2002.
Therefore, it was decided to delay implementation in Scotland until 1 January 2002 which would allow for full and proper testing of the systems.
More recently, Home Office Ministers have announced a further delay to the project south of the border. Scottish Ministers have taken the view that the Scottish project should similarly be deferred until April 2002 so as to align it with the start date for England and Wales.
HMIC Comments
HMIC considers this suggestion to be discharged.
No 3 – HMIC suggests that User Support Bureau personnel and all other staff be kept fully informed of likely changes to their employment status as a result of the implementation of Part V of the Police Act 1997 (paragraph 6.10).
SCRO Position
All User Support Bureau staff were given the opportunity to attend presentations on the new Part V arrangements and the likely implications for them, particularly in relation to their employment status. A trade union (Unison) representative attended the presentations which followed consultation with Strathclyde Police Personnel Department.
An information booklet which explains more about the Part V disclosure processes has been issued to User Support Bureau staff. Copies are also available for other SCRO staff. In addition, further developments will be communicated to staff in the SCRO newsletter ('Quay News'), which has recently been introduced. A Part V website is also being developed.
HMIC Comments
HMIC considers this suggestion to be discharged.
No 4 – HMIC suggests that the IT Bureau make greater use of project management methodology (shortened versions where appropriate) (paragraph 6.17).
SCRO Position
Project plans have been/are being developed for the activities of the bureau. These plans show the main areas of activity and link in with the corporate plan and the bureau objectives. Project management software has been provided to the head of bureau and the two managers.
HMIC Comments
HMIC considers this suggestion to be discharged.
No 5 – HMIC suggests that the IT Bureau implement a process to record and analyse the time devoted by personnel to work activities (paragraph 6.17).
SCRO Position
Methods of implementing this are being investigated along with the definition of objectives. It is considered that the information recorded will identify both the main areas which are being worked on, e.g. Criminal History System, PNC Interface, ISCJIS, DVLA, Prison Service link etc. and the type of effort being expended including maintenance, fault resolution, monitoring and development. This will then enable an analysis of the use of resources to be produced which can then be used for planning purposes. Appropriate software is being investigated.
HMIC Comments
This suggestion will be revisited at the next review inspection.