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Tayside Police Primary Inspection 2002

4. Partnership & Resources

Community Safety

4.1 Community safety has been defined as an aspect of quality of life in which people, individually and collectively are protected as far as possible from the criminal and anti-social behaviour of others. A successful approach to community safety will enable them to pursue and obtain fullest benefits from their social and economic lives without fear or hindrance from crime and disorder. Such an approach will address what is directly relevant to people in their local setting, based upon local concerns and issues, but importantly, including a necessary balance with national objectives. Community safety goes beyond the scope of traditional crime prevention work and aims to be more proactive to prevent problems occurring in the first place, reduce their incidence and respond effectively when they do occur.

4.2 Recognising that community safety is not a service area that stands alone, the inspection of community safety work within Tayside Police encompassed the approach of the force taken as a whole rather than that of a specialist department. Community safety is, of course, inextricably linked to all operational aspects of policing in partnership with the work of other agencies.

Partnership Working

4.3 During the inspection HMIC staff met with the Chief Executives of the three local authorities of Angus, Dundee and Perth & Kinross. Meetings were also held with a number of representatives of various local authority departments, elected members, voluntary and private sector organisations. Overall, the impression gained as to the commitment of the force to tackling community safety issues was positive. Particularly favourable comment was received regarding the willingness of officers to react to community needs. There is clearly a close and effective working relationship between partner agencies and the police at various levels from Divisional Commander to Community Liaison Officer within each of the divisions. There were, however, two recurring themes which emerged from various discussions. Many of those representatives from external agencies whom HMIC met commented upon the lack of consistency in police personnel at divisions and at force headquarters, particularly at middle and senior management level. Many were of the view that frequent change hindered middle to long-term planning and the development of professional expertise and working relationships. At the most senior levels, HMIC found that the force had tried to provide a degree of stability and acknowledges that the force has to balance the career and developmental needs of individuals with the dynamic nature of the force's operational and structural requirements. There was a similar perception found regarding departmental structure and nomenclature changes, including individual roles. Secondly, representatives of external organisations and agencies were appreciative of the efforts that the force has taken to present and explain the force's strategy and policing plan but expressed the view that a more formal system of consultation and engagement during the planning process would be of value.

4.4 Each of the local authorities has produced a community plan identifying key issues in community safety and priorities for action. Tayside Police has played a substantial role in the development and implementation of community plans and has committed itself to future work. In each local authority area, community safety partnerships have been established on which the police are represented. Local Authority Liaison Officers (LALO) at sergeant level have been in place for some time now and the value of their work was particularly recognised by local authority officials interviewed during the inspection. The LALOs have been key players in the development of the community safety and community planning processes. At Angus and Perth & Kinross Councils, the LALO is based within the Chief Executive's offices and this has been found to be very effective in integrating police with all council services ensuring effective liaison. In Dundee, the LALO is co-located with Community Education in a building removed from the centre of council administration. The force is currently reviewing the LALO role and HMIC will be interested to monitor developments at the next inspection.

4.5 LALOs and divisional personnel are represented on a wide range of groups including: Community Planning; Community Safety; Learning for Life; Safer Trading Forum; Travelling Gypsies Group; MAP; Community Councils; Community Safety and Crime Prevention Panels; and Housing, Tenants and residents Associations.

4.6 There are currently 19 Community Safety Panels operating in the force area whose aims are to promote the active co-operation of all sections of the community to achieve community-based crime prevention measures. The Community Safety Panels are supported by divisional community liaison officers.

4.7 The force is, and has been for some time, heavily involved in various community safety partnership arrangements. The following initiatives provide examples of some of the partnership working ongoing in the force.

TWINE

4.8 Tayside Working in New Enterprises was a two-year project which concluded in March 2002. The programme was run by Tayside Police, with a multi-agency Advisory Group with representation from statutory and voluntary organisations and was funded by the New Futures Fund Initiative of Scottish Enterprise. TWINE was a personal development programme for 16 to 19 year-old young people who have a pattern or are at risk of offending. The two-year funding enabled the employment of two support staff development workers and the project was overseen by the Youth Issues Development Constable attached to Headquarters Community Safety Development. Approximately 56 young people attended the programme with 60 to 70 per cent of individuals during 2001 reaching a positive outcome in that they were able to access mainstream provisions of training, education, voluntary, employment and support agencies. The project has recently concluded and an evaluation is currently being carried out to enable a consolidation report for Scottish Enterprise to be compiled. TWINE has been recognised as a significant piece of youth diversion/development work. The force will also be interested in the evaluation of this project and the police resource commitment over two years.

Youth Development Worker

4.9 In a joint initiative with Angus Council, Tayside Police co-finance a youth development worker. The main focus of the work is to promote the Duke of Edinburgh's Award which is a nationally tried and trusted method of working with young people. In particular, children and young people from socially excluded backgrounds will be targeted. Tayside Police is now an access organisation for the Award.

Beacon Initiative/Problem Oriented Policing

4.10 At the time of inspection, Central Division was drafting a Liaison strategy and action plan to enhance the delivery of Problem Oriented Policing in the community. The aim is to reduce crime, enhance safety and provide reassurance to the community. Currently, each section in Central Division sets its own priorities for community liaison, and the Beacon Concept is utilised throughout the Division. Beacon Management Groups, which are partnerships between police, the community and statutory and voluntary agencies, exist in each section. The aim is for partners to work together in an effort to identify and solve local problems. In 2001, Central Division tackled 102 issues through the Beacon Initiative, albeit the action plans viewed by HMIC involved mainly police resources. A few action plans involved partner agencies (local authority dog wardens for a dog fouling initiative and HM Customs & Excise in road checks for diesel and contraband). This year, since January, 54 Beacon Action Plans have been progressed. Beacon officers and Community Safety officers are key players in this process. However, it has been recognised that there is no specific training for community liaison officers.

Children and Young People at Risk of Sexual Abuse and Exploitation

4.11 This issue was identified by police and social work staff in Dundee and concerned the exploitation of looked after children. Police Family Protection Unit staff and Social Work staff were able to share information and build up intelligence on adults involved in the sexual exploitation of young people. It initially came to light as a problem with young women absconding from children's units, becoming intoxicated through drink and drugs and placing themselves at risk of sexual exploitation. The matter was progressed through the Child Protection Committee and the Community Involvement Branch at Central Division has now produced a draft Joint Protocol as a basis of agreement between Tayside Police, the Social Work and Education Departments of Dundee City Council, NHS Tayside, The Corner, Carolina House Trust and Barnardo's. HMIC will be interested to learn how this very worthwhile initiative develops.

Race and Diversity

4.12 Tayside Police has established a Lay Advisory Group (paragraph 3.17) drawn from members of the minority ethnic communities with the aim of ensuring that the policies and practices of the force are responsive to the needs, expectations and cultural diversity of the minority communities it serves. In doing so, the force recognises that minority ethnic views add value to its consultation process and must be considered as an essential ingredient in its strategic, tactical and operational thinking. The Lay Advisory Group comprises up to 35 members of the minority ethnic communities and meetings of the group are chaired by the deputy Chief Constable. A proposed schedule of meetings for the coming year has been viewed and issues for discussion will include: Race relations Legislation; Women's Issues; Multi-Agency reporting; Recruitment; Community Consultation (difficult to reach groups); Stop and search and Police Activity Monitoring.

Schools Liaison

4.13 Hitherto, police input to schools had been ad hoc and varied in practice from division to division. A Staff Tutor was introduced in Eastern Division. This education department worker is attached to the police and has been trained to provide drugs and substance misuse inputs to school children, teachers and parents groups. Initial evaluation by the Staff Tutor of police input to schools by community safety officers revealed that this area could be improved in terms of professionalism and consistency of approach. In response, the divisional commander, Eastern Division, decided to consolidate the provision of educational inputs to two school liaison officers for the division. Importantly, Community Safety officers will still maintain contact with their schools on a regular basis and provide a response to issues that arise. Recent evaluations undertaken have revealed a very favourable response from teachers as to the input delivered. It is understood that that staff tutors and school liaison officers have now been introduced to the other two divisions of the force.

CCTV

4.14 Town centre CCTV systems have been in place for some time now in each of the three divisions. The substantial benefits to crime prevention, crime detection and public reassurance which such systems bring have been long recognised. Both Dundee and Perth & Kinross Community Safety Partnerships were recently successful in applying for funding from the Scottish Executive's Making Our Communities Safer Challenge Fund to enable the purchase of a mobile CCTV unit for their respective areas. HMIC inspected one of the vehicles and the extent and quality of the equipment was most impressive. The vehicles are equipped with cameras including an infrared lens for night vision. Recording and editing of video footage can be accommodated within the vehicle and there is also a facility to print stills. The £60,000 vehicles will be used to tackle crime and the fear of crime and, importantly, will be available for use in the more rural communities. The crime prevention, nuisance deterrent and public reassurance value of these vehicles should not be underestimated, and public reaction has thus far been excellent. The vehicles will also prove extremely valuable at major sporting and other events and incidents.

4.15 In Western Division, the vehicle is operated by a regular team of two police constables providing varied cover. In Central Division, a member of support staff has received the necessary training and provides alternating cover for day and late shift. Some 40 police officers have also been trained in its use to provide coverage as required outwith these periods. HMIC considers the introduction of mobile CCTV units to be good practice.

4.16 The Scottish Executive Report 'Threads of Success' recommended that Chief Constables should review arrangements for partnerships to ensure resources are adequate to undertake the scale of preventative work that needs to be done. Securing adequate resourcing and funding for partnerships are key issues for forces and partners. Forces should be taking steps to review current resource commitment which is directly and indirectly related to community safety to gain an understanding and measurement of the scale and distribution of resources and expenditure. A cost/benefit analysis of partnership working would be useful to inform local costs of crime assessments which will assist in identifying priorities and potential savings. Tayside Police has committed significant resources to the above partnership initiatives and other projects. However, the resources are finite and a force-wide review of Community Safety Partnerships is not currently maintained. HMIC recommends that the force develop a system of effective monitoring and evaluation of its involvement and commitment of resources to community safety partnerships.

Police Community Safety Structure

4.17 Following a review of Headquarters structure in 2001 and a subsequent review of community safety early in 2002, responsibility for Headquarters Community Safety was redistributed resulting in the transfer of crime and drugs prevention functions to HQ Crime Management. Community safety now rests with HQ Crime Management under the direction of the newly appointed Force Crime Co-ordinator (Detective Chief Superintendent). The force executive has recently agreed to the appointment within Headquarters Crime Management of a detective Chief Inspector who will have responsibility for Community Safety. Currently, the force does not have a single Head of Community Safety. This role is encompassed within the remit of the three divisional commanders, with the Force Crime Co-ordinator charged with overseeing the development of forcewide strategy and direction. The community race relations portfolio is held by the Superintendent, Force Change Manager, because of his specialist knowledge in this area.

4.18 Operationally, community safety is being delivered at Divisions. Many fine examples of local partnership working and initiatives reflecting the individual nature of each of the local authority areas were found during the inspection, a selection of which are commented upon earlier in this section. It was also clear from the Inspection that there are good lines of communication between active partners and, where appropriate, relevant partners are able to share relevant information. However, there is currently no community safety strategy in place. In terms of policy and strategic direction, community safety has been 'marking time' with lack of co-ordination leading to a divergence in application across the three divisions.

4.19 By way of example, Problem Oriented Policing has been identified by the Chief Constable as a major element in the policing style of the force. Areas of best practice are being collated and disseminated throughout the force in the form of a Directory of Problem Oriented Policing Best Practice bulletin. The force recognises that Problem Oriented Policing is operated differently in each of the three divisions and that there is a need to standardise the processes involved to provide a corporate and consistent approach to POP. With regards to terminology, Central Division operates the Beacon Initiative (paragraphs XXX) whilst HMIC noted various terms used elsewhere including, Problem Solving Policing, Problem Oriented Policing and Community Oriented Policing. HMIC recommends that the force set out its strategic intentions for community safety providing clear direction, a corporacy of approach and support for divisions.

4.20 Community safety is delivered in divisions by local officers and through the development of local pro-active partnerships and strategies. Local authorities have a key role to play in community planning and this is enhanced through the well established linkage now in place with the three unitary authorities and Tayside Police.

4.21 Each division has a Community Safety Inspector responsible for the overview of operations, initiatives and action plans within divisions. They have line management responsibility for each of the three local authority liaison sergeants. There is regular contact between Community Safety Inspectors albeit on an informal basis. The force may wish to consider formalising this arrangement to include representation from Headquarters Crime Management, Community Safety to highlight and disseminate effective working and good practice.

Child Protection and Domestic Abuse

4.22 The prevention and investigation of offences against children and the prevention and investigation of domestic abuse are key issues for the police service. In recent years the police response to domestic abuse has been transformed. Forces have developed policies recognising that children and the victims of domestic abuse are particularly vulnerable. Special procedures have been developed to encourage positive police action in dealing with such cases which require enhanced reporting, investigation, care of victims and, importantly, monitoring. As in the case of child protection, effective working with other agencies such as domestic violence forums, victim support and women's refuges is a key element of a successful police response.

4.33 The Force Crime Co-ordinator, has overall responsibility at a strategic level for child protection and domestic abuse. Within Headquarters Crime Management structure a detective inspector is responsible for Headquarters Family Protection Unit (and the Fraud Branch). This officer is responsible for supervising the development and monitoring of policies in relation to the investigation of Child Protection, Sex Offenders and Domestic Violence issues and to promote a good working relationship with all agencies working in this field.

4.34 Within divisions, operational responsibility rests with the three divisional commanders. Divisional crime management units are headed by a detective chief inspector and each territorial division has established a dedicated Family Protection Unit (FPU) headed by a detective sergeant who supervises a number of detective constables, a domestic abuse liaison officer and a Barnardo's Project Worker. Sex offender risk assessments are also undertaken by an officer within the FPU. The three FPUs have responsibility for the investigation of child protection issues, allegations made by adult survivors of child sexual abuse and the management and referral of domestic abuse incidents.

4.35 Force policy and guidance in relation to child protection and domestic abuse is available to staff on the force Intranet.

Domestic Abuse

4.36 Police Domestic Abuse Officers (DAOs) are deployed within each division. They have developed expertise in dealing with incidents of domestic abuse and monitor all reports to ensure that the police response has been appropriate and the immediate safety of victims and their children is fully considered. They liaise closely with other statutory bodies and voluntary agencies regarding reported incidents and are all actively involved in the training and development of operational officers and in giving lectures and talks to other agencies and interested groups to heighten awareness of the issues surrounding domestic abuse.

4.37 The Domestic Abuse Officers do not investigate crimes, rather they provide advice, offer continued support to victims and refer them to other agencies both statutory and voluntary. The increased level of reporting of domestic incidents, probably indicative of the increased confidence in the police service by victims of domestic abuse and of the success of local and national initiatives, has put further demands on already stretched resources. In 2001 a successful application was made for funding from the Scottish Executive for creation of a close working partnership between Tayside Police and Barnardo's where a senior practitioner managed and supported by Barnardo's is deployed as Domestic Abuse Worker alongside Tayside Police's Domestic Abuse Officer. The first Barnardo's worker was appointed to Eastern Division and a successful application for funding has been made to the Scottish Executive Domestic Abuse Service Development Fund for two years until April 2004. This will fund a Barnardo's worker in each of the three Divisions co-located within divisional police headquarters alongside the Domestic Abuse Liaison Officer.

4.38 HMIC is pleased to note that the force has recently produced a protocol defining the nature and scope of the partnership initiative with Barnardo's. It is important that each party is clear as to their respective contribution to the arrangement; the particular roles and responsibilities of each party; information sharing and arrangements for security, both personal and organisational.

4.39 The force Guidance document for Domestic Abuse Incidents highlights the need for DAOs to ensure that they are not placing themselves in danger when making contact with victims. These safety concerns will obviously extend to the Barnardo's workers who will also be contacting victims. Whilst the DAO and Barnardo's undertake joint visits in some areas, due to heavy workloads this is not the normal practice in other areas of the force. Again the sharing of information is a necessary consideration in these circumstances.

4.40 The Barnardo's team members work in partnership with Tayside Police and share accommodation. Referrals include those from the police, voluntary organisations, health and social workers and self referrals. Barnardo's provide advice and guidance on a number of matters; individual counselling to victims; counselling for parents to help improve their parenting skills; individual and group work with children and young people and support to victims and children through the court process. Barnardo's aims to alleviate the long-term effects of domestic abuse on children through counselling and family support services.

4.41 The aim of the partnership is to provide comprehensive support to victims including devising and implementing a programme of empowerment. It will ensure that referrals to other agencies both statutory and voluntary are appropriate to maximise the support for victims of domestic abuse and in support for children affected by domestic abuse including help for non-abusing parents to protect their children effectively.

4.42 It is the force's intention to have staff at Dundee University evaluate the partnership initiative with Barnardo's. The initiative, which has already been positively received, offers an enhanced level of service, including long-term support, to the victims of domestic abuse and their families. Some other external partners voiced concern to HMIC about the impact of the Barnardo's arrangements on their existing partnerships. It seems likely that such concerns will be overcome by clear dissemination of information about the initiative with Barnardo's to other external partners. HMIC will be interested to gauge progress at the next inspection and considers the initiative with Barnardo's to be a very worthwhile partnership and an example of good practice.

4.43 During the course of the inspection, HMIC staff met with representatives of Victim Support and Women's Aid. In general, the view was presented that working relationships and liaison was good. Police officers, including domestic abuse officers, provide input to Victim Support trainees and members meetings. Women's Aid commented favourably regarding the joint training that had taken place in the past and were keen to be further involved in police training.

4.44 In Western Division, the DAO, Barnardo's worker and Women's Aid have started to meet monthly on a regular basis to address issues of mutual interest and concern. This is seen by all participants to be a worthwhile exercise demonstrating a commitment and enthusiasm to work together to better service the needs of victims of domestic abuse. The DAO has recently started to hold a 'surgery' at the Women's Aid premises in Perth, in an effort to reach those victims of abuse who are reluctant to contact the police directly, or attend at a police station. In addition the DAO attends the weekly Women's Group at Women's Aid to provide advice and explain to group members the service available to victims from the police. HMIC considers this attempt to increase accessibility of these particularly vulnerable victims of abuse to the police to be good practice.

4.45 DAOs, Barnardo's workers and the detective sergeants from each division meet every six weeks where training and development needs are identified and discussed in addition to issues of mutual interest and concern. This meeting will also provide a forum for the spread of good practice.

The Recording Process

4.46 Since 1 April 1999, the Scottish Police Service has adopted the following definition of domestic abuse which has been adopted by Tayside Police:

'Domestic abuse is any form of physical, non-physical or sexual abuse which takes place within the context of a close relationship, committed either in the home or elsewhere. This relationship will be between partners (married, co-habiting or otherwise) or ex-partners.'

Table 3: Domestic Abuse Entries on Integrity

4.47 The force is committed to dealing with all incidents of domestic abuse with a high level of priority and is keen to improve the service provided to persons who find themselves the victims of such situations. Force policy dictates that officers attending domestic abuse incidents deal with the matter in a thorough and professional manner obtaining all the relevant details for submission on the command and control system (CAPTOR) and the crime management system (INTEGRITY). Officers should ensure that all CAPTOR incidents show the relevant INTEGRITY entry. Control room staff are instructed not to close domestic abuse incidents without such a number. DAOs thereafter check crime reports on the INTEGRITY system every day for domestic abuse incidents to progress the necessary referrals and offer intervention and support. All crime reports are checked by the DAOs, not only those flagged on the system as domestic abuse incidents. It would be impractical for DAOs to check all incidents on the CAPTOR system for domestic abuse incidents. In Central Division alone this would amount to some 400 to 500 incidents per day. Therefore, it is incumbent upon control room staff, the officer attending the incident and group supervisors to ensure that such incidents are properly identified, dealt with professionally and recorded on the appropriate system according to force policy. Headquarters Crime Management interrogates the INTEGRITY system and provides statistical information for the Scottish Executive in common with all Scottish forces.

4.48 HMIC is not convinced, however, that the system of recording incidents of domestic abuse is sufficiently robust to record accurately the total number of domestic abuse incidents. From figures supplied by the force, following a snap-shot check of incidents in one division from January to June 2002, it was evident that some 70 domestic abuse incidents had not been recorded as such. Some of these incidents had not been identified as domestic abuse by control room staff and not recorded as such by officers attending the incidents. Some incidents, however, had been identified as domestic abuse by officers on the CAPTOR system but had not been recorded on INTEGRITY as required in order that these incidents can be properly identified and acted upon by DAOs or, indeed, recorded on official statistics. This would suggest that there are implications for training and supervision. HMIC recommends that the force review the operational handling, supervision and recording of incidents of domestic abuse to ensure accordance with force policy.

Child Protection

4.49 There are three Child Protection Committees aligned to the local authority areas and the Force Crime Co-ordinator is represented on each. During the inspection, HM Lay Inspector met with a number of representatives of partner agencies in the field. All spoke of effective working relationships with Tayside Police and there were some excellent examples of joint working arrangements. Joint training with social services staff takes place in all three divisions. For example, joint courses for police officers and social workers are held twice a year in Western Division for joint interview training for children. The course lasts five days and positive comment has been received in respect of this course. Family Protection Unit staff have also had the opportunity to attend the Child Forensic Interview Training Clinic held over five days at Dundee University in association with the Department of Social Work, the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children and the Scottish Police College. The course has been very well received by staff and considered very worthwhile and relevant to their duties. A further course is planned for later this year.

Seymour Lodge

4.50 During the inspection HM Lay Inspector visited Seymour Lodge in Dundee and was very impressed with the facilities provided. The building is a shared facility for the police Family Protection Unit and Social Work staff. This joint approach model is seen by staff as effective enabling the development of skills and procedures in this specialist field. The predominantly female staff commented favourably on the good supportive environment that Seymour Lodge provides. It is an anonymous building, separate from other police operational offices and not identifiable as a police building. This is seen as positive by victims and their families who can be interviewed and medically examined in a pleasant, comfortable environment well equipped for the purpose.

4.51 The facility also houses the only video recording facility for child victims and witnesses in Scotland. Following the 1992 Clyde Report, Tayside Police trained officers in the video recording of child victims and subsequently purchased the necessary equipment. The intention was for this video evidence to be available for use in criminal proceedings in courts. The technology has not, however, advanced within the wider justice process. As a result there has been no evidential recording since 1995. The current police and social work practitioners in the field are trained and keen to use the equipment. This matter has been discussed within Tayside at a cross committee involving representatives of all three local authority Area Child Protection Committees at which the Procurator Fiscal and Children's Reporter are represented. The video equipment has not been used evidentially for a number of years and currently a substantial sum will require to be spent to repair the system and bring it up to current Home Office standards.

4.52 The video recording of child (and other vulnerable) victims of crime as a means of presenting evidence in court has previously been highlighted by HMIC as an area worthy of further consideration. It is argued that video recording would facilitate better child-centred interviews, provide better evidence and offer a basis on which to improve the quality of service to victims.

4.53 However, HMIC also recognises that there are areas of potential limitation on such an approach, particularly in relation to the presentation of evidence and the availability of witnesses for interview by the defence solicitors. Additionally, there are financial and logistical implications including the need for the procurator fiscal service to be in a position to accommodate video interviewing. Further progression of this issue will necessarily involve other key players including the Crown Office and the Judiciary.

4.54 This matter is currently being considered by the Crime Standing Committee of ACPOS and is due to be discussed at a forthcoming meeting of the ACPOS/Crown Liaison Meeting. Should this issue be considered worthy of further development, there may be an opportunity for a pilot to be conducted within Tayside Police to inform the national debate. HMIC will monitor developments in this area with interest.

Financial and Resource Management

4.55 The remit for Financial and Resource Management lies with the Director of Support Services, who is part of the Force Executive. This role is responsible for a broad portfolio including finance, accountancy, Best Value, legal services, corporate property and support services and IT and communications.

4.56 The Director of Corporate Services is responsible for the day-to-day operations of financial management for the force including budget setting and monitoring, and preparing annual accounts and reports to the Chief Constable. The Director attends the Joint Police Board meetings for financial matters. An accountant supports the Director in ACPOS finance matters, Best Value and other project work.

4.57 The Director of Finance at Angus Council is the Treasurer and the responsible officer for the financial affairs of the Joint Police Board. This includes treasury management, providing the internal audit service, and responsibility for the annual accounts.

4.58 A Head of Department, who is a member of support staff, manages the day-to-day running of the finance section. The section includes a Finance Office Manager, an Accountancy Assistant and administration staff. The Head of Finance sees the role of the finance section as being there to provide support and advice to the operational departments.

4.59 There are areas of the finance function that are carried out by the constituent authorities and are monitored by Service Level Agreements. The areas are payroll processing and provision of financial management systems, which is undertaken by Dundee City Council and internal audit and value for money, which is undertaken by Angus Council.

4.60 The revenue budget setting exercises determine the Financial Spend for the force on an annual basis. A joint report from the Chief Constable and the Treasurer has detailed a three-year revenue budget from 2001-02 - 2003-04. The force currently receives its full allocation of GAE from its constituent authorities of Angus Council, Dundee City Council and Perth and Kinross Council.

4.61 During the course of the year Tayside Police, in conjunction with other forces, will prepare an assessed need, using agreed factors for pay and general inflation, pensions and other significant items, which will be used to inform the level of GAE required for the police service and also how GAE should be distributed among the forces. This assessed need forms the provisional revenue budget submitted to the Finance Sub-Committee. On announcement of the GAE for the force, a final revenue budget is prepared for approval by the Joint Police Board.

4.62 Once the Board approves the budget, the devolved budgeting process takes place. Part of this process will be consideration by the force executive of any growths and savings, which have been identified during revenue monitoring meetings or other submissions made to the force executive. The force executive, in their capacity as portfolio holders for the budget centres, can put forward their case for inclusion of these items in the devolved budget after consultation with the respective budget holders. Notwithstanding, and recognising that the key drivers for constructing the revenue budget are the Director of Corporate Services and Head of Finance, the level of consultation with and input by individual budget holders appears formally limited to the 'requested' revenue monitoring meetings.

4.63 Capital Budgets are prepared in consultation with the force executive following announcement of Section 94 consents for the force. This year nationally an overall sum has been earmarked for projects related to the roll out of airwave, including the virtual contact centre (see paragraph 2.31) and funding is also earmarked for projects approved from previous years. The balance is then apportioned across forces.

4.64 HMIC acknowledges the position and importance of the Board's Financial Regulations, which set out in part how the finance activities will be delivered and the use of Service Level Agreements to govern externally delivered finance functions. The finance function, however, does not have an overall business plan, nor are internal performance measures in place. As a consequence, there is no clear overarching statement of how all finance activities will be delivered, developed and performance monitored. HMIC recommends the preparation of a Finance Function Business Plan setting out objectives, priorities, performance measures and improvement targets.

Financial Management Processes

4.65 The Revenue Budget is partially devolved with 34 budget holders. Budget holders receive their budgets prior to 1 April from the Head of Finance and can request a meeting with the Head of Finance which is designed to clarify the figures contained within the budget.

Elements of the budget that are devolved are support staff costs, overtime, staffing costs, transport, supplies and services (except telephones), property costs (except planned and unplanned repairs and maintenance) and income. Police salary costs have not been subject to devolved management. However, for financial year 2002-03 police salary costs will be devolved to the Assistant Chief Constable. HMIC notes this position and would reaffirm the need for the force to take full account of the principle of devolved resource management as described in 'Credit to the Force' (Joint HMIC/Accounts Commission report 1998). The force's assessment of this arrangement will be subject to review at the next inspection.

4.66 Profiling of the budget is carried out on equal monthly budget allocations, i.e. on 1/12 basis and this is reflected within the ledger. Profiling of expenditure and income is incorporated into the monthly financial report, which is included in the monthly performance report. Revenue monitoring meetings take place monthly at the budget holder's request. These meetings are not formally minuted but the Head of Finance records any issues raised for action.

4.67 Probable outturn reports are produced. Reports were prepared from May 2001 in the financial year 2001-02 and from April 2002 in the current financial year (2002-03). There are administration staff that undertake much of the financial work within their respective divisions/departments. Processing of invoices is done centrally though there is a facility with the current system to do on-line processing. Commitment accounting is not used. The current financial systems used are ISIS for payroll and Powersolve for financial services. Training on Powersolve has been given and more training is to be arranged.

4.68 As referred to earlier, Financial Regulation and Standing Orders have been approved by the Board and are circulated to budget holders.

4.69 Finance staff are recruited according to qualifications, experience and competencies depending upon the post. Training is provided on various areas of finance and the financial systems. Training is identified normally through the staff appraisal scheme, which all finance staff are subject to.

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