Policing UK 2013 - Police Federation
Policing UK 2013 - Police Federation
Policing UK 2013 - Police Federation
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
THE POLICE REFORM PROGRAMME<br />
“This experience… demonstrates how<br />
important it is to fully engage<br />
with collaborative partners at<br />
all levels of the organisation.”<br />
Delivering improvements<br />
Over 1 months into the contract<br />
and the majority of the major service<br />
improvement programmes have been<br />
delivered, which gives an indication of<br />
the scale and pace of change.<br />
As well as delivering significant<br />
savings and improved technology, the<br />
partnership set out to introduce a shared<br />
services model for the provision of<br />
business support services to the force,<br />
authority and members of the public<br />
in Cleveland. This has resulted in a<br />
new shared service centre being set up<br />
to provide this single point of contact,<br />
and more enquiries are being resolved<br />
during the first call. There is also a 24<br />
support service available for ICT issues.<br />
A further aspect to the partnership<br />
is the call-back system, which has been<br />
introduced where a dedicated team in<br />
the control room calls back members of<br />
the public to obtain feedback on their<br />
experience of the call handling, how the<br />
officer attending dealt with them, as well<br />
as providing an update on the progress<br />
of their incident.<br />
The changes in processes, new<br />
working practices and improved<br />
technology have released 11 police<br />
officer posts. These have either been<br />
redeployed onto the front line or as<br />
the officers retire, further savings have<br />
been made.<br />
For such a wide-ranging partnership<br />
between the public and private sector,<br />
it was inevitable that challenges<br />
would arise. The sheer scale of the<br />
transformation and strict deadlines<br />
set out in the contract meant that<br />
pressure was on both sides to ensure<br />
implementation was on time and without<br />
problems.<br />
The technological infrastructure and<br />
networks that the force was operating on<br />
have also proved a significant challenge<br />
on their own, to stabilise and allow new<br />
technology to embed as part of the<br />
transformation programme.<br />
Looking back over the first 1 months,<br />
two significant challenges stand out.<br />
Firstly, the underestimation of the<br />
strength of the psychological contract<br />
between individuals and the force as<br />
they transferred from a public sector<br />
emergency service to a private sector<br />
company.<br />
The move to Steria has, however,<br />
resulted in some staff seeing positive<br />
promotion and career change<br />
opportunities as a result of transferring<br />
to the private sector.<br />
Secondly, both the force and<br />
Steria would have benefited from a<br />
clearer shared understanding of the<br />
complexities and diversity of police<br />
work, especially in the more operational<br />
facing units. Both of these areas continue<br />
to present challenges, but issues are<br />
being tackled positively as they arise.<br />
Collaboration essential<br />
We are getting better at collaborating<br />
with partners. This outsourcing<br />
experience with Steria and my previous<br />
work collaborating with another force<br />
demonstrates how important it is to fully<br />
engage with collaborative partners at<br />
all levels of the organisation, and<br />
explain to our staff and stakeholders<br />
what is happening at each stage of<br />
the process.<br />
We have had our challenges over the<br />
last 1 months, but I think we have all<br />
worked hard at resolving these. We know<br />
why we entered into the contract – as<br />
well as making savings it was about<br />
linking up with a partner who would<br />
enable us to deliver improved and<br />
more efficient services to the public in<br />
Cleveland and we are well on our way to<br />
achieving that.<br />
ohn Torrie, Chief Executive<br />
Officer, Steria <strong>UK</strong>, says, The Steria<br />
team has worked in close partnership<br />
with the force and police authority<br />
to deliver significant business change<br />
and it is rewarding to see the success<br />
that has been achieved and how the<br />
transformation programme is making<br />
a positive difference to both the officers<br />
and residents of Cleveland.<br />
POLICING <strong>UK</strong> | 39