Monthly Archives: February 2011

Disparity in Redundancy Figures?

Image via Wikipedia

Continuing with the theme of redundancy born out of government austerity measures (see so much more than job losses); despite the fact it still appears to be yesterday’s news, I found some of the figures relating to those redundancies in North Yorkshire interesting. I feel the need to ask the police and political leaders of the County some important questions…

Why the apparent disparity in redundancy figures across the public services of North Yorkshire? Are some areas within our local authorities more efficient (or important) than others? Do the figures involved actually represent the true numbers of people required to perform a task? Why the apparent urgency to implement cuts in one area of these services and not the others? What consideration has been taken of public opinion? Are the figures I can find on the internet a true reflection of the situation or, have they been ‘massaged’ in any way? And if so, for what reason? Is the police force really as over staffed as the Chief Constable and his local political side-kicks would have us believe? Who is protecting who and for what reasons?

Staffing / Organisation	York City Council	N.Yorks County Council	North Yorkshire Police
2011 Establishment	5,350	24,000	2,946
2012 Establishment	5,200	23,670	2,586
Redundancy Plan (Yr1)	150	330	360

So many questions and there are probably more, pity we never seem to get any straight answers? That’s politics for you I suppose!

Just thought I’d ask?

Police cuts: yesterday’s news? (bankbabble.wordpress.com)
Managers speaking with forked tongues! (bankbabble.wordpress.com)
Control from Z-Victor1? (bankbabble.wordpress.com)
So much more than just job losses! (bankbabble.wordpress.com)
A lot of “Oink Oink” at the County Hall Trough (bankbabble.wordpress.com)
Pickles Under Fire From Tory-Led Councils (news.sky.com)
North Yorkshire consults on reshaping services: North Yorkshire County Council (northyorks.gov.uk)

Posted in Local Authorities, Police

4 Comments

Tags: North Yorkshire, North Yorkshire Police, Police authority, Public sector

What is ‘front-line’ policing?

Feb 23

Posted by Dave Hasney

Image by Andrew Mason

Much of the recent political debate about cuts in police numbers revolve around the government stance that is; ”cuts need not impact on the policing front-line” however, where does that ‘front-line’ actually start and end?

The same question is being debated at the Linkedin ‘Police Debate’ forum where the question is, “what is the definition of front-line?” Some two weeks ago I said in that debate; “Perfect definition’? You must be having a laugh! I would suspect that if anyone did proffer a definitive (all be it allusive) definition, the basis would differ dependent upon the rank, task/role and experience of the author. A good starting point for developing any front-line definition might be; those roles that have a direct and daily contact with individuals in the community.”

Because of budget constraint, as a result of the austerity measures, there has never been a greater need than now to; clearly and correctly define the term ’front-line’ once and for all. The service needs it to formulate delivery, the politicians need it to answer to the public and most importantly, the public need it to gain a more realistic and better understanding of their expectations. Continuing in that vein, the Police Federation commissioned Ipsos MORI to carry out a public opinion survey, in an attempt to find out what we the public actually want from our police service (see results here). Somewhat late in the process, the Home Affairs Select Committee is also now asking the very same ‘front-line’ question (see here).

Like many other things in the public sector, it appears leaders and politicians have got things arse about face as usual. For years there has been a propensity to implement a ‘solution’ before the ‘problem’ is fully understood or defined. Take as an example the vast amounts of public money expended on IT systems over the years; without first fully and correctly defining what task they are actually required to perform.

This is usually (and too often) caused by knee-jerk reactions to (often media induced) public and political opinion. That and the influence of local/national political agenda, or the self-interests of police and political leadership. The now famous Inspector Gadget, who usually has a firm grasp on all things ‘operational’, has offered some guidance and direction on the ‘front-line’ question…

POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG: There seems to be some confusion among MP’s…Check the car park at any nick after 4.00 pm. Take a note of all the empty designated bays. Then make a list of everyone rostered as not working between 24th December and 2nd January… Read More

During the Select Committee Paul McKeever, Chairman of the Police Federation, responded to a question posed by Mark Reckless MP… “But surely the cuts for any given reduction that’s needed should be made in a way that is most productive and efficient for policing rather than in a way that protects people who happen to be your members?” There has been suggestion by some that Paul’s reply is based solely upon the interests of his own membership, I would have to say I disagree with that observation…

“I agree. One of the frustrations that I think we have throughout the police service—it’s not just us in the federation; people talk about it privately—is that we seem to be doing it the wrong way around. We are making the cuts and then looking to create a model, rather than actually deciding what the model is and then making the cuts afterwards. It seems that the model is going to be formed by the cuts and that can’t be the best way forward, because when I listened to Bill Bratton, who came over recently and was a guest at Policy Exchange, he was saying that there are going to be some real unintended consequences to what is happening in this revolution in policing.” (Paul McKeever)

The difference in people’s perception of Paul’s answer so obviously revolves around the first two words “I agree”. Some would say he is ‘agreeing’ to a reduction in police numbers where as I would say, he is simply agreeing with the observation; things get done the wrong way around. I think any intelligent person can accept cuts have to be made, the public purse is empty, however it makes no sense what so ever, to ‘throw the baby out with the bath water’, using one of Paul’s comments, before the ‘new’ policing model is defined.

The Home Affairs Select Committee concluded…

“Police forces in England and Wales face a challenging future. There is no doubt that the Government is requiring significant savings from the police and whilst the link between police officer numbers and levels of crime is complex, in the police service the largest proportion of budgets by far is spent on the workforce. In order to make these savings, police forces will have to rethink and reduce the range of services that they provide and the way in which they provide those services.” (Rt. Hon Keith Vaz MP)

Like the government, and many of those within the service; I actually agree some cuts do need to be made and, they can also be made with minimal damage to the ‘front-line’. Effective policing is an expensive process and one the public and politicians have to decide if they want to pay for or not. There is of course the Allcoppedout option…

Your chance to emulate ‘Sid’: My ideas on replacing our expensive public sector police forces with a Zambian-trained Laotian Guard… (Read more)

That said, my definition of ‘front-line will be different to the one offered by many senior police officers and politicians. If I could give one, it would probably be in line with Inspector Gadget’s observation!

Define police front line, say MPs (bbc.co.uk)
Ministers urged to recognise police elections risks ahead of 2012 Games (guardian.co.uk)
Police forces to be cut by 10,000, Labour claims (telegraph.co.uk)
Police budget cuts rethink urged (bbc.co.uk)
Bratton on Britain’s Cops (bankbabble.wordpress.com)
Police cuts ‘disastrous’ for service to public (independent.co.uk)

Posted in Government, Police, Politics, Public Sector

Police cuts: yesterday’s news?

Feb 21

Posted by Dave Hasney

Image via Wikipedia

On the 6th December 2010, North Yorkshire‘s chief constable, Grahame Maxwell, told the BBC that in light of enforced fiscal constraint; he was looking at “restructuring the organisation.”

In his previous force (South Yorkshire Police) he introduced a new ‘performance framework’, ‘restructured’ policing in Sheffield, assisted in introducing Neighbourhood Policing force-wide and was instrumental in driving the Force’s overall change programme.

On his appointment to North Yorkshire Police in May 2007, many of the rank and file saw him simply as the Police Authority’s ’hatchet man’, someone who would save money in any way he could and as fast as possible. Staff have commented on his apparent quoted intention; ‘to fully implement all the budget cuts required (by government over a four-year period) within six to twelve months’???

The methodology would appear to fit with his CV thus far however, wouldn’t it? These thoughts now appear to have come true.. In reality, Mr Maxwell has been doing little else other than ‘restructuring’ during recent years, apart from getting in hot water whilst manning the NYP recruitment line that is…

York Press: NORTH Yorkshire’s chief constable is to face a charge of gross misconduct at a disciplinary hearing following claims he rigged a force recruitment drive to benefit his own relatives…(Read more)

During the recent years of his career, Mr Maxwell has done little to endear himself to the workforce locally, or indeed the frontline of the service nationally. As the head of the ACPO Finance and Resources business area since 2009 this is hardly surprising. Especially when you consider, how heavily involved in the future shape and funding of the police service he has been. I and many others are wondering; if there’s supposedly a four-year window for many of the cuts, why is Maxwell in such a rush to make those savings?

Is there some personal driver other than one of efficient business management? Could there be some desire to quickly obtain further ‘evidence’ of capability for impending job applications? Whatever the driver, let’s return to the actual and important issues affecting North Yorkshire…

At the back-end of last month the local media was full of reports about police cutbacks and the possibility of redundancies. Everyone appeared to be interested in how the government austerity measures were going to impact upon local services. However, it appears the ‘red hot’ journalistic scoops must have dried up. Given the importance of the issues to our communities you should be asking, why is this?

Recently I posted about the redundancy plans at North Yorkshire Police, in so much more than just job losses, I also commented on the managers speaking with forked tongues. For some time now I’ve held a suspicion that the force management have been, economical with the truth, whilst ’consulting’ their staff and just engineering ‘positive spin’ when talking to the media.

The management of the force has consistently informed staff, “we’re just considering the options” when asked about restructuring and job losses. Despite the fact many saw the writing on the wall early in 2010, the management speak has actually proved to be totally dishonest. They have known exactly what their decision was, long before any open addmition to media or staff. It was therefore unsurprising that Mystic Ethel’s predictions during the middle of last year have actually come to fruition!

Around about the same time the Chief Constable‘s intentions were starting to leak out, and the possibility of redundancy was worrying many members of police staff, the HMIC Roger Baker QPM addressed a large audience of UNISON Officials at their National Police and Justice Conference in October 2010 where he said…

“North Yorkshire Police force is the only force in England and Wales who do not have to make any compulsory redundancies to find the required financial savings the government require” (HMI Roger Baker)

It is now two weeks since the staff at the Police HQ Control Room in Newby Wiske were told their jobs had been identified for redundancy and the control room would be closed. Since that date there appears to have been a sudden media blackout. Indeed, the previous force policy of ‘openness and honesty’ when dealing with the media appears to have been constrained somewhat. There was a time when any member of staff could talk to the press, so long as it was factual, honest and within the bounds of relevent legislation, not so now.

I understand from my various sources that recently, a ‘gagging order’ instruction has been issued to all staff in the force. It basically prevents any communication with the press about the current situation, unless it has been passed by the ‘Corporate Communications’ Department. For the past six months or so now, the staff at both control rooms (HQ & York) have had their job descriptions and posts interpreted and defined in different ways by senior officers (in true politician style); usually dependant upon the format of any question raised by the staff or the media.

Its a single department based at two sites.
Its a ‘virtual’ operation and location is unimportant.
The staff at the two separate locations perform the same role.
The staff at the separate control rooms have different roles.

What are they trying to hide all of a sudden and more importantly, why? Lets look at a timeline of some of the media output…

BBC (13th Oct 2010) : Looming government spending cuts will lead to fewer police on the streets of North Yorkshire, the county’s chief constable has warned. – Back office services, including personnel, finance and IT, would have to be run on a regional basis in collaboration with colleagues in the West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and Humberside forces.

“You cannot make a 25% reduction in your budget without affecting front-line service delivery.” (Grahame Maxwell)

“The public will see reduced levels of policing.” (Grahame Maxwell)

“It is going to be a very different service and we are going to have to think differently about how we are going to deliver it.” (Grahame Maxwell)

Unsurprisingly this initial piece ticked all the boxes of the ACPO corporate message. It’s the standard message that was tripping off the tongues of senior officers up and down the country since the austerity measures were first announced. It continued, despite a comment from the HMIC in October. The BBC (21st Oct 2010) reported that…

Up to 300 posts could be lost at North Yorkshire Police as a result of the cuts outlined in the governments Spending Review, the forces chief constable has said.

Mr Maxwell (and many other ACPO officers) continued to blame the government for cutbacks to frontline services. The senior officers of the nation refused to accept that; many of today’s failures in policing delivery actually sit with them, not the government. They are the captains who have been steering the ships! Their denial has however waned slightly of late, especially since they noticed the government and media led public backlash about the possible effects to frontline services.

BBC (13th Jan 2011): North Yorkshire Police has started a consultation process about staff redundancies. Talks will take place with unions during the 90-day consultation and then staff will be informed of changes.

“I can give my assurance that the redundancy process and restructure will be handled sensitively and professionally.” (Grahame Maxwell)

BBC (26th Jan 2011) : One of the control rooms which handles 999 calls at North Yorkshire Police could be closed as part of cost-cutting measures, it has been confirmed. The force said it was reviewing its control room provision, with a view to either retaining the existing sites at Newby Wiske and York or closing one. The force said any decision would be based on “maximising efficiency” while continuing “a high-level of service”.

“The options that are being explored include retaining the current two control room sites at Newby Wiske and York, or removing one of the two sites.” (ACC Tim Madgwick)

“While the consultation process is ongoing it would not be appropriate to go into any more detail at this stage, other than to say that any decision will be based on maximising efficiency while continuing to provide a high-level of service to the public.” (ACC Tim Madgwick)

Still no admission of their long-standing intention, despite the fact staff already knew and, when confirmation did actually surface, many of them found out from social media sites such as Facebook and/or the more mainstream media. The word ‘disgusting’ doesn’t even start to address the way they have been treated.

On the 31st January 2011, UNISON voiced their concearnes about the enforced redundancy proposals in a letter to both the Chief Constable and Chair of the Police Authority. A copy of the letter, which I have seen, was circulated to all staff last week…

We believe the force will be making its staff and Officers vulnerable when performing their jobs due to the lack of support and an untried centralised control room that we believe, will be under staffed, under greater pressure and vulnerable to technical failures which have occurred in the past. (John Mackfall, Branch Secretary)

Obviously UNISON represent all of the police staff, not just those who work in the control rooms. Despite their previous lacklustre performance in fully representing the issues affecting their 24/7 members or those who are required to work shifts, it is refreshing they have finally woken up to smell the coffee and realise the dire consequences of the senior management teams methodology.

The police branch of Unison believe policing across North Yorkshire will be seriously hit by the cuts, which would also include about 310 staff redundancies in the first half of 2011. (York Press)

I would suggest the North Yorkshire Police redundancy debacle is simply further evidence to support the widely held theory that; ACPO members have more self-interest than concern for the future of the service, or the staff they are responsible for leading!