A joint report advising police forces on how to improve value for money has been released by senior police figures.

Building on the Government’s Policing White Paper, the report provides further detail on how savings of at least £545 million will be delivered.

The recommendations were compiled by representatives from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), the Association of Police Authorities (APA), the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA), Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) and the Home Office.

The High Level Working Group Report on Police Value for Money sets out opportunities for police forces and authorities in England and Wales to improve on delivering value for money.

It stresses the importance for authorities and forces to be transparent in the way in which they spend their money. As part of this approach, authorities will be asked to publish a ‘Value for Money Statement’ as part of their local policing plan. These statements will be expected to include:

•Improvements in deployment of officers and staff;
•Reductions in overtime;
•A programme of business process improvement;
•Reductions in locally imposed bureaucracy;
•Converging IT nationally as part of the Information Systems Improvement Strategy (ISIS) programme;
•Streamlining support services;
•Local approaches and collaboration;
•Economising to make savings in wider overhead expenses.

APA Chair Rob Garnham said: “When money is tight, communities need to know more than ever that the police are spending their money in the most efficient way possible. Police authorities, which set and monitor constabulary budgets, are committed to identifying and creating cost savings that make a significant impact within the police service, yet still retain the vital services that local people say they depend on.”

Deployment and overtime – Overtime is highlighted in the report as an area where big savings can be made, and the advice is that more effective deployment could reduce the need for the outgoing.
“Better deployment and shift patterns that match demand for policing services are a vital part of managing the use of overtime by forces,” the report states.

The overtime bill amounts to almost £0.5 billion across England and Wales. Police authorities and forces are expected to significantly reduce this.

Effective deployment will be one of the key areas to be inspected in the Working for the Public inspection in 2010.

The Police Federation, however, believes the report’s view of overtime is distorted and that it “fails to appreciate the nature of the job officers do”.

Chairman of the Police Federation, Paul McKeever, said: “We don’t do overtime out of choice, but out of a duty to uphold the law. We cannot just walk away from criminals or turn our backs on crimes being committed – policing is a 24/7 job and forces have to ensure the resilience of shifts matches the demands placed by crime.”

Back office support – The report also picks up on the disparity between the levels of support staff per 100 members of the workforce across England and Wales. With figures ranging from 13 per cent to 6.4 per cent, authorities and forces are expected to reduce the number of staff in support functions to a figure closer to 7.1 per cent. If this is achieved, savings of up to £75 million are predicted.

Getting technical – ICT services are singled out as the largest category of spending within goods and services, amounting to just over £1 billion.

The report proposes that the ISIS represents an opportunity to deliver significant savings, up to £200 million by 2014. The ISIS programme is proposed as the resolution to rationalising and reducing the number of data centres and costs of ICT infrastructure.

Reviewing the basics – The report also calls for chief constables to consider how best to provide neighbourhood services and encourages forces to review whether their basic command units maximise delivery for the public.

It warns that a fundamental examination of structures and processes will be needed to transform the delivery of the public’s priorities and the management of risk, threat and harm.

Policing Minister David Hanson will write to all chief constables and police authorities urging them to assess how the report’s findings can help them improve their efforts to maximise value for money.

HMIC will launch an inspection of the country’s forces later this year, focusing on the value for money they offer the public.

ACPO lead on finance and resources, Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell, said: “The police service has been highly creative in making savings without impacting on our front line service and will respond positively to the recommendations in this report. Value for money is vital and we are seeing some strong examples of innovation, with forces collaborating on IT, on joint operations and other services. Some forces have already begun a process of replacing their basic command unit (BCU) structures while others are refining the BCU structure to deal with modern demands.”