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This chapter examines how the force plans and manages its external partnerships and internal resources.
5.1 Local Authority Partnerships
5.1.1. There was some very positive feedback from all three councils regarding partnership working at area command level. At the most strategic level, similar, if less strong, evidence was found.
5.1.2. Core partnerships have been formed with local authorities. A range of officials in all three local authority areas spoke of good interpersonal relationships with police officers. This applied to area commanders, unit commanders, local authority liaison officers, area constables and operational officers working with practitioners within local authority departments.
5.1.3 The force has had Local Authority Liaison Officers (LALOs) seconded to each of the three constituent councils for several years now. These secondments are described in positive terms by both the councils and the force and continue to be relevant and productive postings. The officers concerned work within the policy development areas of the councils but also identify further areas for collaborative working. Their role extends from the development of community safety strategies to practical advice on security of council buildings and the safety of council staff. (See also paragraph 5.2.2.)
5.2 Community Safety Partnerships
5.2.1 The inspection found broad agreement among local authorities and other agencies that senior management had given a strong and early lead to the force in committing officers at all levels to partnership working within their communities.
5.2.2 A force community safety strategy was still being developed at the time of the inspection. Police officers are seconded to each of the three local authorities within the force area as local authority liaison officers (LALOs) and have been for about eight years. Each is based within the chief executive's office of the respective council to maximise the effectiveness of liaison between the force and different council services. HMIC suggests a formal review of the role and arrangements would be valuable in demonstrating their worth and maintaining development of the secondment.
5.2.3 Currently, Falkirk Council is the only local council to have published a Community Safety Action Plan. The plan has been in force since 1998. Stirling and Clackmannanshire Councils are still in the process of developing community safety strategies. There is no community safety group within Stirling Council.
5.2.4 A community safety police project was one of the key projects of a social inclusion partnership in Alloa recently developed between the force and Clackmannanshire Council, local community groups, Forth Valley Health Board and Forth Valley Enterprise.
5.2.5 It had been identified that about 11% of the population of Clackmannanshire (5,060) live in the social inclusion partnership area and are victims of a disproportionate level of crime. About 25-30% of crime including theft by housebreaking, vandalism, sexual offences and crimes of dishonesty are committed in that area. The response by the partnership was to open a new community police office in that community in December 1999. The premises consist of a council house provided by Clackmannanshire Council Housing Department which has been converted into a fully equipped police office. Three community constables and a community development worker, all employed by Central Scotland Police staff the office. The social inclusion partnership funds the community development worker post and one of the community constable posts.
5.2.6 The project will be evaluated in due course and HMIC looks forward to hearing the results of this innovative project at the time of the Review Inspection.
5.2.7 Other recent initiatives involving partnership working include the Challenge Unlimited initiative which is a joint venture between the force and Clackmannanshire Community Education Department. It is a community safety youth organisation formed in Clackmannanshire with the aim of providing peer led assistance to young people living in the area. Activities involve addressing community issues, the opportunity to pursue leisure pursuits and raising awareness about the dangers of drug misuse. The initiative has been funded jointly by a local business and the Scottish Drugs Challenge Fund to which a joint bid had been made by the force and Clackmannanshire Community Education Department.
5.2.8 Community constables support the initiative which is overseen by an executive group of which members of the force community safety department are part.
5.2.9 As a further step towards partnership, since August 1999, a police officer has been seconded to Forth Valley Health Board, working within the directorate of public health. The officer's role is similar to that of the local authority liaison officer and is to promote the principle of community safety (from a police perspective) within health board policies.
5.2.10 During the inspection HMIC consulted the three directors of education within the force area. Good relationships were said to exist with police officers at all levels. The three local authorities have adopted 'Police Box,' an education programme developed by Grampian Police which covers topics such as drugs, personal safety and good citizenship. Local officers have now been trained to provide the police input to this programme. These arrangements are reported to be working well but HMIC suggests that the force should consider joint monitoring and evaluation of the scheme with the education services of the three authorities.
5.2.11 HMIC received positive comments regarding the force's efforts in respect of the support shown to schools in matters of school security and design. The force's contribution to school road safety programmes was also acknowledged. The production of a video by the force entitled 'Help Yourself' was noted. An educational programme aimed at adults with learning difficulties and providing advice in terms of coping skills and personal safety, the video was well made and a thoughtful contribution to this particular area of community safety.
5.3 Drugs
5.3.1 HMIC noted that drugs featured prominently during discussion with staff across the force and in other agencies. The chief constable currently chairs the Forth Valley Substance Action Team. The Team has a multi-agency strategy for substance use "Improving the Quality of Life in Forth Valley" and the force's Drugs Action Plan supports this strategy. The force plan reflects the force's commitment to partnership working and to employing a range of approaches to deal with drug misuse in the force area. The plan also supports the ACPOS drugs strategy.
5.3.2 Within the force there is a Substance Action Group chaired by the Detective Chief Inspector who is also responsible for the newly formed Drugs/Surveillance Unit. The new unit is to be introduced in April 2000. There are currently no targets in place in relation to the work of the drugs squad but HMIC understands this will be a part of a strategic plan for the new unit.
5.3.3 There are currently no protocols (but good liaison and relations) in place between the force and other enforcement agencies such as the Scottish Crime Squad, National Criminal Intelligence Service and HM Customs and Excise. This is area that HMIC suggests the new drugs/surveillance unit considers.
5.3.4 The Detective Chief Inspector is involved in the co-ordination of drugs enforcement activity although day-to-day responsibility lies with the Drugs Action Co-ordinators (Constables) based within local command areas. The drugs action co-ordinator is a pro-active, multi-faceted role reflecting force's commitment to partnership working in relation to drugs but with strong links to all enforcement activity taking place within the force. The detective chief inspector meets with the three drugs action co-ordinators on a monthly basis to review trends and progress. In the future once the new drugs/surveillance unit is operational, it is intended that weekly tasking and co-ordinating meetings will take place between the detective chief inspector, detective inspector in charge of the new unit and the three area drugs co-ordinators. HMIC considers such tasking and co-ordinating meetings to be good practice and will review their implementation at the time of the next review inspection along with the policy and strategies still to be drafted for the operation of the new drugs/surveillance unit.
5.3.5 At present the drugs unit consists of six detective constables and a detective sergeant who reports to the detective inspector in charge of CID support services. In April 2000 the unit is to expand to a total of 12 detective constables, two detective sergeants and a detective inspector responsible for the new unit.
5.3.6 An arrest referral pilot scheme was about to be introduced in Clackmannanshire at the time of the inspection. The scheme will involve a multi-agency approach by the force and the Criminal Justice Department and Social Work Services of Clackmannanshire Council. The pilot will involve people in police custody being visited by criminal justice social workers and offered referrals to discuss and address their drug use. Analysis of the results of the pilot is to be facilitated and researched by Stirling University.
5.4 Domestic Violence
5.4.1 The force has employed a women's support worker post since 1994, a post originally funded through European funding but after the first year, was funded from the police budget. The current post holder came to the force with a background in Women's Aid and wide experience of dealing with victims of domestic violence.
5.4.2 Because of the existence and remit of this post, there are no police officers designated as domestic violence liaison officers. The women's support worker is based within the family unit located at Bannockburn and works closely with the staff of that unit who also deal with sex offenders and child protection. Evidence was found around the force that the role of the women's support worker was widely known and understood by operational officers. It also attracted positive comment from other agencies.
5.4.3 The women's support worker receives reports on all incidents involving domestic violence and, in conjunction with the detective sergeant in the family unit, assesses which should result in follow up contact by her. These include repeat incidents but also first reports where it is considered appropriate to offer a visit. Records indicated that over a quarter of the women involved in domestic violence incidents reported to the police, receive a visit from the women's support worker.
5.4.4 Although the force recorded thirty incidents involving male victims of domestic violence in 1999, the women's support worker restricts her own visits to female victims. This is due to the specific terms of reference of the post. A male victim needing similar support receives assistance from a police officer.
5.4.5 Although domestic violence records are held on computer this involves the manual input of reports into a stand-alone system. The absence of a corporate (or linked) database does not allow automatic "flagging" of previous incidents at an address or involving an individual. As a result, officers attending incidents rely on local knowledge for any indication of the nature of what the call might involve or that the incident is one of a series. Many forces now have a system where officers can be alerted to such previous history by the dispatcher handling the call who is automatically made aware of the details of previous incidents. HMIC suggests that this is something the force may wish to consider.
5.4.6 In 1994 there were 250 reported incidents involving domestic violence. In 1999 there were 1275 such reports. Of these 1275 incidents, the women's support worker had made contact with 356 victims. Staff expressed concern about the administrative support available to this post. There is no full time support with assistance provided on a part-time basis to update records.
5.4.7 An application to the Domestic Abuse Fund for funding for a second women's support worker post and administrative assistance in this area was being considered at the time of the inspection. This would enable more visits to the victims of domestic violence than is currently possible for this single post-holder to undertake.
5.4.8 The person currently in the post of women's support worker was due to retire from the force shortly after the inspection and consideration had been given by the force as to the future of the post and how the current post holder should be replaced. It had been decided that the work should continue to be undertaken by a support staff member as opposed to a police officer because of the different qualities and experience such a person can bring to the post. The benefits were evidenced when speaking to the current post holder. HMIC notes however that no formal evaluation of this unique post has been undertaken. While the effectiveness of such a post is difficult to measure, there are important performance indicators which could be used and this would help inform the force's domestic violence strategy in the future.
5.4.9 The officers within the sex offender unit are experiencing demand difficulties as the volume of files held on registered and unregistered sex offenders continues to grow. These officers share accommodation with the women's support worker and the force is encouraged to consider additional support within this unit to release these officers from administrative tasks to pursue their specialist roles.
5.4.10 The force is aware that the Sex Offender Unit is having difficulty meeting the regime of visits and that additional effort is needed immediately to avoid unacceptable backlogs and minimise risk.
5.5 Financial Management
Joint Board Delegation
5.5.1 At the time of the last Primary Inspection in 1996 there was no formal scheme of delegation yet in place, and the report recommended that the chief constable discuss with the police authority ways to ensure that he had full exercise of his delegated authority. In 1997 the joint police board agreed Standing Orders, a Scheme of Delegation and Financial Regulations. These have remained unchanged since they were adopted and were in place at the time of this latest inspection.
Internal Audit
5.5.2 The 1996 Primary also commented on the absence of any formal arrangements for internal audit. By the Review Inspection in 1998, an internal audit plan had been agreed between the chief constable and the police authority's internal auditor, setting out a three year rolling programme of scrutiny of the force's financial management activities.
5.5.3 HMIC noted that a review in July 1999 of the work carried out identified a shortfall in the audit input agreed and was informed that the internal audit team have agreed to make up this shortfall over the next few years. A further review is now planned for the end of this financial year.
5.5.4 During 1998/99 an internal audit investigation was conducted into the operation of imprests. A draft report dated August 1999 was supplied which made recommendations to strengthen record keeping and checking procedures. It does not appear that this report has been finalised, but the force should in any event take steps to implement the necessary action where it has not already done so.
Provision of Support Services
5.5.5 Financial and information services are currently provided to the force by Stirling Council under a trading agreement which sets out the services provided and the charges, on a service by service basis. The force finance manager considers that the current arrangements represent good value for money. Finance services are to be subject to a Best Value review in 2001/2002.
5.5.6 Legal services are provided by Stirling Council under a service level agreement and catering services are provided under a contract drawn up prior to local government reform.
Virement
5.5.7 Under the current financial regulations, virement within the revenue budget is restricted to £200,000 and where the virement is more than £100,000 the chief constable is required to consult the convener and vice-convener and submit a report to the joint police board. Compared to other forces, these rules are restrictive. Whilst no problems were experienced in practice, this might change were the force to move to a more sophisticated system of devolved resource management. Re-negotiation of the virement rules is something which the force might wish to discuss with the joint police board.
Financial Management
5.5.8 The force finance manager sits on the force executive and the Force Policy Implementation Team and is therefore able to advise on the financial implications of proposed operational decisions. HMIC noted that financial information was well distributed within the force. The head of personnel services for example was well informed regarding the force's financial situation in terms of recruitment opportunity.
5.5.9 Since the last inspection a qualified assistant, who was previously the systems accountant at Stirling Council, now supports the finance manager. Her previous experience with the financial systems was said to have proved valuable.
5.5.10 The department has however also assumed responsibility for the production of the annual accounts, which takes up a considerable amount of time after the financial year end. While the intention was that the assistant manager post would allow the finance manager to focus on more strategic issues by taking responsibility for budget monitoring and the production of monitoring reports, in practice the assistant manager spends much of her time supervising the payroll and payments operations. In practice, both the manager and assistant manager are sharing all these responsibilities, including production of the annual accounts.
5.5.11 The introduction of greater devolved resource management (see paragraph 1.7) will have implications for the functions of the finance department and its available resources.
Financial Systems
5.5.12 The force has been using the Stirling Council's CFACs system since its introduction in 1996. This system now requires to be updated and the council is currently exploring the options. The force accepts that a down-side of having the council's system is reduced control over the decision-making in such situations. Some consideration has been given by the force to the alternative options for service provision but it is now considered that, following negotiations in recent years, the council services represent good value for money.
Financial Performance
5.5.13 The 1998 Review Inspection Report noted that the local constituent authorities had chosen not to fund the force up to the level provided by central government in 1998/99 (Review Inspection Report 1998, paragraph 3.6). The revenue budget (GAE equivalent) for 1998/99 was £30.857m which was £702k (2.2%) less than the Scottish Office Grant Aided Expenditure (GAE) allocation of £31.559m. This inspection has found the same situation in 2000 with the force again receiving £300,000 less from its constituent authorities than the GAE level provided by central government.
5.5.14 The net revenue budget for 1998/99 was £32.774m. The annual accounts showed a final outturn of £31.925m, an underspend of approximately £850k (2.6%).
5.5.15 The budget set by the joint police board for 1999/2000 was £32.318m which was 1.81% below GAE. The final outturn position for 1999/2000 was not available at the time of the inspection.
Budget for 2000/2001
5.5.16 The 2000/2001 GAE process started with the Scottish Executive requesting budget estimates from each police force followed by consultation with ACPOS on how GAE should be allocated.
5.5.17 The GAE for 2000/2001 for the force was set at £33,468m. Although this is an increase of 1.69% over the previous year's figure, it is the lowest of the increases awarded to the Scottish forces. The GAE equivalent budget set by the joint police board was £33.132m. While this represents a continuing shortfall against GAE, HMIC notes the continuing reduction in the shortfall (2.2%, 1.81%, 1.0%).
5.5.18 The graph below shows the pattern over the five year period 1996/97 to 2000/2001.
5.6 Resources
5.6.1 In command areas at constable level there was regular comment that operational officers were purely reactive to an increasing level of demand. Some supervisors reinforced this opinion, commenting that area or community constables were the only officers able to work proactively. However some uniformed officers were found to be working in a pro-active manner and the situation is fluid reflecting the different demands and abstractions impacting on a team at any given time.
5.6.2 At 31.3.99 annual returns by the force showed a total of 719 police officers. During the inspection the total number at 31.12.99 was 710 officers. This is seven more than at the time of the review inspection in 1998 but nine less than at the start of the financial year 1999/2000. These figures include officers on secondment to central service and other common police service posts. At 31.12.99 the force had a total of 253 support staff which includes part-time staff. The support staff figure includes 10 police cadets. The force also has 60 special constables.
5.6.3 The creation of a force surveillance team has brought an increase in strength of the current drugs unit by six officers. Although some saw this as a further reduction in the number of "front line" officers the focus on drugs and a fully trained surveillance capability are equally important. It is vital that the new unit is seen as a support service to the rest of the force and, if successful, should increase operational efficiency.
5.6.4 The head of management services and the force purchasing officer are both members of the Procurement Management Group, a national body which is seeking to minimise costs by encouraging forces to place joint force orders for supplies. For example in 1999, the purchasing officer ordered uniforms for Central Scotland Police officers in conjunction with a particularly large order placed by West Midlands Police. As a result the force was able to benefit from the cost reduction that the order attracted. HMIC recognises this as good practice.
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