Policing UK 2013 - Police Federation

THE POLICE REFORM PROGRAMME
“This experience… demonstrates how
important it is to fully engage
with collaborative partners at
all levels of the organisation.”
Delivering improvements
Over 1 months into the contract
and the majority of the major service
improvement programmes have been
delivered, which gives an indication of
the scale and pace of change.
As well as delivering significant
savings and improved technology, the
partnership set out to introduce a shared
services model for the provision of
business support services to the force,
authority and members of the public
in Cleveland. This has resulted in a
new shared service centre being set up
to provide this single point of contact,
and more enquiries are being resolved
during the first call. There is also a 24
support service available for ICT issues.
A further aspect to the partnership
is the call-back system, which has been
introduced where a dedicated team in
the control room calls back members of
the public to obtain feedback on their
experience of the call handling, how the
officer attending dealt with them, as well
as providing an update on the progress
of their incident.
The changes in processes, new
working practices and improved
technology have released 11 police
officer posts. These have either been
redeployed onto the front line or as
the officers retire, further savings have
been made.
For such a wide-ranging partnership
between the public and private sector,
it was inevitable that challenges
would arise. The sheer scale of the
transformation and strict deadlines
set out in the contract meant that
pressure was on both sides to ensure
implementation was on time and without
problems.
The technological infrastructure and
networks that the force was operating on
have also proved a significant challenge
on their own, to stabilise and allow new
technology to embed as part of the
transformation programme.
Looking back over the first 1 months,
two significant challenges stand out.
Firstly, the underestimation of the
strength of the psychological contract
between individuals and the force as
they transferred from a public sector
emergency service to a private sector
company.
The move to Steria has, however,
resulted in some staff seeing positive
promotion and career change
opportunities as a result of transferring
to the private sector.
Secondly, both the force and
Steria would have benefited from a
clearer shared understanding of the
complexities and diversity of police
work, especially in the more operational
facing units. Both of these areas continue
to present challenges, but issues are
being tackled positively as they arise.
Collaboration essential
We are getting better at collaborating
with partners. This outsourcing
experience with Steria and my previous
work collaborating with another force
demonstrates how important it is to fully
engage with collaborative partners at
all levels of the organisation, and
explain to our staff and stakeholders
what is happening at each stage of
the process.
We have had our challenges over the
last 1 months, but I think we have all
worked hard at resolving these. We know
why we entered into the contract – as
well as making savings it was about
linking up with a partner who would
enable us to deliver improved and
more efficient services to the public in
Cleveland and we are well on our way to
achieving that.
ohn Torrie, Chief Executive
Officer, Steria UK, says, The Steria
team has worked in close partnership
with the force and police authority
to deliver significant business change
and it is rewarding to see the success
that has been achieved and how the
transformation programme is making
a positive difference to both the officers
and residents of Cleveland.
POLICING UK | 39