Partnering and transformational approaches are allowing forces to access a range of assets held by private sector partners: from ICT and potential capital investment to skills, business processes and innovative approaches which could be applied to policing. For instance:
Lincolnshire has developed with its outsourcing partner (G4S) an innovative
scheme to allowing police officers to remain on patrol following arrest, saving an estimated 350 police hours.
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Written Ministerial Statement laid in the House on 27 March 2012. 84 NPIA – National Police Procurement Hub
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Surrey and West Midlands Police are seeking to maximise the benefits of
partnering through outsourcing, gaining the potential advantages of economies of scale, accessing business skills and the investment in technology.
While there are increasing examples of collaboration and partnering, forces are at different stages of development. They have placed more emphasis on collaborations involving support functions than operational units, although forces report the pace of change is likely to increase in these areas after the Olympics. HMIC looks in detail at
the extent of collaboration across England and Wales in Increasing efficiency in the
police service: The role of collaboration, available from www.hmic.gov.uk.
Conclusion
We found forces are taking a range of approaches to increase their efficiency and effectiveness. However, in many cases these have been transactional and have not fundamentally altered the way policing is undertaken. We have seen the greatest change in the back and middle office and in the use of partnering and collaboration.
These changes are taking place to varying degrees across forces; some are not fully implemented; and the effects of many are still to be felt. HMIC characterises forces‟ approach as incremental, or one step at time. This is less risky than a sudden or widespread transformation of structures or services: but it is important that the total impact of this incremental change is understood and articulated, and that the changes put in place now prepare the Service for potential further cuts under the next spending review.
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6. Managing concerns and monitoring potential
risks
Managing budget reductions while continuing to deliver a range of services to the public is not without risk. Forces are putting in place structural changes and new
operating procedures which mean that the reduced numbers of officers and staff will be working in different ways, and possibly with different partners.
This report has provided a commentary on the extent to which the Service as a whole is managing this risk. While the collective picture is at this stage is relatively positive (although the future impact of changes being implemented now requires continued checking and monitoring), this is not uniform across all forces, as the summary of efficiency indicators attached at Annex B sets out. While acknowledging that every
force is different, both in terms of its operating context and its financial challenge,85 it is
important that this inspection programme not only provides assurance on how the sector overall is responding but also flags the forces that may present a greater level of risk, or which are managing that risk less effectively.
From the data gathered in this programme, we have identified the following key risks:
Efficiency: financial risks – for example, a force that still does not have plans to
cover the entirely of their savings challenge; over-reliance on reserves in Year 4; or failure to bear down on non-pay costs.
Efficiency: workforce and frontline risks – for example, a significantly higher
than average reduction in workforce (particularly officers); failure to increase the proportion of the workforce or officers in frontline roles; or having a significant number of police officers in non-frontline roles.
Effectiveness –for example, a force that is not reducing crime to the same
extent as the national average and other similar forces, while public satisfaction is not as high as the national average.
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As we discussed in Adapting to Austerity, different forces face very difficult financial
challenges: for instance, the savings they have to make can range from less than 10% to over 30% of their budget; and they also entered the spending review from very different positions (e.g. many had already been running change programmes to reduce cost in advance of 2011/12). See HMIC (2011) Adapting to Austerity. Available from www.hmic.gov.uk
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There are some forces where the data collected and the professional judgement of the HMIs suggest multiple concerns around the position they are in and the current plans to manage the spending review reductions. These are the Metropolitan Police Service; Devon and Cornwall Police; and Lincolnshire Police.
The Metropolitan Police Service is considered a particular concern because of the size of its outstanding savings requirement; its performance issues; and not least the fact that it accounts for one quarter of policing in England and Wales.
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