| 1 Organisational and Management Framework |
| Operational Structure |
| 1.1 Strathclyde Police is one of the largest
forces in the United Kingdom with a strength of 7352 officers and 2115 support staff and
provides policing to 12 local authority areas including the City of Glasgow. By virtue of
its size, it presents a number of special policing problems. At the time of inspection the
force, operationally, comprised 14 divisions although a restructuring programme has been
announced which will see a further reduction in divisions and superintending and other
management ranks. |
1.2 The 1997 primary inspection report of
Strathclyde Police recommended that the force review its senior rank structures. It
identified scope to create shorter chains of command and minimise duplicated
responsibilities by delayering. As a result, the force has embarked on a restructuring
exercise designed to achieve:-
- increased high visibility operational strength and
flexibility
- redirection of resources to meet customer expectations
- co-terminous police/unitary authority boundaries, enhancing
partnerships
- shorter and more direct lines of communication with
customers and
- flexibility to meet the policing challenges of the
Millennium and beyond.
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| 1.3 In November 1997, the disaggregation of
'B' Division took place. Clydebank, formerly part of 'B' Division, became a sub-division
of 'L' Division which created alignment with West Dunbartonshire Council, whilst Partick
sub-division merged into 'A' Division and Drumchapel Section into 'C' Division. As part of
this process, three sub-divisions in Argyll and Bute were reduced to one. As a result of
this disaggregation a reduction of two superintending ranks, one detective chief inspector
and four inspector ranks was made and the number of divisions within the force reduced
from 15 to 14. |
| 1.4 The proposals for further restructuring
of operational divisions within the force over the next 5 years will see the number of
divisions reduced from 14 to 9. As a result of the proposals, the number of existing
divisional commanders (Chief Superintendent rank) would also be reduced by 5 to 9 and the
number of Superintendent ranks by 5 to 45. These proposals are being driven by a steering
group, through a dedicated project group working closely with local project assurance
teams, ensuring a consistent and strategic approach. It is intended that implementation
will be phased and HMIC welcomes these plans, which will allow for the more flexible use
of resources to tackle key problems, and looks forward to reviewing progress during future
inspections. |
| 1.5 The management of change is paramount in
a project of this scale and especially so in respect of staff assimilation to new
divisions. Officers and support staff can experience a loss of divisional identity,
particularly those that have a number of years service in only one division. However,
HMIC learned of a number of good practice points in this regard during a visit to 'A'
Division, where, prior to taking in the former 'B' Division area of Partick within their
boundary, senior management advertised posts and accepted applications from 'B' Division
personnel serving within the Partick area. Assurances were also given that there would be
no transfer of personnel within the new division for the first 12 months, other than by
request, and this latter measure appears particularly important especially as rural
divisions amalgamate in the future and distances between potential postings may increase.
The same good practice was also reflected in 'L' Division. |
| Executive Management |
| 1.6 The Primary Inspection Report highlighted
the greater degree of financial autonomy and responsibility forces received as a result of
local authority restructuring and recommended that consideration be given to the
establishment of an executive post to develop financial management. The force reviewed
this matter and, from October 1997, the Chief Finance Officer, reporting directly to the
Chief Constable, has served as a member of the command team sitting on both the Policy
Group and the Senior Management Team. At the time of the review inspection, the role and
responsibilities were being re-examined and it was anticipated that responsibility for
managing various aspects of the force administrative structure would be transferred to
him. Since the inspection HMIC has learned that this has now taken place. |
| 1.7 HMIC welcomes this move, for at the
primary inspection it was observed that some of the reporting lines, spans of control and
departmental groupings within the force were questionable. In particular, the command of
traffic at executive level was grouped with administration. Whilst a review of job
descriptions and titles of Assistant Chief Constables has taken place administration
continues to lie with the ACC (Traffic), although greater responsibility for
administrative functions has been devolved to senior support staff. HMIC still believes
that further rationalisation of ACC roles would provide a clearer chain of command,
particularly in relation to the administration function, and encourages the force to
review this and the role of Chief Superintendent (Administration), as part of the proposed
review of Headquarters establishment. Since the inspection the force has created a new
strategic support function headed by an Assistant Chief Constable. Other posts in
administration and support services have been restructured around this new functional head
and one chief superintendent post dropped. HMIC looks forward to reviewing the new
arrangement at the next inspection. |
| 1.8 The appointment of staff officers to
support each of the Chief Officer posts has been seen as successful but there is now a
need to review the role of these officers against the duties provided by secretarial
support, the officers in the policy support section and those providing other support to
chief officers. This has been recognised by the force and should also form part of the
Headquarters review. |
| Research and Development |
| 1.9 The role and function of the Research and
Development Branch has evolved to take account of a number of additional responsibilities,
including the need to provide strategic and policy advice, planning and co-ordinating the
implementation of change and the progression of corporate and business planning. It is
anticipated that the pace of change will increase over the next few years as a number of
issues, including a review of the structure of the Scottish Police Service and the
creation of a Scottish Parliament, impact on strategy and policy formulation. During the
review inspection it was learnt that proposals for the structural change of the branch
were being considered. One of the proposals sees the creation of a 'Think Tank' headed by
a chief superintendent with responsibility for strategic research, forward planning and
environmental scanning. HMIC was interested to learn of this initiative, given that the
rank of the post has been retained as a result of delayering through divisional
amalgamation. Although this unit is not intended to be a permanent feature some
questions remain about the necessity to retain the existing post of Chief Superintendent,
Research and Development, which should be addressed in the proposed Headquarters review. |
| Corporate Strategy |
1.10 The force has developed a corporate
strategy and planning framework which at the time of inspection had received approval of
the Policy Group. The corporate strategy provides a detailed overview of the force
approach to policy and strategy which adheres closely to the EFQM (European Foundation for
Quality Management) quality model addressing how policy and strategy are:
- formulated on the concept of quality
- based on relevant and comprehensive information
- communicated and implemented
- regularly updated and improved.
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| 1.11 The success of the force's Spotlight
philosophy has seen it become an integral part of the planning framework and this is
reflected in its inclusion in the corporate strategy document. |
| 1.12 HMIC believes that this provides a
coherent approach and commends the force for the moves made in this area. |
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