Sustaining value for money in the police service
Management and leadership of efficiency
The Chief Constable of Cumbria has developed a continuous improvement culture and raised the efficiency profile. He personally leads change management.
Teams and senior managers share savings ideas. The force trains staff to undertake lean reviews and the Association of Chief Police Officers team challenges business heads to identify savings.
‘Every basic command unit and every director, as part of their performance contract, has to deliver cashable efficiency.’
Chief Constable
The Police Authority identifies transformational re-engineering as essential to making savings. It has agreed members’ roles including financial management, continuous improvement and performance challenge. Cumbria Police Authority members sit on force project boards acting as ‘change enablers’. It is also keen to work with partners to co-locate services and share estates.
Threat, harm and risk integrates to priorities and savings
Cumbria Constabulary and its Authority both have a threat, harm and risk approach to strategic planning. The Deputy Chief Constable is responsible for risk management, supported by the senior managers’ forum. The Strategic Risk Working Group reports to the governance committee and shares risk responsibilities.
In 2009/10 the force identified efficiency savings totalling £3.1 million. £1.6 million was removed from the budget and £1.5 million was reinvested to front-line policing.
Efficiency planning and monitoring
In Cumbria, efficiency planning integrates threat, harm and risk and financial planning.
The Police Authority recognises its role to monitor efficiency. The Policing Plan and Performance Committee monitors efficiency quarterly alongside the policing plan. The Police Authority has also set up a working group to scrutinise and challenge the Force on its savings plans.
A force Sustainability and Excellence Coordination Board is accountable for the Beyond 2012 work programme. The programme is informed by benchmarking data and alternative delivery choices. The force risk assesses choices and uses cost and benefit analysis.
Whole system service transformation
In March 2009, the Chief Constable put in place the Beyond 2012 Achieving Excellence and Sustainability programme to improve performance while delivering savings. The force identified that it needs to save £6 million by 2013/14.
Some savings in 2009/10 came from the efficiency programme. These include:
- Direct crime recording saving £200,000.
- A new energy contract saving £162,000.
- Rationalising the communications centre and helping desk staffing saving £240,000.
The force expects annual savings of £1 million from 2010/11 by reviewing structures and processes supporting Basic Command Units (BCUs).
The force made other savings from its delegated budgets. The Association of Chief Police Officers team challenges business heads to make savings. In 2009/10 business heads removed £400,000 from locally devolved budgets.
Most collaborative savings identified and delivered
Cumbria police supports regional collaboration on counter-terrorism. The efficiency programme also includes regional procurement.
The Force also works with local partners to reduce bureaucracy and improve criminal justice processes making partnership working more effective. Cumbria Police and the County Council are examining the potential to share joint ICT arrangements including a single network and supply.
Cumbria also uses neighbourhood management principles as part of its level 1 partnership approach. For example, the Barrow Neighbourhood Management Office is a partnership of the fire and rescue service, police, county and district councils, and voluntary services. The one-stop shop reduces demand on police services and achieves savings.
StreetSafe is a multi-agency project with county and district councils, voluntary services and police. Teams target neighbourhoods to identify and revolve antisocial behaviour (ASB) issues reducing police pressures.
Workforce modernisation
The Cumbria efficiency programme includes workforce modernisation. Since 2009/10, the force has made annual savings of £432,000 from workforce modernisation. It expects to identify more savings in 2010/11 from a modernisation programme including a review of neighbourhood policing teams, CID, community safety and the communications centre. In total the force expects annual savings of £1 million.
The force expects annual savings of £344,000 from the CID review. It includes partial or staged workforce modernisation in five areas:
- Financial investigators.
- Custody investigation teams.
- Area intelligence units.
- Crime desks.
- Disclosure and exhibits.
The force controls staff recruitment and is delaying officer recruitment. The force undertook a management numbers benchmarking exercise comparing themselves with the most similar force group. They set a target to be the lowest. It has reduced management ratios of chief superintendents, superintendents and chief inspectors.
Sustainability of efficiency savings
Cumbria links savings to low or non-priorities using a threat, harm and risk assessment. It moves some resources to meet new demands and other savings meet funding gaps. It has a long-term focus on efficiency savings as well as a planned medium-term approach.
Timescales
Over the last decade Cumbria has undertaken three root and branch efficiency reviews. The current review includes structures to achieve efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability for the next five to ten years.
Learning points
- The police authority has a lead role to shape the efficiency agenda and challenge the force to identify and make savings.
- A threat, harm and risk approach can identify force priorities and identify areas for savings.
- Collaboration with local partners can achieve savings and maintain performance.
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 well are local partners part of the solution to more for less?
- How far do organisational structures support transformational change?