8: The Capacity to Deliver

“People who never make mistakes never make anything.”
IPCC

Chapter Summary

This chapter deals with:

The characteristics of a modernised police service
The right structure
The right systems
The right culture

8.1 We return in this chapter to employment matters in the MPS and focus on leadership and management. Both are vital to operational success but they are as crucial to the issues that specifically concern us: policies, procedures and practices; how officers and staff are treated; how they perceive the organisation they work for; the relevant organisational structures; and workforce development.

The characteristics of a modernised police service

8.2 Before we consider these issues in detail, it is instructive to examine two versions of what it takes to make a successful organisation.

8.3 We were referred to the Department of Trade and Industry publication, Accounting for People: Report of the Task Force on Human Capital Management 2003. This cites ACAS’ view of the key characteristics associated with effective organisations. These are:

“A vision, mission and strategy that are known and understood;
An open, communicative management style with arrangements that allow employees a ‘meaningful/genuine voice’ through which their views are sought and considered;
A culture that encourages learning and continuous improvement and promotes the updating/acquisition of skills and knowledge at every level;
A work organisation that promotes initiative and encourages team working;
Policies/practices/procedures that promote equal opportunities regardless of age, gender, race or religion along with a working environment free of discrimination, bullying, harassment;
A transparent pay and reward system that recognises employees’ contributions, treats employees fairly and is non-discriminatory;
The opportunity for all employees to work as flexibly as possible within the organisation’s operational constraints so as to enable a better work-life balance;
A commitment to as much employment security as possible;
Constructive relationships with trade unions where recognised (a ‘partnership’ approach), which helps to promote trust between the managers and the workforce;
Formal procedures covering the handling of discipline, grievances, and disputes.”

8.4 Additionally, in the HMIC publication, Modernising the Police Service: A Thematic Inspection of Workforce Modernisation – The Role, Management and Deployment of Police Staff in the Police Service of England and Wales, the Inspectorate has indicated that it would see a modernised police organisation as having the following characteristics:

“Is an integrated service with a clear vision regarding its future direction and the people and skills required to deliver this.
Has a clear focus on improving operational performance.
Engages effectively with local communities.
Recognises and rewards the skills and professionalism of the entire workforce.
Is representative of staff from diverse backgrounds with diverse skills.
Has flexible entry and exit points.
Operates flexible and integrated reward structures and terms and conditions.
Is locally managed but within enabling national frameworks and standards.
Has an inclusive culture.
Benefits from effective leaders at all levels with the vision, time and resources to drive modernisation activity, both within the service and across organisational and professional boundaries.
Works effectively in partnership with other organisations.
Is not fixated with internal boundaries and functional silos.”

8.5 There is considerable overlap between these two sets of attributes. Drawing on the views of both ACAS and HMIC, we see an effective organisation as one with the right structure, the right culture, the right systems, the right people with the right skills and, above all, the right leadership.

8.6 This is the yardstick against which we will examine the MPS and make recommendations to assist in developing the capacity we believe it needs to become a modernised police service.

8.7 We were greatly assisted in our consideration of the matters in this and the following chapter by the evidence of Sir Michael Lyons and Nigel Whittaker.

8.8 Sir Michael was Chief Executive of Birmingham City Council, the largest local authority in the country, for many years and now has a portfolio career. He holds a number of non-executive positions and is deputy chairman of the Audit Commission. He was a member of the Independent Fire Service Review (the Bain Review) and led the review of public sector relocation for the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Deputy Prime Minister.

8.9 Nigel Whittaker’s background is in the private sector. He has spent many years working on corporate reputation management with large companies. For over 12 years he was a main board director of European retailer Kingfisher plc, including roles as Chairman of B&Q and Group Corporate Affairs Director. He served as Chairman of the Government’s Deregulation Taskforce for Retail, Tourism and Small Business.

8.10 We consider ourselves fortunate to have been able to secure the assistance of such eminent individuals and would like to record our thanks for their contribution to our work.

The right structure

8.11 The right structure is one which facilitates operational success, allows leaders to lead and drive the organisation forward and makes the most of the talents available to it.

8.12 Operational policing is not part of our remit and we, therefore, do not intend making any comment on the structure the MPS considers appropriate to deliver policing to the people of London. However, our terms of reference ask us to consider employment matters in the MPS and whether the structures of the MPS represent good effective practice.

8.13 We have already commented on the structure the MPS has adopted to deal with diversity and also the handling of Employment Tribunal claims.

8.14 There is, however, a wider issue which concerns the top structure of the MPS and whether it is such that the ‘business’ aspects of the Service (finance, property, information technology, etc.) can be run effectively and facilitate additional operational success.

8.15 Figure 12 sets out the current structure of the MPS. It shows that responsibility for support functions is spread across the top tier of management. For example, the Information directorate comes under the Deputy Commissioner, whilst HR is the responsibility of an Assistant Commissioner. The Public Affairs directorate reports to the Commissioner himself and there is a Director of Resources who is responsible for finance and property. Thus, the only individual with overall responsibility for these support functions is the Commissioner himself.

8.16 The Commissioner’s role is one of extraordinary breadth. He is responsible for operational policing in the capital and also for running a business with a budget of over £2.5 billion and over 43,000 officers and staff. He has to provide strategic executive management on the one hand and must deliver strategic operational leadership on the other. We have already commented on the various individuals and bodies to which he is accountable. He also has a significant international role.

8.17 All the component parts of his role are crucial for the effective running of the organisation but we have received evidence of some managerial weaknesses within the MPS. In particular, we have heard that some support functions are not being effectively managed and co-ordinated to facilitate proper people management.

8.18 We have in mind, in particular, the criticisms of financial planning and basic finance and asset management contained in the most recent inspection report of the MPS from HMIC (2002 / 2003).

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Figure 12: MPS Senior Police and Police Staff Structure

View a larger version of figure 12 [GIF image; 37KB]
Read a textual description of figure 12

8.19 HMIC was particularly concerned that the MPS does not yet have a medium term corporate strategy and was “struck by the sheer abundance of data produced by the MPS combined with the relative lack of incisive analytical products and a distinct lack of costing information.” HMIC commented that the MPA’s Internal Audit team was only able to offer a 50 per cent reassurance on the adequacy of financial control and the effectiveness of the systems within the MPS.

8.20 In addition, HMIC was concerned that a number of information systems and technology budgets had been devolved and that a catalogue of available hardware and software applications had been produced, but that the relevant directorate does not hold records of the equipment which has been purchased and is therefore unable to check compliance with both the corporate policy and the legal requirements surrounding the use and licensing of computer software.

8.21 Whereas other parts of the public sector, including other police services, have made great progress in finance and asset management in recent years, the MPS appears to have lagged behind. No doubt one reason for this was, to quote the MPS’ Director of Finance Services, Sharon Burd, in an interview with the Local Government Chronicle Finance Supplement (6th April 2004), the MPS had not had “the need to manage budgets in the same way as every other local authority and police force does. The Home Office was sitting right behind us and would always bail out any overspending we had; it was a bit like having a rich mummy or daddy as a teenager.”

Whatever the reason, the discipline of effective business management does not appear to be an organisational strength.

8.22 Whilst we are told by the MPS’ Director of Resources, Keith Luck, that the “Resources Directorate has achieved significant improvements in the MPS budget-setting control processes” including in the areas of financial planning, information and controls. This progress was strongly emphasised in the MPS’ response to this criticism in draft form. However, we remain concerned that the business aspects of the organisation have not made as much progress in recent years as they should have done to maximise operational effectiveness.

8.23 The competing demands on the role of the Commissioner led us to consider whether an alternative model might be more effective. We considered splitting the various aspects of the role but received no evidence in favour of this proposition.

8.24 However, the two experts we heard from, Sir Michael Lyons and Nigel Whittaker, could see a virtue in looking at the structure beneath the Commissioner:

“… having established that the Commissioner is the leader of the Police Service, you then need to get the structure right beneath that to look after both operational and business matters, and the two are not always the same thing.”
(Evidence of Sir Michael Lyons.)

“… so the ability to have quality people who can identify what the issues are, to help the Commissioner think them through and to liaise with all of these people I think is the only way that the Commissioner could possibly hope to carry out his responsibilities properly.”
(Evidence of Nigel Whittaker.)

8.25 In looking at the structure below the Commissioner, Sir Michael could see a case for grouping all the support functions under one person. He cited the various strategic director models that operate within local authorities, although he had one caveat that there should still be a functional expert below the strategic director so that all senior managers had access to expert advice in the various fields.

8.26 Sir Michael also raised the issue of whether the Commissioner had to be a police officer:

“I do not want to be too revolutionary and suggest that that second one is an easy question to answer. I think it is much easier to answer, and we come across this in the Bain Review on the fire service, where much less has been done in the fire service to develop managerial and leadership skills, and therefore I think there is a rather weaker pool to choose from than there is in the Police Service, where there has been some investment over a number of years in developing the skills and experiences of potential members of high command …

“But still, I think there is a question there, and if you are going to get the best out of our public services, then I think you need excellent leadership and managerial skills, and you do run a risk, if you limit yourself, to saying, ‘And you have also got to have done this, and this and this’, because in the end you have actually got a rather narrow field to choose from.”

8.27 We think that careful consideration needs to be given as to whether the MPS’ current top structure is the best model that can be devised to maximise operational effectiveness.

We therefore recommend that the MPS and the Metropolitan Police Authority create a police staff post, which would undertake the functions of a Chief Operating Officer, to bring all the support services in the MPS (Finance, Human Resources, Communications, Legal Services, Property, Information Systems and Technology, Procurement, Logistical Services, etc.) together under one individual who would be equal in status to the Deputy Commissioner with a remit which spans the whole of the organisation.

8.28 This post would not be a return to the previous post of Receiver. We agree with the Commissioner that the MPS has moved on. We envisage a suitably qualified strategic manager who would have the authority to influence all areas of the MPS’ operation.

The right systems

8.29 The right structure must be supported by the right systems. The framework in which officers and staff have to operate must be clear and easy to understand. It will include transparent accountability arrangements with decisions taken at the appropriate level. Our focus is people management and devolution has a vital part to play in providing a structure for local managers to manage the officers and staff for whom they are responsible.

8.30 Devolution, if implemented properly, encourages initiative and innovation. Effective communication systems, both vertical and horizontal, formal and informal, are also essential. So too are formal procedures for disciplinary, grievance and disputes, promoting equality and ensuring a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. We have already dealt with the MPS’ policies and procedures on diversity and discipline and other employment matters and do not intend saying more here.

This section will therefore concentrate on devolution and communication.

Devolution

8.31 Our recommendations for enhancing the office of constable are aimed at streamlining and modernising the discipline process and allowing managers to manage. We think that enabling managers to deal with the majority of discipline matters on a local level will provide greater flexibility and resolve issues more quickly.

8.32 To make this process work, however, managers need to have greater experience and confidence in dealing with strategic managerial issues.

8.33 There are various ways in which managers can be supported. One important aspect of that support, however, is devolution of power and functions from the centre of the MPS to the OCUs.

8.34 This is a process which is already under way, having started with devolution of personnel functions:

“In 1995, the recommendations of the Personnel Theme paper devolved responsibility and decision making from Personnel Department to local managers, in a range of personnel management activities. This devolution was supported by the introduction of professionally qualified Personnel Managers at Operational Command Unit (OCU) level and by a structure led by Business Managers on each of the five MPS Areas.”
(Submission from Assistant Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe.)

8.35 Devolution is now being applied to more and more functions. The MPS acknowledges that the process is incomplete, although it contends that the organisation is making advances:

“We are now devolving 80 per cent of the budget to boroughs and to OCUs: that is including police pay, which is obviously the main component.”
(Evidence of the Deputy Commissioner, Sir Ian Blair.)

8.36 We support the move to empowering local managers, in the many functions where it is appropriate to do so.

“But let us be clear, they do not happen just by giving people the job; you have to develop their skills and support them. I think there are some key components of good devolution, and these are all responsibilities that I attach to a leader of a service. One is, are you clear about what your objectives are and are they clearly communicated across the organisation? …

“Secondly, have you got in place good control and monitoring systems so the people to which you give responsibility know for themselves how they are performing, have reliable information coming available to them?

“Thirdly, do you have a good central function that is capable of good strategic planning and special intervention – and I guess this is particularly important for the Metropolitan service – for all those range of issues that cannot be dealt with at local delivery level.”
(Evidence of Sir Michael Lyons.)

8.37 It appears to us that some aspects of devolution do not operate effectively. We acknowledge that our impression may be due to the fact that the process of devolution is incomplete, but nevertheless we thought we should highlight two particular areas of concern.

8.38 One of our witnesses felt that: “There is devolution of things that really do not matter that much, but things that do matter are still controlled from the centre, particularly around human resources.” (Evidence of Detective Chief Superintendent Coles.) It is obviously a concern for the future, and for the proper implementation of our recommendations, if such a view is more widely held.

8.39 Control and use of budgets is a key component to making a devolved structure work and to encourage innovation. Therefore, we were surprised to hear from two OCU Commanders that that was not the way the current system works:

“Mr Spindler: I am not aware of any great devolution. I do not feel I have particular control of my £25 million budget, and indeed it can be taken away from me. It is one of the differences between the boroughs and TP (Territorial Policing) and SCD (Specialist Crime Directorate) is that we have a large and quite powerful ACPO team that need to balance across the directorate the spends and we can be penalised for managing our budgets. We are not consulted – and this is a big frustration for me this year – in the setting of our budget in particular; police overtime, there was no discussion with me, no acknowledgment that we were taking on new business …

Sir William Morris: Do you prepare a budget and send it out for consultation?

Mr Spindler: No.

Sir William Morris: So it is just an allocation of money?

Mr Coles: It is effectively an allocation of last year’s plus or minus a tiny bit. It is as simple as that. There was no consideration of the change in business”

(Evidence of Detective Chief Superintendent Peter Spindler and Detective Chief Superintendent John Coles.)

8.40 The MPS has commented that the issues highlighted by Mr Coles relate more to how Specialist Operations disaggregated its budget rather than to any shortcomings in the corporate process. However, the fact remains that if there were real devolution, managers, such as Mr Coles and Mr Spindler, would have real control over their budgets.

8.41 Another key component of real devolution is to allow managers to recruit the best team to support them in their work:

“The process is unbelievable. The police officers would not get away with the recruitment and selection processes that HR has in and around its own managers, and it will just shuffle them. And it will tell me who my next HR manager is. I will not have the opportunity to select that person. They will be appointed to me. And that is unique, and I do not call that devolution. I will not get any say in that.”
(Evidence of Detective Chief Superintendent Peter Spindler.)

“We are in this unusual arrangement where if there is a vacancy within your senior management team, then you have to negotiate through either central HR or through the workforce planning unit to get replacement staff. But you are not, in my view, given the opportunity to assess the total picture. For example, a vacancy within my team for a Chief Inspector, a Chief Inspector is offered to me, I have to interview or speak to that candidate, decide whether or not I wish to accept them. If I am not going to accept them, produce an evidenced business case as to why not. Then you go back and try and start again. There may well be five or six other suitable candidates out there that could be put forward and you could consider the pool as a whole and make a more rational decision. I am not able to do so.”
(Evidence of Chief Superintendent Alex Fish.)

8.42 In response to these comments, the MPS has told us that it runs selection campaigns for roles with a professional specialism such as HR managers centrally to “ensure consistency of standards, fairness and economies of scale.” It questions whether it would be right for OCU Commanders to put candidates through another selection process.

8.43 We do not see why a second recruitment process should be necessary. It seems to us only sensible, and in accordance with practice in many other police services, for operational managers to have responsibility for recruiting their own professional advisers. This should, of course, be in accordance with corporate policies and guidelines to ensure consistency across the organisation. Local managers will therefore be able to manage but within corporate parameters

8.44 Much of what we have said in this report emphasises the need for managers to manage. If they are to manage effectively, the structure needs to facilitate this.

We recommend that the MPS reviews, with relevant stakeholders, the extent to which existing central processes inhibit devolution of real authority to managers in the Operational Command Units, with a view to streamlining the process to give local managers real responsibility for their budgets and people.

Accountability

8.45 Real devolution involves accountability. If managers genuinely have the authority to make important decisions about their part of the organisation, they must also expect to be held accountable for those decisions. This should be through a formal performance management system which should cover the performance of the organisation as a whole, as well as all officers and staff.

8.46 We note the efforts the MPS has made in relation to performance management and will deal with the management of the performance of individuals in the chapter which follows.

8.47 A sound performance management system needs to be open and transparent and individuals need to be clear about what is expected of them.

8.48 This is particularly true where managers are given the authority, under devolved systems, to take important decisions on behalf of the organisation. They, and the rest of the organisation, need to be clear about what decisions they are able to take and for which they are held accountable.

8.49 We are concerned that there does not seem to be one document which sets out the levels of authority for different decisions and issues within the organisation. In his submission, Mr Luck told us that he and his team had developed an “effective and internal financial control framework” and that the work had resulted in Financial Instructions and a Scheme of Devolved Financial Management, both of which are available to staff who have access to the MPS intranet. This is clearly an important and useful piece of work but one which, given the size of the MPS’ budget, might have been needed some time ago and should have been more easily accessible.

8.50 In addition, as part of our work, we requested a similar Scheme of Delegation dealing with professional standards and employment matters. We expected the MPS to have a simple document available to everyone which set out which officers and staff were responsible for which decisions. We were ultimately provided with a document which had been compiled especially for this Inquiry. We are surprised that such a document should not have existed already and been available to all officers and staff.

8.51 The MPS has told us that it would not be practical to have a Scheme of Delegation for all HR issues: “Because of the different working methods and configuration of roles across the MPS, this would not be feasible.”

8.52 We do not agree, and would question, how managers can be expected to take and be accountable for decisions when the extent of their authority has to be discovered by leafing through a sheaf of documents rather than simply by referring to a Management Scheme or a Scheme of Delegation.

We recommend that the MPS takes urgent steps to compile a comprehensive Scheme of Delegation setting out the levels of authority for different decisions throughout the organisation. This should be available to all officers and staff.

Communication

8.53 All organisations need effective internal communication systems, both vertical and horizontal, formal and informal. It is vital to be able to deliver messages throughout the organisation. Staff at all levels need to understand the organisation’s objectives, and messages from the frontline need to be heard at senior management level.

8.54 There are many methods of communication – by letter, email, intranet, Notices, noticeboards, newsletters, newspapers, face to face or in team briefings. Organisations with good internal communication recognise that they need to use all the means at their disposal to ensure that messages permeate throughout.

8.55 It is important to stress that communication is a two-way process: “Half of communication is listening as well as speaking, and one does need leadership who think very hard before they communicate, and then find ways of engaging in effective communication in the field.” (Evidence of Nigel Whittaker.)

8.56 Getting communication right within any large organisation is difficult.

“Whenever the organisation is too large for you to go and meet everybody or to draw them all together in one room then you start, I think, to have difficulties in communication.”
(Evidence of Sir Michael Lyons.)

8.57 It comes as no surprise, therefore, that we have received a number of criticisms of the way communication works in the MPS during the course of the Inquiry. Evidence from our London Police Station visits provides examples of the kind of difficulties with communication experienced by officers and staff in the MPS.

“Communication is seen as a bolt-on. It’s not seen as part of the process of putting things out.”

“There’s so much noise from all areas that it’s difficult to pick up the information that’s important.”

“We get deluged with communication by email.”

“Human rights etc. is not getting down to the grass roots. The assumption is it has been sent out, that’s it.”

“We get notices on the computer every week. 90% are irrelevant to you but you have to read the lot.”

“Nobody above you will speak to you. If it wasn’t for the boards downstairs which tell you who’s who, you wouldn’t know who the senior managers are.”

“We don’t all have computers. There are 4 computers for a team of 14. You have to wait 30-40 minutes to get on the computer and there’s a huge assumption we know how to use them. Lots of people struggle to use computers.”

“The channels for communication could be much better. Misunderstanding arises when people are not aware of things that have changed. The OCU is the best way of passing information down.”

8.58 Concerns about communication within the MPS were also highlighted in our survey of all officers and staff. This indicated that there are difficulties with all forms of communication (lateral, downward and upward). Of particular concern to us, in light of our terms of reference, is that only two in ten (20%) respondents agreed that information was shared effectively across the MPS. Even fewer (18%) agreed that ways of doing things and good practice were effectively communicated. However, our survey acknowledged that lateral communication is difficult in any organisation and the mean score of -0.35 was only slightly more negative that than the Work Foundation’s benchmark figure of -0.30.

8.59 More startling for an organisation whose responsibility it is to enforce the law, is the finding that only 44% of the survey respondents agreed that they were kept up to date with legislation (30% disagreed) and / or changes to working practice that affected their work (29% disagreed). This result accorded with some of the other comments that were made during our visits to some London Police Stations:

“In relation to the new Sex Offences Act we only got one half day training on it last week. There are lots of new procedures and the forms for that aren’t ready yet. We always seem to get training at the last minute, but it should be planned in advance.”

8.60 Our own experience of internal communication in the MPS is derived from conducting our survey. It indicated that all was not well.

Photo of a MPS Civilian Technical Support Officer 8.61 In percentage terms, the response rate of 36% was reasonable for an externally driven survey. However, we have clear evidence that participation would have been higher if the internal mail system had functioned as it should and everyone who wanted to contribute had been able to do so.

8.62 Indeed, some eight weeks after the closing date for responses, the Work Foundation was still receiving calls from officers and staff who wanted to participate but had only received their questionnaires very recently.

8.63 Efficient and effective internal communications systems are one of the basics of an effective organisation, yet we would question whether the MPS has such systems. If we are right, this will have a detrimental effect on internal communication. It is also likely to impact upon operational effectiveness.

8.64 There appears to be much work for the MPS to do in improving internal communication. This will benefit officers and staff in their operational duties, as well as enhancing their commitment to the organisation.

8.65 Managers must give some thought to the messages their staff need to hear and how they are best delivered. Email may be very effective but it does not allow any proper dialogue and is of no practical use when members of staff are not office-based.

8.66 Where messages are important and affect people personally, however, they are “best still done face to face, with listening built in.” (Evidence of Stephen Banyard, Director of Human Resources, Inland Revenue.)

8.67 It is clear from our survey that at present there is a marked divergence between the ways in which people prefer messages to be communicated and the way in which they are actually communicated within the MPS.

Scatter chart showing the divergence between actual and preferred sources of information [D]

Figure 13: Actual and Preferred Sources of Information
Source: Morris Inquiry Survey

8.68 There is a clear message here for managers on how to communicate with their people in a way that will get the best from them. We agree with the evidence of Stephen Banyard, Director of Human Resources at the Inland Revenue, that “you cannot tell people too much, and you cannot listen to them too much.”

We recommend that the MPS reviews its internal communication in the light of best practice in other large public and private sector organisations.

The right culture

8.69 Structure and systems alone will only go so far in moving an organisation forward. The prevailing culture must be one which is outward-looking and inclusive. An organisation has to develop a culture which is consistent with its own ethos, mission and values. We do not think that a culture needs to be specified for the MPS but a healthy culture has various elements. We deal with these below.

8.70 The organisation needs to listen and learn from what it hears. Encouraging learning is vital and this includes learning from mistakes. If, when something goes wrong, the organisational response is to indulge in the blame culture, then innovation and initiative are discouraged and the organisation will stagnate.

The blame culture

8.71 We fully endorse this statement from the IPCC: “People who never make mistakes never make anything. We discourage a blame culture amongst the police where even appropriate and carefully managed risks are avoided. ‘What can we learn?’ is often a more useful question than ‘who is to blame?’”

8.72 The Deputy Commissioner told us that getting rid of the blame culture was “the absolute centrepiece of the Commissioner’s Leadership Programme.” We have been told that 600 of the MPS’ senior staff have been through this programme.

8.73 We are concerned, however, that, according to several witnesses, there continues to be “a blame culture within the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) affecting all officers … As we have said there is a blame culture that pervades the service particularly around the area of internal investigations.” (Submission from the Metropolitan Police Federation.)

8.74 The changes we have recommended to the discipline and grievance systems should give greater scope to managers to manage officers and staff effectively. We are confident that line managers throughout the MPS have the ability to do this, if they are provided with the right leadership, back-up and support.

8.75 In the words of one officer during our visit to one of the MPS’ central London buildings, the MPS needs “to engender a learning culture in the organisation as opposed to a blame culture. We need to empower first line supervisors to deal with situations and challenge risk aversion.”

An open culture

8.76 We have already dealt with the systems that are needed for effective communication but communication is also a cultural issue. If the culture in the workplace is an open one, with staff encouraged to give their views in the knowledge that they will be listened to, disputes are far less likely to arise.

8.77 In the absence of effective communication, disputes can so often spiral out of control because the parties are unable to talk to each other.

“If management took the opportunity to explain the rationale for the decisions they have taken in selection or how this appraisal was arrived at, where was their evidence; if they had that early discussion, then I think there is a real opportunity for a lot of these to be avoided, because it is a theme that comes up time and time again, … it is about our failure to explain our decisions to people, so they form a view that they have been disadvantaged.”
(Evidence of Esme Crowther, Head of the Employment Tribunals Unit, MPS.)

8.78 There is even the chance that some of the costly and distracting Employment Tribunal cases that are brought against the organisation might be avoided.

8.79 Such a culture requires all managers to be convinced of the importance of communication in all that they do.

“The only way to make it work is not simply use of words but it is behaviour as well. But it is behaviour over a period of time. The number of clients and other organisations I have seen that have paid huge amounts of money for extremely beautiful communications videos and the like and have completely failed in effectively communicating and deriving change from that communication is enough to make one weep; and yet sometimes it is much simpler than that. As long as the messages are clear and relevant and communicated by behaviour and by a two-way process.”
(Evidence of Nigel Whittaker.)

“… if you are seeking to give some sense of direction to a large organisation, then you have to deal with symbols. People watch your behaviour, they watch the things that you see as important, they watch the people that you spend your time, with they watch the way you deal with doormen, tea ladies, and out of this they draw some conclusions about what you really believe and what is really important to you. And I think that is a very important lesson that I learned, that if you want an organisation that is caring, that has integrity, that is open, you have to live that and you have to constantly reflect on the signals that you are sending out by your day-to-day activities.”
(Evidence of Sir Michael Lyons.)

Managers

8.80 Managers have a key role to play and are pivotal in creating or changing the prevailing culture in the MPS. How they behave will define the organisation and the way officers and staff feel about it.

8.81 Our survey found that line managers were rated highly throughout the organisation. The majority of responses to our questions about line management produced results which were significantly better than the Work Foundation’s benchmark scores derived form similar surveys with other public and private organisations. 63% of respondents stated that they had confidence in their line manager’s ability to manage them effectively.

8.82 Line managers were thought to be better at the ‘interpersonal’ skills of management such as trusting staff (88%), treating them fairly (73%) and showing that they value the contribution of their staff (70%). They fared less well when it came to dealing with performance issues, with only 59% agreeing that they do this effectively. The mean score of 0.61 returned for this question was, however, significantly above the Work Foundation’s benchmark of 0.29.

8.83 In any organisation there are bad managers as well as good managers and we heard evidence on our visits to London police stations that this is also the case in the MPS:

“We don’t have brilliant people managers.”

“Some managers are always rowing for shore.”

“What happens to bad managers? They get promoted.”

8.84 There is clearly scope for some managers to improve. In particular, we suspect, from the other evidence we have received and which we have dealt with in previous chapters of this report, that managers’ ability to make difficult people management decisions needs to be fostered and further developed.

Consultation and involvement

8.85 It goes without saying that consultation is a two-way process. It involves communicating with those who are being consulted and then listening to the views they express on what is proposed.

8.86 Given the difficulties in communication in the MPS that we have identified, it is hardly surprising that a number of our witnesses have criticised the way in which the organisation involves and consults its officers and staff.

8.87 Our survey found that respondents were generally critical of consultation within the organisation. Only three in ten agreed that they were generally consulted before a decision affecting them was taken, whilst 46% disagreed. This produced a negative overall score of -0.32, significantly lower than the benchmark of -0.11, which is itself low.

8.88 HMIC commented on problems with consultation in its report on the 2002 / 2003 inspection of the MPS. “There is regular access for the various associations to senior management … Whilst in general the associations reported good relations and adequate consultation arrangements, there were concerns that sometimes this is not meaningful, with insufficient time to enable them to consult members.”

8.89 The normal way in which the MPS consults its officers and staff is via the representative bodies. Police officers are represented by the Metropolitan Police Federation, the Metropolitan Branch of the Police Superintendents’ Association of England and Wales and the Chief Police Officers’ Staff Association. The British Association of Women in Policing and the Association of Senior Women Officers are also active in the MPS.

8.90 Police staff are represented by four trades unions – Amicus, the Public and Commercial Services Union, the First Division Association and Prospect. They work together as the Trade Unions in the Metropolitan Police (MET-TUS).

8.91 In addition, there are a number of staff support associations operating in the MPS. We have heard from the following:

Association of Muslim Police;
Christian Police Association – Metropolitan branch;
Gay Police Association;
Jewish Police Association;
Metropolitan Black Police Association;
Metropolitan Police Chinese and South East Asian Association;
Metropolitan Police Hindu Association;
Metropolitan Police Service Disabled Staff Association;
Metropolitan Police Service Turkish and Turkish Cypriot Association;
Metropolitan Police Sikh Association; and
Police Anglo-Italian Staff Association.

We are aware that there are other staff support associations we did not hear from.

8.92 The MPS clearly finds the number of representative groups a challenge. Even though the staff support associations have formed the SAMURAI (Support Associations Meeting Up Regularly And Interacting) group to facilitate better channels of communication, it still seems to be the case that the number of representative organisations creates a “tension” where “every time you press the consult button, there are so many people to talk to.” (Evidence of Assistant Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe.)

8.93 The staff support associations do an excellent job in supporting and representing their members and each has been established to meet an obvious need. However, it is regrettable, although understandable, that staff support associations have been set up to fill a gap which has not been adequately catered for by the wider organisation. This could imply a dissatisfaction with the more established representative organisations, perhaps because they have not been quick enough to cater to all the diverse needs of the people within the MPS.

8.94 We consider that it is essential that the staff support associations, the Metropolitan Police Federation and the MET-TUS all work together.

8.95 As representative groups, the Police Federation, the MET-TUS and the staff support associations all need to be properly supported by the MPS so that consultation can, in the Commissioner’s words, be “meaningful”.

8.96 One way of supporting these organisations is by providing duty time for their representatives. We have received evidence suggesting that the amount of duty time which staff support association representatives are permitted to devote to their functions may not be adequate for the demands placed on them by the organisation:

“We are inundated with e-mails usually, and then hard copies, of consultation documents, and we are only given so many hours of duty time with which to deal with staff association matters, which is a cause of some concern and distress to us all.

“… The end result is that the document gets either the most cursory of glances or not even, and I know that there are some people, for example, in DPS who have given up on me replying to them now, because they send us considerable wads of documents on the sort of sanctions, volumes, conduct and so forth, and the revised system of what our views are, and then it is just finding the time to sit down with other people who are able to give some serious input to this, within your own association or collectively as a group… So we have a high level of frustration when it comes to consultation.”
(Evidence of Kevin Boyle, Chair of the GPA.)

Other resources too are at a premium:

“One of the most frustrating aspects for the C.P.A. is our inability to be able to help more people because we are resourced inappropriately and unfairly. This disadvantages minority groups within our association and the service as a whole. We have submitted two business cases since May 2001 and have yet to receive appropriate administrative support.”
(Submission from the CPA.)

“With regard to being involved in developing policy, procedure and practices we are regularly sent draft documents and asked to read and comment on them. The problem with this is, we all have full time jobs within the MPS, and as is often the case, we are given a few days to read, digest and formulate comment on documents. These documents often consist of hundreds of pages. We as an association feel this is just a management tactic of getting policies ‘rubber stamped’, as in most cases the draft versions would have taken months to create and we get a few days to study them. This tends to give the illusion of consultation but in reality excludes real involvement in the process.”
(Submission from the Disabled Staff Association.)

8.97 If the MPS is serious about seeking the views of the various representative organisations, it clearly has an interest in ensuring that they are able to respond. It is unrealistic to expect people to give up large swathes of their own time for the benefit of the MPS, although it is clear from the evidence that we have received that, in practice, this happens extensively.

8.98 In order to enable staff support associations as well as the Metropolitan Police Federation and the Trades Unions to make a constructive contribution, they should be afforded appropriate duty time and other support. We note that there are now two full-time office managers supporting all the associations collectively but administrative support is not a substitute for workplace representation.

We recommend that the issue of duty time and other resources for all representative groups, including staff support associations, is reviewed.

8.99 Whilst it is clear that the senior management of the MPS recognises the need to consult its people regularly and meaningfully, and the MPS told us that the overall level of consultation has increased significantly over the past few years, the evidence we received contained several criticisms about the way the organisation consults its representative bodies. We have heard that there is often insufficient consultation and that where consultation does occur, it is sometimes half-hearted and / or late in the day, after a proposal has become concrete. In addition, consultees are often given little time to respond.

“Repeatedly the MPS apologises for failing to consult us and then repeats its omission with unfailing regularity. An example would be the move announced this week to close down and sell off a number of older police stations and replace them with shared premises at supermarkets and the like. We have received no details of these proposals.”
(Submission from the Metropolitan Police Federation.)

“… some middle and senior managers will only consult when they believe the issue is non-contentious … The commitment to consult with a view to reaching agreement is interpreted by too many MPS managers as a one-way process requiring the Trades Unions to make significant concessions but not the MPS.”
(Submission from the MET-TUS.)

“Effective consultation is of benefit to both the service and members of the Federation. This is demonstrated by the manner in which the anti-corruption stand was first adopted by the previous Commissioner and Sir John Stevens after he became Commissioner in February 2000. From the start, the Metropolitan Police Federation were given confidential briefings about the development of the policy and the reasons as to why it was necessary. This in turn led to a degree of trust and understanding that allowed us publicly to support the policy.”
(Submission from the Metropolitan Police Federation.)

“Membership of a strategic committee is one thing; ensuring that agenda papers are provided in good time prior to those meetings another. Too often papers are provided late (and even at the meeting). This does not allow the Federation to take proper soundings before responding.”
(Submission of the Metropolitan Police Federation.)

“… it perhaps is not surprising in a organisation of this scale and size of the Metropolitan Police Service, that sometimes consultation arises almost as, if not an after thought, something that has just occurred at the last moment.”
(Evidence of Sir Ronnie Flanagan, HMIC.)

We agree with Sir Ronnie Flanagan’s evidence that “great care needs to be taken that an organisation does not use its representatives of staff associations just to consult them in inverted commas or in a token way. I think it has to be a question of real consultation, with due time to give those representatives the opportunity to go back to the body corporate, obtain views and then report those views meaningfully.” (Evidence of Sir Ronnie Flanagan, HMIC.)

8.100 The MPS has told us that, although it accepts that its extensive policy review programme might have compromised good consultation practice on occasion, late consultation or too little time for responses is not the norm.

8.101 Whether or not this is the case, there is clearly room for improvement. The MPS needs to recognise that consultation with appropriate representative bodies, done well, can bring significant business and operational benefits, as it provides the best route for achieving workable decisions and securing the ownership of officers and staff to actions that are taken.

8.102 The MPS also needs to recognise that consultation undertaken in a half-hearted way is likely to be counter-productive and send a negative message about the way in which the views and input of officers, staff and their representatives are valued by the organisation.

8.103 Seeking to consult late in the process inevitably means that those consulted will have less chance of influencing the final decision. It also presents difficulties for officers and staff who already have a busy schedule and are asked to respond to lengthy policy documentation, effectively in their own time, within a matter of hours. This is not only an additional pressure on the individuals concerned but seems to send a message to the representative about the way in which their views are valued by the organisation. It also means that it is unlikely that representatives will be able to consult the people they represent about what is proposed.

8.104 These criticisms of consultation are perhaps another feature of the lack of employment rights for police officers. Employers have had to create effective consultation structures and mechanisms to meet their legal obligations to consult their workforces. The police service has not had this pressure to the same extent as other employers since only its police staff have such rights.

However, we have received evidence of best practice elsewhere:

“Generally consultation arrangements are good at both Force and Local Levels. All of the Chief Officers and Area Command Teams operate a genuine “open door” policy and encourage formal and informal discussions to resolve Force and Local Problems with Federation Representatives. We take part in most Management Meetings and are routinely consulted on Force Policy.”
(Paper from Merseyside Police Federation, submitted during Inquiry visit.)

The MPS should develop a similar relationship with its representative groups.

We recommend that the MPS commits itself to a Code of Practice setting out the basis on which it will consult its workforce. This should be based on the following principles:

consulting with an open mind whilst proposals are at a formative stage;
giving consultees full information about proposals;
ensuring that consultation information reaches those who are being consulted;
giving consultees sufficient time to respond;
considering carefully the results of consultation exercises; and
providing consultees with full information about decisions taken at the end of the consultation period and, if relevant, the reasons for taking a different view from those who were consulted.

We also recommend that, in addition to consulting through representative bodies, the MPS takes steps to involve its workforce in decisions on issues that concern them.

8.105 We consider that these recommendations must be implemented if the MPS is to have the ‘inclusive culture’ which HMIC considers one of the characteristics of a modernised police service. It needs to forge a partnership with its workforce to deliver effective policing to Londoners.

As a first step on this road, we recommend that the MPS considers the views expressed in our survey and how the issues revealed can be addressed. We would recommend a follow-up survey in one to two years’ time.

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	Archive note Important note: This is an archive of the website that was formerly at www.morrisinquiry.gov.uk. It is being hosted on the MPA website for archival purposes only and may contain out-of-date information. Page summary This resource is from the final Report of the Morris Inquiry. This section contains chapter 8, "The Capacity to Deliver". This chapter returns to employment matters in the MPS, and focuses on leadership and management. Sections available here: 8: The Capacity to Deliver Chapter Summary The characteristics of a modernised police service The right structure The right systems The right culture Alternative versions This document is also available in the following formats: Word [0.97MB]; PDF [1.45MB] Content 8: The Capacity to Deliver “People who never make mistakes never make anything.” IPCC Chapter Summary This chapter deals with: The characteristics of a modernised police service The right structure The right systems Devolution Accountability Communication The right culture The blame culture An open culture Managers Consultation and involvement 8.1 We return in this chapter to employment matters in the MPS and focus on leadership and management. Both are vital to operational success but they are as crucial to the issues that specifically concern us: policies, procedures and practices; how officers and staff are treated; how they perceive the organisation they work for; the relevant organisational structures; and workforce development. The characteristics of a modernised police service 8.2 Before we consider these issues in detail, it is instructive to examine two versions of what it takes to make a successful organisation. 8.3 We were referred to the Department of Trade and Industry publication, Accounting for People: Report of the Task Force on Human Capital Management 2003. This cites ACAS’ view of the key characteristics associated with effective organisations. These are: “A vision, mission and strategy that are known and understood; An open, communicative management style with arrangements that allow employees a ‘meaningful/genuine voice’ through which their views are sought and considered; A culture that encourages learning and continuous improvement and promotes the updating/acquisition of skills and knowledge at every level; A work organisation that promotes initiative and encourages team working; Policies/practices/procedures that promote equal opportunities regardless of age, gender, race or religion along with a working environment free of discrimination, bullying, harassment; A transparent pay and reward system that recognises employees’ contributions, treats employees fairly and is non-discriminatory; The opportunity for all employees to work as flexibly as possible within the organisation’s operational constraints so as to enable a better work-life balance; A commitment to as much employment security as possible; Constructive relationships with trade unions where recognised (a ‘partnership’ approach), which helps to promote trust between the managers and the workforce; Formal procedures covering the handling of discipline, grievances, and disputes.” 8.4 Additionally, in the HMIC publication, Modernising the Police Service: A Thematic Inspection of Workforce Modernisation – The Role, Management and Deployment of Police Staff in the Police Service of England and Wales, the Inspectorate has indicated that it would see a modernised police organisation as having the following characteristics: “Is an integrated service with a clear vision regarding its future direction and the people and skills required to deliver this. Has a clear focus on improving operational performance. Engages effectively with local communities. Recognises and rewards the skills and professionalism of the entire workforce. Is representative of staff from diverse backgrounds with diverse skills. Has flexible entry and exit points. Operates flexible and integrated reward structures and terms and conditions. Is locally managed but within enabling national frameworks and standards. Has an inclusive culture. Benefits from effective leaders at all levels with the vision, time and resources to drive modernisation activity, both within the service and across organisational and professional boundaries. Works effectively in partnership with other organisations. Is not fixated with internal boundaries and functional silos.” 8.5 There is considerable overlap between these two sets of attributes. Drawing on the views of both ACAS and HMIC, we see an effective organisation as one with the right structure, the right culture, the right systems, the right people with the right skills and, above all, the right leadership. 8.6 This is the yardstick against which we will examine the MPS and make recommendations to assist in developing the capacity we believe it needs to become a modernised police service. 8.7 We were greatly assisted in our consideration of the matters in this and the following chapter by the evidence of Sir Michael Lyons and Nigel Whittaker. 8.8 Sir Michael was Chief Executive of Birmingham City Council, the largest local authority in the country, for many years and now has a portfolio career. He holds a number of non-executive positions and is deputy chairman of the Audit Commission. He was a member of the Independent Fire Service Review (the Bain Review) and led the review of public sector relocation for the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Deputy Prime Minister. 8.9 Nigel Whittaker’s background is in the private sector. He has spent many years working on corporate reputation management with large companies. For over 12 years he was a main board director of European retailer Kingfisher plc, including roles as Chairman of B&Q and Group Corporate Affairs Director. He served as Chairman of the Government’s Deregulation Taskforce for Retail, Tourism and Small Business. 8.10 We consider ourselves fortunate to have been able to secure the assistance of such eminent individuals and would like to record our thanks for their contribution to our work. The right structure 8.11 The right structure is one which facilitates operational success, allows leaders to lead and drive the organisation forward and makes the most of the talents available to it. 8.12 Operational policing is not part of our remit and we, therefore, do not intend making any comment on the structure the MPS considers appropriate to deliver policing to the people of London. However, our terms of reference ask us to consider employment matters in the MPS and whether the structures of the MPS represent good effective practice. 8.13 We have already commented on the structure the MPS has adopted to deal with diversity and also the handling of Employment Tribunal claims. 8.14 There is, however, a wider issue which concerns the top structure of the MPS and whether it is such that the ‘business’ aspects of the Service (finance, property, information technology, etc.) can be run effectively and facilitate additional operational success. 8.15 Figure 12 sets out the current structure of the MPS. It shows that responsibility for support functions is spread across the top tier of management. For example, the Information directorate comes under the Deputy Commissioner, whilst HR is the responsibility of an Assistant Commissioner. The Public Affairs directorate reports to the Commissioner himself and there is a Director of Resources who is responsible for finance and property. Thus, the only individual with overall responsibility for these support functions is the Commissioner himself. 8.16 The Commissioner’s role is one of extraordinary breadth. He is responsible for operational policing in the capital and also for running a business with a budget of over £2.5 billion and over 43,000 officers and staff. He has to provide strategic executive management on the one hand and must deliver strategic operational leadership on the other. We have already commented on the various individuals and bodies to which he is accountable. He also has a significant international role. 8.17 All the component parts of his role are crucial for the effective running of the organisation but we have received evidence of some managerial weaknesses within the MPS. In particular, we have heard that some support functions are not being effectively managed and co-ordinated to facilitate proper people management. 8.18 We have in mind, in particular, the criticisms of financial planning and basic finance and asset management contained in the most recent inspection report of the MPS from HMIC (2002 / 2003). [D] Figure 12: MPS Senior Police and Police Staff Structure View a larger version of figure 12 [GIF image; 37KB] Read a textual description of figure 12 8.19 HMIC was particularly concerned that the MPS does not yet have a medium term corporate strategy and was “struck by the sheer abundance of data produced by the MPS combined with the relative lack of incisive analytical products and a distinct lack of costing information.” HMIC commented that the MPA’s Internal Audit team was only able to offer a 50 per cent reassurance on the adequacy of financial control and the effectiveness of the systems within the MPS. 8.20 In addition, HMIC was concerned that a number of information systems and technology budgets had been devolved and that a catalogue of available hardware and software applications had been produced, but that the relevant directorate does not hold records of the equipment which has been purchased and is therefore unable to check compliance with both the corporate policy and the legal requirements surrounding the use and licensing of computer software. 8.21 Whereas other parts of the public sector, including other police services, have made great progress in finance and asset management in recent years, the MPS appears to have lagged behind. No doubt one reason for this was, to quote the MPS’ Director of Finance Services, Sharon Burd, in an interview with the Local Government Chronicle Finance Supplement (6th April 2004), the MPS had not had “the need to manage budgets in the same way as every other local authority and police force does. The Home Office was sitting right behind us and would always bail out any overspending we had; it was a bit like having a rich mummy or daddy as a teenager.” Whatever the reason, the discipline of effective business management does not appear to be an organisational strength. 8.22 Whilst we are told by the MPS’ Director of Resources, Keith Luck, that the “Resources Directorate has achieved significant improvements in the MPS budget-setting control processes” including in the areas of financial planning, information and controls. This progress was strongly emphasised in the MPS’ response to this criticism in draft form. However, we remain concerned that the business aspects of the organisation have not made as much progress in recent years as they should have done to maximise operational effectiveness. 8.23 The competing demands on the role of the Commissioner led us to consider whether an alternative model might be more effective. We considered splitting the various aspects of the role but received no evidence in favour of this proposition. 8.24 However, the two experts we heard from, Sir Michael Lyons and Nigel Whittaker, could see a virtue in looking at the structure beneath the Commissioner: “… having established that the Commissioner is the leader of the Police Service, you then need to get the structure right beneath that to look after both operational and business matters, and the two are not always the same thing.” (Evidence of Sir Michael Lyons.) “… so the ability to have quality people who can identify what the issues are, to help the Commissioner think them through and to liaise with all of these people I think is the only way that the Commissioner could possibly hope to carry out his responsibilities properly.” (Evidence of Nigel Whittaker.) 8.25 In looking at the structure below the Commissioner, Sir Michael could see a case for grouping all the support functions under one person. He cited the various strategic director models that operate within local authorities, although he had one caveat that there should still be a functional expert below the strategic director so that all senior managers had access to expert advice in the various fields. 8.26 Sir Michael also raised the issue of whether the Commissioner had to be a police officer: “I do not want to be too revolutionary and suggest that that second one is an easy question to answer. I think it is much easier to answer, and we come across this in the Bain Review on the fire service, where much less has been done in the fire service to develop managerial and leadership skills, and therefore I think there is a rather weaker pool to choose from than there is in the Police Service, where there has been some investment over a number of years in developing the skills and experiences of potential members of high command … “But still, I think there is a question there, and if you are going to get the best out of our public services, then I think you need excellent leadership and managerial skills, and you do run a risk, if you limit yourself, to saying, ‘And you have also got to have done this, and this and this’, because in the end you have actually got a rather narrow field to choose from.” 8.27 We think that careful consideration needs to be given as to whether the MPS’ current top structure is the best model that can be devised to maximise operational effectiveness. We therefore recommend that the MPS and the Metropolitan Police Authority create a police staff post, which would undertake the functions of a Chief Operating Officer, to bring all the support services in the MPS (Finance, Human Resources, Communications, Legal Services, Property, Information Systems and Technology, Procurement, Logistical Services, etc.) together under one individual who would be equal in status to the Deputy Commissioner with a remit which spans the whole of the organisation. 8.28 This post would not be a return to the previous post of Receiver. We agree with the Commissioner that the MPS has moved on. We envisage a suitably qualified strategic manager who would have the authority to influence all areas of the MPS’ operation. The right systems 8.29 The right structure must be supported by the right systems. The framework in which officers and staff have to operate must be clear and easy to understand. It will include transparent accountability arrangements with decisions taken at the appropriate level. Our focus is people management and devolution has a vital part to play in providing a structure for local managers to manage the officers and staff for whom they are responsible. 8.30 Devolution, if implemented properly, encourages initiative and innovation. Effective communication systems, both vertical and horizontal, formal and informal, are also essential. So too are formal procedures for disciplinary, grievance and disputes, promoting equality and ensuring a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. We have already dealt with the MPS’ policies and procedures on diversity and discipline and other employment matters and do not intend saying more here. This section will therefore concentrate on devolution and communication. Devolution 8.31 Our recommendations for enhancing the office of constable are aimed at streamlining and modernising the discipline process and allowing managers to manage. We think that enabling managers to deal with the majority of discipline matters on a local level will provide greater flexibility and resolve issues more quickly. 8.32 To make this process work, however, managers need to have greater experience and confidence in dealing with strategic managerial issues. 8.33 There are various ways in which managers can be supported. One important aspect of that support, however, is devolution of power and functions from the centre of the MPS to the OCUs. 8.34 This is a process which is already under way, having started with devolution of personnel functions: “In 1995, the recommendations of the Personnel Theme paper devolved responsibility and decision making from Personnel Department to local managers, in a range of personnel management activities. This devolution was supported by the introduction of professionally qualified Personnel Managers at Operational Command Unit (OCU) level and by a structure led by Business Managers on each of the five MPS Areas.” (Submission from Assistant Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe.) 8.35 Devolution is now being applied to more and more functions. The MPS acknowledges that the process is incomplete, although it contends that the organisation is making advances: “We are now devolving 80 per cent of the budget to boroughs and to OCUs: that is including police pay, which is obviously the main component.” (Evidence of the Deputy Commissioner, Sir Ian Blair.) 8.36 We support the move to empowering local managers, in the many functions where it is appropriate to do so. “But let us be clear, they do not happen just by giving people the job; you have to develop their skills and support them. I think there are some key components of good devolution, and these are all responsibilities that I attach to a leader of a service. One is, are you clear about what your objectives are and are they clearly communicated across the organisation? … “Secondly, have you got in place good control and monitoring systems so the people to which you give responsibility know for themselves how they are performing, have reliable information coming available to them? “Thirdly, do you have a good central function that is capable of good strategic planning and special intervention – and I guess this is particularly important for the Metropolitan service – for all those range of issues that cannot be dealt with at local delivery level.” (Evidence of Sir Michael Lyons.) 8.37 It appears to us that some aspects of devolution do not operate effectively. We acknowledge that our impression may be due to the fact that the process of devolution is incomplete, but nevertheless we thought we should highlight two particular areas of concern. 8.38 One of our witnesses felt that: “There is devolution of things that really do not matter that much, but things that do matter are still controlled from the centre, particularly around human resources.” (Evidence of Detective Chief Superintendent Coles.) It is obviously a concern for the future, and for the proper implementation of our recommendations, if such a view is more widely held. 8.39 Control and use of budgets is a key component to making a devolved structure work and to encourage innovation. Therefore, we were surprised to hear from two OCU Commanders that that was not the way the current system works: “Mr Spindler: I am not aware of any great devolution. I do not feel I have particular control of my £25 million budget, and indeed it can be taken away from me. It is one of the differences between the boroughs and TP (Territorial Policing) and SCD (Specialist Crime Directorate) is that we have a large and quite powerful ACPO team that need to balance across the directorate the spends and we can be penalised for managing our budgets. We are not consulted – and this is a big frustration for me this year – in the setting of our budget in particular; police overtime, there was no discussion with me, no acknowledgment that we were taking on new business … Sir William Morris: Do you prepare a budget and send it out for consultation? Mr Spindler: No. Sir William Morris: So it is just an allocation of money? Mr Coles: It is effectively an allocation of last year’s plus or minus a tiny bit. It is as simple as that. There was no consideration of the change in business” (Evidence of Detective Chief Superintendent Peter Spindler and Detective Chief Superintendent John Coles.) 8.40 The MPS has commented that the issues highlighted by Mr Coles relate more to how Specialist Operations disaggregated its budget rather than to any shortcomings in the corporate process. However, the fact remains that if there were real devolution, managers, such as Mr Coles and Mr Spindler, would have real control over their budgets. 8.41 Another key component of real devolution is to allow managers to recruit the best team to support them in their work: “The process is unbelievable. The police officers would not get away with the recruitment and selection processes that HR has in and around its own managers, and it will just shuffle them. And it will tell me who my next HR manager is. I will not have the opportunity to select that person. They will be appointed to me. And that is unique, and I do not call that devolution. I will not get any say in that.” (Evidence of Detective Chief Superintendent Peter Spindler.) “We are in this unusual arrangement where if there is a vacancy within your senior management team, then you have to negotiate through either central HR or through the workforce planning unit to get replacement staff. But you are not, in my view, given the opportunity to assess the total picture. For example, a vacancy within my team for a Chief Inspector, a Chief Inspector is offered to me, I have to interview or speak to that candidate, decide whether or not I wish to accept them. If I am not going to accept them, produce an evidenced business case as to why not. Then you go back and try and start again. There may well be five or six other suitable candidates out there that could be put forward and you could consider the pool as a whole and make a more rational decision. I am not able to do so.” (Evidence of Chief Superintendent Alex Fish.) 8.42 In response to these comments, the MPS has told us that it runs selection campaigns for roles with a professional specialism such as HR managers centrally to “ensure consistency of standards, fairness and economies of scale.” It questions whether it would be right for OCU Commanders to put candidates through another selection process. 8.43 We do not see why a second recruitment process should be necessary. It seems to us only sensible, and in accordance with practice in many other police services, for operational managers to have responsibility for recruiting their own professional advisers. This should, of course, be in accordance with corporate policies and guidelines to ensure consistency across the organisation. Local managers will therefore be able to manage but within corporate parameters 8.44 Much of what we have said in this report emphasises the need for managers to manage. If they are to manage effectively, the structure needs to facilitate this. We recommend that the MPS reviews, with relevant stakeholders, the extent to which existing central processes inhibit devolution of real authority to managers in the Operational Command Units, with a view to streamlining the process to give local managers real responsibility for their budgets and people. Accountability 8.45 Real devolution involves accountability. If managers genuinely have the authority to make important decisions about their part of the organisation, they must also expect to be held accountable for those decisions. This should be through a formal performance management system which should cover the performance of the organisation as a whole, as well as all officers and staff. 8.46 We note the efforts the MPS has made in relation to performance management and will deal with the management of the performance of individuals in the chapter which follows. 8.47 A sound performance management system needs to be open and transparent and individuals need to be clear about what is expected of them. 8.48 This is particularly true where managers are given the authority, under devolved systems, to take important decisions on behalf of the organisation. They, and the rest of the organisation, need to be clear about what decisions they are able to take and for which they are held accountable. 8.49 We are concerned that there does not seem to be one document which sets out the levels of authority for different decisions and issues within the organisation. In his submission, Mr Luck told us that he and his team had developed an “effective and internal financial control framework” and that the work had resulted in Financial Instructions and a Scheme of Devolved Financial Management, both of which are available to staff who have access to the MPS intranet. This is clearly an important and useful piece of work but one which, given the size of the MPS’ budget, might have been needed some time ago and should have been more easily accessible. 8.50 In addition, as part of our work, we requested a similar Scheme of Delegation dealing with professional standards and employment matters. We expected the MPS to have a simple document available to everyone which set out which officers and staff were responsible for which decisions. We were ultimately provided with a document which had been compiled especially for this Inquiry. We are surprised that such a document should not have existed already and been available to all officers and staff. 8.51 The MPS has told us that it would not be practical to have a Scheme of Delegation for all HR issues: “Because of the different working methods and configuration of roles across the MPS, this would not be feasible.” 8.52 We do not agree, and would question, how managers can be expected to take and be accountable for decisions when the extent of their authority has to be discovered by leafing through a sheaf of documents rather than simply by referring to a Management Scheme or a Scheme of Delegation. We recommend that the MPS takes urgent steps to compile a comprehensive Scheme of Delegation setting out the levels of authority for different decisions throughout the organisation. This should be available to all officers and staff. Communication 8.53 All organisations need effective internal communication systems, both vertical and horizontal, formal and informal. It is vital to be able to deliver messages throughout the organisation. Staff at all levels need to understand the organisation’s objectives, and messages from the frontline need to be heard at senior management level. 8.54 There are many methods of communication – by letter, email, intranet, Notices, noticeboards, newsletters, newspapers, face to face or in team briefings. Organisations with good internal communication recognise that they need to use all the means at their disposal to ensure that messages permeate throughout. 8.55 It is important to stress that communication is a two-way process: “Half of communication is listening as well as speaking, and one does need leadership who think very hard before they communicate, and then find ways of engaging in effective communication in the field.” (Evidence of Nigel Whittaker.) 8.56 Getting communication right within any large organisation is difficult. “Whenever the organisation is too large for you to go and meet everybody or to draw them all together in one room then you start, I think, to have difficulties in communication.” (Evidence of Sir Michael Lyons.) 8.57 It comes as no surprise, therefore, that we have received a number of criticisms of the way communication works in the MPS during the course of the Inquiry. Evidence from our London Police Station visits provides examples of the kind of difficulties with communication experienced by officers and staff in the MPS. “Communication is seen as a bolt-on. It’s not seen as part of the process of putting things out.” “There’s so much noise from all areas that it’s difficult to pick up the information that’s important.” “We get deluged with communication by email.” “Human rights etc. is not getting down to the grass roots. The assumption is it has been sent out, that’s it.” “We get notices on the computer every week. 90% are irrelevant to you but you have to read the lot.” “Nobody above you will speak to you. If it wasn’t for the boards downstairs which tell you who’s who, you wouldn’t know who the senior managers are.” “We don’t all have computers. There are 4 computers for a team of 14. You have to wait 30-40 minutes to get on the computer and there’s a huge assumption we know how to use them. Lots of people struggle to use computers.” “The channels for communication could be much better. Misunderstanding arises when people are not aware of things that have changed. The OCU is the best way of passing information down.” 8.58 Concerns about communication within the MPS were also highlighted in our survey of all officers and staff. This indicated that there are difficulties with all forms of communication (lateral, downward and upward). Of particular concern to us, in light of our terms of reference, is that only two in ten (20%) respondents agreed that information was shared effectively across the MPS. Even fewer (18%) agreed that ways of doing things and good practice were effectively communicated. However, our survey acknowledged that lateral communication is difficult in any organisation and the mean score of -0.35 was only slightly more negative that than the Work Foundation’s benchmark figure of -0.30. 8.59 More startling for an organisation whose responsibility it is to enforce the law, is the finding that only 44% of the survey respondents agreed that they were kept up to date with legislation (30% disagreed) and / or changes to working practice that affected their work (29% disagreed). This result accorded with some of the other comments that were made during our visits to some London Police Stations: “In relation to the new Sex Offences Act we only got one half day training on it last week. There are lots of new procedures and the forms for that aren’t ready yet. We always seem to get training at the last minute, but it should be planned in advance.” 8.60 Our own experience of internal communication in the MPS is derived from conducting our survey. It indicated that all was not well. 8.61 In percentage terms, the response rate of 36% was reasonable for an externally driven survey. However, we have clear evidence that participation would have been higher if the internal mail system had functioned as it should and everyone who wanted to contribute had been able to do so. 8.62 Indeed, some eight weeks after the closing date for responses, the Work Foundation was still receiving calls from officers and staff who wanted to participate but had only received their questionnaires very recently. 8.63 Efficient and effective internal communications systems are one of the basics of an effective organisation, yet we would question whether the MPS has such systems. If we are right, this will have a detrimental effect on internal communication. It is also likely to impact upon operational effectiveness. 8.64 There appears to be much work for the MPS to do in improving internal communication. This will benefit officers and staff in their operational duties, as well as enhancing their commitment to the organisation. 8.65 Managers must give some thought to the messages their staff need to hear and how they are best delivered. Email may be very effective but it does not allow any proper dialogue and is of no practical use when members of staff are not office-based. 8.66 Where messages are important and affect people personally, however, they are “best still done face to face, with listening built in.” (Evidence of Stephen Banyard, Director of Human Resources, Inland Revenue.) 8.67 It is clear from our survey that at present there is a marked divergence between the ways in which people prefer messages to be communicated and the way in which they are actually communicated within the MPS. [D] Figure 13: Actual and Preferred Sources of Information Source: Morris Inquiry Survey 8.68 There is a clear message here for managers on how to communicate with their people in a way that will get the best from them. We agree with the evidence of Stephen Banyard, Director of Human Resources at the Inland Revenue, that “you cannot tell people too much, and you cannot listen to them too much.” We recommend that the MPS reviews its internal communication in the light of best practice in other large public and private sector organisations. The right culture 8.69 Structure and systems alone will only go so far in moving an organisation forward. The prevailing culture must be one which is outward-looking and inclusive. An organisation has to develop a culture which is consistent with its own ethos, mission and values. We do not think that a culture needs to be specified for the MPS but a healthy culture has various elements. We deal with these below. 8.70 The organisation needs to listen and learn from what it hears. Encouraging learning is vital and this includes learning from mistakes. If, when something goes wrong, the organisational response is to indulge in the blame culture, then innovation and initiative are discouraged and the organisation will stagnate. The blame culture 8.71 We fully endorse this statement from the IPCC: “People who never make mistakes never make anything. We discourage a blame culture amongst the police where even appropriate and carefully managed risks are avoided. ‘What can we learn?’ is often a more useful question than ‘who is to blame?’” 8.72 The Deputy Commissioner told us that getting rid of the blame culture was “the absolute centrepiece of the Commissioner’s Leadership Programme.” We have been told that 600 of the MPS’ senior staff have been through this programme. 8.73 We are concerned, however, that, according to several witnesses, there continues to be “a blame culture within the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) affecting all officers … As we have said there is a blame culture that pervades the service particularly around the area of internal investigations.” (Submission from the Metropolitan Police Federation.) 8.74 The changes we have recommended to the discipline and grievance systems should give greater scope to managers to manage officers and staff effectively. We are confident that line managers throughout the MPS have the ability to do this, if they are provided with the right leadership, back-up and support. 8.75 In the words of one officer during our visit to one of the MPS’ central London buildings, the MPS needs “to engender a learning culture in the organisation as opposed to a blame culture. We need to empower first line supervisors to deal with situations and challenge risk aversion.” An open culture 8.76 We have already dealt with the systems that are needed for effective communication but communication is also a cultural issue. If the culture in the workplace is an open one, with staff encouraged to give their views in the knowledge that they will be listened to, disputes are far less likely to arise. 8.77 In the absence of effective communication, disputes can so often spiral out of control because the parties are unable to talk to each other. “If management took the opportunity to explain the rationale for the decisions they have taken in selection or how this appraisal was arrived at, where was their evidence; if they had that early discussion, then I think there is a real opportunity for a lot of these to be avoided, because it is a theme that comes up time and time again, … it is about our failure to explain our decisions to people, so they form a view that they have been disadvantaged.” (Evidence of Esme Crowther, Head of the Employment Tribunals Unit, MPS.) 8.78 There is even the chance that some of the costly and distracting Employment Tribunal cases that are brought against the organisation might be avoided. 8.79 Such a culture requires all managers to be convinced of the importance of communication in all that they do. “The only way to make it work is not simply use of words but it is behaviour as well. But it is behaviour over a period of time. The number of clients and other organisations I have seen that have paid huge amounts of money for extremely beautiful communications videos and the like and have completely failed in effectively communicating and deriving change from that communication is enough to make one weep; and yet sometimes it is much simpler than that. As long as the messages are clear and relevant and communicated by behaviour and by a two-way process.” (Evidence of Nigel Whittaker.) “… if you are seeking to give some sense of direction to a large organisation, then you have to deal with symbols. People watch your behaviour, they watch the things that you see as important, they watch the people that you spend your time, with they watch the way you deal with doormen, tea ladies, and out of this they draw some conclusions about what you really believe and what is really important to you. And I think that is a very important lesson that I learned, that if you want an organisation that is caring, that has integrity, that is open, you have to live that and you have to constantly reflect on the signals that you are sending out by your day-to-day activities.” (Evidence of Sir Michael Lyons.) Managers 8.80 Managers have a key role to play and are pivotal in creating or changing the prevailing culture in the MPS. How they behave will define the organisation and the way officers and staff feel about it. 8.81 Our survey found that line managers were rated highly throughout the organisation. The majority of responses to our questions about line management produced results which were significantly better than the Work Foundation’s benchmark scores derived form similar surveys with other public and private organisations. 63% of respondents stated that they had confidence in their line manager’s ability to manage them effectively. 8.82 Line managers were thought to be better at the ‘interpersonal’ skills of management such as trusting staff (88%), treating them fairly (73%) and showing that they value the contribution of their staff (70%). They fared less well when it came to dealing with performance issues, with only 59% agreeing that they do this effectively. The mean score of 0.61 returned for this question was, however, significantly above the Work Foundation’s benchmark of 0.29. 8.83 In any organisation there are bad managers as well as good managers and we heard evidence on our visits to London police stations that this is also the case in the MPS: “We don’t have brilliant people managers.” “Some managers are always rowing for shore.” “What happens to bad managers? They get promoted.” 8.84 There is clearly scope for some managers to improve. In particular, we suspect, from the other evidence we have received and which we have dealt with in previous chapters of this report, that managers’ ability to make difficult people management decisions needs to be fostered and further developed. Consultation and involvement 8.85 It goes without saying that consultation is a two-way process. It involves communicating with those who are being consulted and then listening to the views they express on what is proposed. 8.86 Given the difficulties in communication in the MPS that we have identified, it is hardly surprising that a number of our witnesses have criticised the way in which the organisation involves and consults its officers and staff. 8.87 Our survey found that respondents were generally critical of consultation within the organisation. Only three in ten agreed that they were generally consulted before a decision affecting them was taken, whilst 46% disagreed. This produced a negative overall score of -0.32, significantly lower than the benchmark of -0.11, which is itself low. 8.88 HMIC commented on problems with consultation in its report on the 2002 / 2003 inspection of the MPS. “There is regular access for the various associations to senior management … Whilst in general the associations reported good relations and adequate consultation arrangements, there were concerns that sometimes this is not meaningful, with insufficient time to enable them to consult members.” 8.89 The normal way in which the MPS consults its officers and staff is via the representative bodies. Police officers are represented by the Metropolitan Police Federation, the Metropolitan Branch of the Police Superintendents’ Association of England and Wales and the Chief Police Officers’ Staff Association. The British Association of Women in Policing and the Association of Senior Women Officers are also active in the MPS. 8.90 Police staff are represented by four trades unions – Amicus, the Public and Commercial Services Union, the First Division Association and Prospect. They work together as the Trade Unions in the Metropolitan Police (MET-TUS). 8.91 In addition, there are a number of staff support associations operating in the MPS. We have heard from the following: Association of Muslim Police; Christian Police Association – Metropolitan branch; Gay Police Association; Jewish Police Association; Metropolitan Black Police Association; Metropolitan Police Chinese and South East Asian Association; Metropolitan Police Hindu Association; Metropolitan Police Service Disabled Staff Association; Metropolitan Police Service Turkish and Turkish Cypriot Association; Metropolitan Police Sikh Association; and Police Anglo-Italian Staff Association. We are aware that there are other staff support associations we did not hear from. 8.92 The MPS clearly finds the number of representative groups a challenge. Even though the staff support associations have formed the SAMURAI (Support Associations Meeting Up Regularly And Interacting) group to facilitate better channels of communication, it still seems to be the case that the number of representative organisations creates a “tension” where “every time you press the consult button, there are so many people to talk to.” (Evidence of Assistant Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe.) 8.93 The staff support associations do an excellent job in supporting and representing their members and each has been established to meet an obvious need. However, it is regrettable, although understandable, that staff support associations have been set up to fill a gap which has not been adequately catered for by the wider organisation. This could imply a dissatisfaction with the more established representative organisations, perhaps because they have not been quick enough to cater to all the diverse needs of the people within the MPS. 8.94 We consider that it is essential that the staff support associations, the Metropolitan Police Federation and the MET-TUS all work together. 8.95 As representative groups, the Police Federation, the MET-TUS and the staff support associations all need to be properly supported by the MPS so that consultation can, in the Commissioner’s words, be “meaningful”. 8.96 One way of supporting these organisations is by providing duty time for their representatives. We have received evidence suggesting that the amount of duty time which staff support association representatives are permitted to devote to their functions may not be adequate for the demands placed on them by the organisation: “We are inundated with e-mails usually, and then hard copies, of consultation documents, and we are only given so many hours of duty time with which to deal with staff association matters, which is a cause of some concern and distress to us all. “… The end result is that the document gets either the most cursory of glances or not even, and I know that there are some people, for example, in DPS who have given up on me replying to them now, because they send us considerable wads of documents on the sort of sanctions, volumes, conduct and so forth, and the revised system of what our views are, and then it is just finding the time to sit down with other people who are able to give some serious input to this, within your own association or collectively as a group… So we have a high level of frustration when it comes to consultation.” (Evidence of Kevin Boyle, Chair of the GPA.) Other resources too are at a premium: “One of the most frustrating aspects for the C.P.A. is our inability to be able to help more people because we are resourced inappropriately and unfairly. This disadvantages minority groups within our association and the service as a whole. We have submitted two business cases since May 2001 and have yet to receive appropriate administrative support.” (Submission from the CPA.) “With regard to being involved in developing policy, procedure and practices we are regularly sent draft documents and asked to read and comment on them. The problem with this is, we all have full time jobs within the MPS, and as is often the case, we are given a few days to read, digest and formulate comment on documents. These documents often consist of hundreds of pages. We as an association feel this is just a management tactic of getting policies ‘rubber stamped’, as in most cases the draft versions would have taken months to create and we get a few days to study them. This tends to give the illusion of consultation but in reality excludes real involvement in the process.” (Submission from the Disabled Staff Association.) 8.97 If the MPS is serious about seeking the views of the various representative organisations, it clearly has an interest in ensuring that they are able to respond. It is unrealistic to expect people to give up large swathes of their own time for the benefit of the MPS, although it is clear from the evidence that we have received that, in practice, this happens extensively. 8.98 In order to enable staff support associations as well as the Metropolitan Police Federation and the Trades Unions to make a constructive contribution, they should be afforded appropriate duty time and other support. We note that there are now two full-time office managers supporting all the associations collectively but administrative support is not a substitute for workplace representation. We recommend that the issue of duty time and other resources for all representative groups, including staff support associations, is reviewed. 8.99 Whilst it is clear that the senior management of the MPS recognises the need to consult its people regularly and meaningfully, and the MPS told us that the overall level of consultation has increased significantly over the past few years, the evidence we received contained several criticisms about the way the organisation consults its representative bodies. We have heard that there is often insufficient consultation and that where consultation does occur, it is sometimes half-hearted and / or late in the day, after a proposal has become concrete. In addition, consultees are often given little time to respond. “Repeatedly the MPS apologises for failing to consult us and then repeats its omission with unfailing regularity. An example would be the move announced this week to close down and sell off a number of older police stations and replace them with shared premises at supermarkets and the like. We have received no details of these proposals.” (Submission from the Metropolitan Police Federation.) “… some middle and senior managers will only consult when they believe the issue is non-contentious … The commitment to consult with a view to reaching agreement is interpreted by too many MPS managers as a one-way process requiring the Trades Unions to make significant concessions but not the MPS.” (Submission from the MET-TUS.) “Effective consultation is of benefit to both the service and members of the Federation. This is demonstrated by the manner in which the anti-corruption stand was first adopted by the previous Commissioner and Sir John Stevens after he became Commissioner in February 2000. From the start, the Metropolitan Police Federation were given confidential briefings about the development of the policy and the reasons as to why it was necessary. This in turn led to a degree of trust and understanding that allowed us publicly to support the policy.” (Submission from the Metropolitan Police Federation.) “Membership of a strategic committee is one thing; ensuring that agenda papers are provided in good time prior to those meetings another. Too often papers are provided late (and even at the meeting). This does not allow the Federation to take proper soundings before responding.” (Submission of the Metropolitan Police Federation.) “… it perhaps is not surprising in a organisation of this scale and size of the Metropolitan Police Service, that sometimes consultation arises almost as, if not an after thought, something that has just occurred at the last moment.” (Evidence of Sir Ronnie Flanagan, HMIC.) We agree with Sir Ronnie Flanagan’s evidence that “great care needs to be taken that an organisation does not use its representatives of staff associations just to consult them in inverted commas or in a token way. I think it has to be a question of real consultation, with due time to give those representatives the opportunity to go back to the body corporate, obtain views and then report those views meaningfully.” (Evidence of Sir Ronnie Flanagan, HMIC.) 8.100 The MPS has told us that, although it accepts that its extensive policy review programme might have compromised good consultation practice on occasion, late consultation or too little time for responses is not the norm. 8.101 Whether or not this is the case, there is clearly room for improvement. The MPS needs to recognise that consultation with appropriate representative bodies, done well, can bring significant business and operational benefits, as it provides the best route for achieving workable decisions and securing the ownership of officers and staff to actions that are taken. 8.102 The MPS also needs to recognise that consultation undertaken in a half-hearted way is likely to be counter-productive and send a negative message about the way in which the views and input of officers, staff and their representatives are valued by the organisation. 8.103 Seeking to consult late in the process inevitably means that those consulted will have less chance of influencing the final decision. It also presents difficulties for officers and staff who already have a busy schedule and are asked to respond to lengthy policy documentation, effectively in their own time, within a matter of hours. This is not only an additional pressure on the individuals concerned but seems to send a message to the representative about the way in which their views are valued by the organisation. It also means that it is unlikely that representatives will be able to consult the people they represent about what is proposed. 8.104 These criticisms of consultation are perhaps another feature of the lack of employment rights for police officers. Employers have had to create effective consultation structures and mechanisms to meet their legal obligations to consult their workforces. The police service has not had this pressure to the same extent as other employers since only its police staff have such rights. However, we have received evidence of best practice elsewhere: “Generally consultation arrangements are good at both Force and Local Levels. All of the Chief Officers and Area Command Teams operate a genuine “open door” policy and encourage formal and informal discussions to resolve Force and Local Problems with Federation Representatives. We take part in most Management Meetings and are routinely consulted on Force Policy.” (Paper from Merseyside Police Federation, submitted during Inquiry visit.) The MPS should develop a similar relationship with its representative groups. We recommend that the MPS commits itself to a Code of Practice setting out the basis on which it will consult its workforce. This should be based on the following principles: consulting with an open mind whilst proposals are at a formative stage; giving consultees full information about proposals; ensuring that consultation information reaches those who are being consulted; giving consultees sufficient time to respond; considering carefully the results of consultation exercises; and providing consultees with full information about decisions taken at the end of the consultation period and, if relevant, the reasons for taking a different view from those who were consulted. We also recommend that, in addition to consulting through representative bodies, the MPS takes steps to involve its workforce in decisions on issues that concern them. 8.105 We consider that these recommendations must be implemented if the MPS is to have the ‘inclusive culture’ which HMIC considers one of the characteristics of a modernised police service. It needs to forge a partnership with its workforce to deliver effective policing to Londoners. As a first step on this road, we recommend that the MPS considers the views expressed in our survey and how the issues revealed can be addressed. We would recommend a follow-up survey in one to two years’ time.
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Report > 8: The Capacity to Deliver
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