Sustaining value for money in the police service
Management and leadership of efficiency
The Chief Constable leads the corporate savings approach. He sees his role as vision, direction, performance and finance and ‘getting all the senior staff engaged’. Focus groups for staff aim to build empowerment and trust.
Threat, harm and risk integrates with priorities and savings
Derbyshire Police uses threat, harm and risk assessment to set priorities and find savings. The risk-based approach began in 2008. It aligns the budget with strategic risks.
‘We started to understand what the main issues are that we face as a force and as a County. We then started saying what do we need to put into and where do we need take it out?’
Chief Constable
The assessment uses 23 criteria including prevention and public confidence, crime trends and intelligence. The assessment covers 42 types of criminality across each of the three National Intelligence Model (NIM) levels. It helps the force to understand risk for the County, force and organisation based on community, operational, and organisational risks.
- Operational risk: crime, harm, terrorism, organised crime, disorder.
- Organisational risk: people, infrastructure, buildings, IT.
- Community risk: intelligence from partners.
‘[It is about] changing what we do, stop doing things and recognising your priorities.’
Chief Constable
Derbyshire identified its operational risks as terrorism, organised crime, public protection, domestic violence and child abuse. Local levels of violent crime reduced from 18.34 cases per 1,000 population in 2006/07 to 16.21 in 2008/09 following the decision to focus on the issue. Compared with its seven peer group forces, Derbyshire has made the most progress over three years in reducing violent crime.
The force also identified low priorities, including roads policing where improvements in vehicle design, speed cameras and traffic calming were reducing death and serious injury rates. Money removed from roads policing and structural change released £3 million to improve public protection, support counter-terrorism and reduce organised crime.
Despite the reductions in road policing, the numbers of deaths and serious injuries fell from 6.33 per 100 million vehicle kilometres travelled in 2007 to 5.71 in 2008.
‘The rationale was clear, everyone understood it and there was no resistance to buying into it.’
Chief Constable
As part of risk management, Derbyshire police holds annual force-wide strategic risk seminars with the Police Authority, partners and national agencies. This seminar confirms the key policing risks to address as part of the budget process. Strategic and embedded efficiency are linked to police priorities.
Efficiency planning and monitoring
Derbyshire Constabulary link efficiency and financial planning with an analysis of threat, harm and risk.
Whole system service transformation
In June 2009, the Chief Constable commissioned Moving Forward to examine force spending and service delivery. The programme aimed to identify how Derbyshire police can deliver more for less. It links public confidence, value of money, risk and force priorities.
As part of Moving Forward, all divisional commanders and heads of department reviewed their existing spending to identify savings equivalent to 5 per cent, 10 per cent and 15 per cent of their budget. This resulted in 196 areas for saving. The force expects to save £3.2 million in 2010/11 and £5.7 million in 2011/12. Departments were also asked to find savings of 5, 10 and 15 per cent from police officer numbers. The Association of Chief Police Officers team challenged managers on the savings they identified.
One result from Moving Forward has taken 26 evidence review officers from custody suites saving £700,000. The force has also transferred responsibility for overseeing evidence gathering and case preparation back to sergeants.
The force has a new three-divisional structure to release police officers to areas of higher risk and make savings in criminal justice and administration. It is also centralising crime management to reduce the officer and staff resources required to record crime.
The force has started an estates review to reduce property numbers and maintenance resources. It is also reviewing analytical capacity.
Most collaborative savings identified and delivered
Derbyshire identifies and delivers savings across the NIM levels. It leads regional collaboration in the East Midlands in counter-terrorism, organised crime and procurement. The force saved £1 million on technical support by sharing regional equipment with the four other forces in the East Midlands.
The force also works with local partners. Derbyshire County Council delivers 5,500 free training places to the police safer neighbourhood teams. Training covers antisocial behaviour and hate crime. Without a partnership approach the force would need to invest in its own training.
Derby Basic Command Unit (BCU) has weekly tasking sessions with partners to tackle neighbourhood priorities and reduce demands on the police.
Sustainability of efficiency savings
Derbyshire Constabulary began its efficiency journey in the early 1980s when budget capping made it focus on value for money and savings. It has a long-term improvement and efficiency approach linked to threat, harm and risk. The Force aims to reallocate savings to high-risk areas or uses them to balance the budget.
Timescales
Derbyshire has a long-term plan for savings. The ACPO team challenges existing organisational and financial arrangements encouraging business managers to make savings.
Learning points
- A threat, harm and risk approach can identify force priorities and identify areas for savings.
- A whole systems approach can help the force to achieve long-term savings while maintaining or improving effectiveness in priority areas.
- Collaboration can identify savings at each NIM level.
Five questions for police forces and authorities to consider
- How well does your force integrate threat, harm and risk with priorities and savings?
- How well does the police authority challenge the force to use a whole systems approach?
- How well are business managers challenged by the ACPO to find and make savings?
- How far do savings align with the force long-term planning?
- How far do organisational structures support transformational change?