< Previous | Contents | Next >

Strathclyde Police: Primary Inspection 2000

1. Leadership

1.1 This chapter deals with the approach and actions of the Force executive and other senior managers. It is important to evaluate how the actions of the executive and managers inspire, drive and support the organisation in their pursuit of goals and objectives.

Executive Team

1.2 The Strathclyde senior police command team consists of the Chief Constable, 6 Assistant Chief Constables, one of whom is designated as and is known by the title Deputy Chief Constable. The Deputy Chief Constable and 5 Assistant Chief Constables have specific functional portfolios.

1.3 The policy group of the Force comprises the senior police command team and the head of finance and physical resources. The head of legal services is also a member. At present the agenda and minutes of the policy group are not widely distributed throughout the Force (for example to divisional commanders and representative organisations). HMIC appreciates that much of the information will be available as a result of consultation and working reviews and that some aspects will be confidential. That said HMIC suggests that consideration is given to a wider circulation of agendas and minutes.

1.4 Three of the portfolio holders, namely the assistant chief constables crime, community safety and operations meet regularly to discuss cross-cutting issues and to share information. This is necessary and constructive but at present there is no record kept of the discussions. While not seeking to introduce inappropriate bureaucracy HMIC suggests that consideration be given to a record of key issues and actions being maintained to assist with continuity and accountability.

1.5 The assistant chief constable (operations) chairs a bi-monthly meeting with divisional commanders. Events, past and present, are discussed with policy and practice addressed. Performance is discussed but not in a routine and formatted way. HMIC suggests the Force use this meeting as an opportunity to bring additional focus to the accountability of divisional commanders for performance against their policing plans (see also paragraph 6.3).

1.6 The recent introduction of a programme board chaired by the deputy chief constable with responsibility for the oversight of all projects is an important development and HMIC will be interested to learn of its impact at the point of the Review Inspection. (see paragraphs 2.9 and paragraph 2.10 for further expansion on the role of the board and paragraph 5.34 for an HMIC recommendation in relation to information technology).

1.7 At management level in departments and in divisions there was evidence of a strong team spirit and a good sense of purpose. At the time of Inspection the Force had only just introduced a new shift pattern. The new shifts result in officers working longer daily hours but they are compensated by an increased number of rest days. The system has created overlap times at the beginning and end of each shift. HMIC noted that this time was being used to brief and debrief staff (see paragraph 5.41).

1.8 The inspectors and sergeants seen by HMIC recognised the importance of the new shift patterns matching resources to demands and, generally, were confident of meeting that challenge (see also paragraph 5.2 about activity analysis). It is too early to comment on the impact of the shift change for Force performance and staff satisfaction.

Senior Management Support

1.9 Since the last Inspection 2 senior support staff members have joined the policy group, namely the head of finance and physical resources and the head of legal services. Strathclyde has an assistant chief constable leading on the human resources (personnel) portfolio while some Forces have recruited a support staff person with appropriate qualifications. HMIC recognises the intellectual and practical arguments for the position in Strathclyde, including the resilience this brings to the executive team. A key point here is that there is strength in depth in the human resource function (see paragraph 3.12).

Restructuring

1.10 Measured by staff numbers, Strathclyde Police is by far the largest of Scotland's 8 police forces and is the second biggest in Great Britain. In demographic terms the Force is resident to over half the population of Scotland and geographically covers urban and rural locations from Argyll and the Islands of Coll and Tiree in the North and West to Ayrshire and Lanarkshire in the South and East. The centre of population is the city of Glasgow.

1.11 At the last formal Inspection in 1998 reorganisation of a number of divisions was underway to create a new divisional structure. At that time the Chief Constable's proposals for further restructuring were being evaluated by a steering group. As a result of the findings the Chief Constable proposed and the Police Authority supported restructuring of the Force from 15 to a new look 9 divisions. The first phase of this operation began in December 1998 and the basic project was completed by October 1999, significantly ahead of the original schedule. (Obviously any change of this magnitude means that elements will take time to complete as resources become available.)

1.12 The new divisions were introduced to develop further the existing partnerships between local authority and other agencies by better aligning policing areas with local authority boundaries. Implementation has resulted in the creation of large policing divisions in geographic and staffing terms. HMIC acknowledges the considerable effort all staff have made in contributing to the transition. The work has resulted in a review of staffing levels within the territorial divisions and the subsequent reduction of 56 supervisory police staff positions since December 1998. The Force estimated that the staffing reductions would result in a saving of £1.9 million, to be used to recruit constables.

Table A - Staffing Reductions (Territorial)

1.13 Such substantial change will take time to settle with the full impact on service delivery and performance only evident after some reasonable period of operation. Immediate gains include a better "fit" with local authorities and a high degree of operational self-sufficiency at divisional level. These are big commands which require active personnel management, good communication and sufficiency of supervision. HMIC will be examining this change in more detail at future inspections.

Departmental Command

1.14 Against the background of territorial restructuring the Force also set about reviewing the staffing of Force headquarters. In January 2000 following completion of this review the Chief Constable's policy group approved implementation of the headquarters restructuring plan. This resulted in reduction of the following ranks.

Table B - Staffing Reductions (Headquarters)

1.15 This change with an estimated saving of £802,700 has provided the opportunity to appoint additional Force support staff to posts where police skills and powers are not an integral part of the role.

1.16 In March 2000 the assistant chief constable (crime) Mr James Orr was appointed Director of the new Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency and seconded in the "rank" of deputy chief constable for at least 3 years. The Chief Constable took this opportunity to review the command team structure and has re-aligned functional responsibilities to reduce the number of assistant chief constable posts from 7 to the present 6.

1.17 The Chief Constable and Joint Police Board have achieved a great deal in responding to the demands of modern policing by establishing leaner structures, releasing money to support operational policing and changing structures to improve the local delivery of services. These changes will take time to settle and establish their worth. This will be an area of focus for future Inspections. In a number of areas central control and direction is being exercised and this is important for corporacy in a devolved environment.

Devolved Resource Management

1.18 Restructuring has also created opportunities and the reduction in police management posts has been balanced by the appointment of senior support staff in the role of divisional administration manager (DAM), plus an assistant, in each of the new divisions. In the divisions visited individuals occupying these posts impressed with their positive and professional approach to the development of the new roles. While recognising that this is a new approach for the Force, the concept of employing senior level support staff to assist divisional senior police management is well established in Scottish and other forces.

1.19 HMIC considers that the role of divisional administration manager will be capable of expansion and this development will be made easier if they had better access (via integrated computer links) with personnel and financial information. The limitations of the present information technology was a regularly repeated theme across the functions inspected (see paragraph 5.29).

1.20 At the time of the Inspection divisions had just taken control of some aspects of their financial budgets. They anticipate that local control will result in the ability to exert greater influence over the support and resources provided by centralised operational and non-operational departments and units. HMIC established that control extended to all matters except staff salary costs, although some gapping (time between filling posts) advantages were permitted in relation to support staff. The existing arrangements did however place restrictions on procurement of goods and services, where all but the most minor needed to be approved by Force headquarters. Although all divisions have network access to the headquarters based commercial and financial accounting system (cfacs) financial ledger, those visited had all introduced local spreadsheets to accurately monitor their spends. (Also see paragraphs 4.117 to 4.119.) Whereas local solutions to financial management issues may produce some practical benefits to divisions HMIC suggests the Force consider introducing a corporate product that will provide consistency of accounting procedures.

< Previous | Contents | Next >