Association of Police Authorities

Transcription

1 Association of Police Authorities Giving people a say in policing Annual report

2 Chairman s report Photograph Alex Benwell 2004/5 was a year of change and transformation for the Association of Police Authorities. We became a private limited company; we became the employer of our own staff; and we moved into new offices at 15 Greycoat Place. Throughout this upheaval, the APA continued to ensure that the views of police authorities were influential on the national stage. APA Annual Conference 2004 We were again delighted to welcome both the, then, Home Secretary, David Blunkett and the Police Minister, Hazel Blears to our conference in Brighton. We were indebted to our Sussex Police Authority colleagues for their warm hospitality and support for the event. As well as the National Policing Plan , we were pleased that the Government chose our Conference to launch the new National Strategy for Improving Performance in Race and Diversity. Alongside the Strategy, we launched the APA s Guide to Involving Communities in Race and Diversity Learning and Development. A highlight of the event was the opportunity to welcome back to the conference dinner a number of longserving authority members to whom we had said farewell earlier in the year. Police reform The 2003 Green Paper Building Safer Communities Together raised major questions about the future role and composition of police authorities. I am proud of the way that we, as police authorities, rose to the challenge, seized the agenda head on and initiated extensive debate and consultation locally with our communities and stakeholders. Our collective hard work gave the APA a solid platform on which to respond to the Green Paper and to engage in dialogue with Ministers. I believe we were thus able to turn what was a considerable threat into a real opportunity. We were therefore pleased to be able to respond positively to much of the White Paper Building Communities, Beating Crime, and saw the proposals to strengthen our role and extend our responsibilities as a vote of confidence in police authorities. We also worked in partnership with colleagues at the Local Government Association to produce a joint response on issues of shared interest, including councillor membership of police authorities. We are continuing to strengthen working relationships, including through a joint programme of work being progressed by an APA/LGA member task group. This national work reflects the importance which I know all police authorities attach to partnership working locally. We welcomed therefore the Government s review towards the end of the year of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, although there was some frustration at the very tight timetable imposed. We look forward to seeing the outcomes of the review. The APA is committed to giving local people more say in how they are policed and better policing services. We will continue to work with our partners to deliver reform which will achieve that. Working together As well as responding to the national agenda, the Association maintained its focus on helping police authorities to work more effectively. Our Policy Groups and Member Liaison Networks continue to flourish and provide an invaluable means of sharing information, good practice and experience. Working with our partners The APA continues to work closely with our tripartite partners the Home Office and ACPO as well as with a wide range of partners and stakeholders. In particular, we welcome the valuable dialogue we have with colleagues in the police staff associations and unions, as well as with support groups such as the National Black Police Association, Gay Police Association and the British Association of Women in Policing. throughout this upheaval, the APA continued to ensure that the views of police authorities were influential on the national stage Our Secretariat 2004/5 was also a year of changes and transformations for our small Secretariat. In June, Fionnuala Gill was appointed as the APA s new Executive Director. We also welcomed Keith Mannings, Cheryl Wilkinson and on secondment for part of the year Neil Kingston and Johanna Burne. We were pleased that both Claire Cooper and James Park moved on promotion to more senior jobs and also said good bye to long-serving staff member Hamish Ramlal. Despite being below strength for most of the year, whilst coping with the double challenge of incorporation and moving accommodation, our dedicated Secretariat has worked tirelessly to provide members with high quality services. Finally, I was delighted that honours for both myself and the APA s Vice-Chairman during the year recognised the valuable contribution which the APA and police authorities are now making to ensure that our communities receive the policing services they deserve. Baroness Henig of Lancaster Chairman The Association of Police Authorities was established in April 1997 to act as the national voice of and for police authorities, and provide support services to its member authorities. All police authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland including the British Transport Police Authority are members of the Association, together with the NCS and NCIS service authorities, and Centrex.

3 Key achievements 2004/05 Money matters Faced with the prospect of a tough settlement and tight constraints on council tax, the APA and ACPO joined forces to make the case for additional resources for policing. The hard work of Bill Wilkinson and his colleagues in the Police Authority Treasurers Society was crucial in putting together a strong case. With the aid of Connect PA, this was turned into a successful campaign culminating in a parliamentary briefing event on 20 October at which police authorities and their chief officers lobbied some 250 MPs. In addition, an Early Day Motion supporting the APA s case was backed by over 60 MPs. The resulting settlement was far better than had initially been feared, with an average increase of 4.8% and a minimum increase of 3.75% and we were grateful to the Home Office for the efforts which it had made to find extra funds for policing. Nevertheless, a significant number of authorities still received funding increases of 4% or less when our own research suggested that authorities needed at least 5.5%. Another important development was more direct engagement with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM). This was helpful in making the police authority case for flexibility in relation to the 5% council tax increase limit set by Government and in ensuring that no authorities were capped. Making the most of our resources The Gershon Report set a challenging agenda for the public sector and the APA has been fully engaged in developing the Efficiency Strategy for the police service. A Tripartite Group on police procurement, chaired by the APA Vice-Chairman, identified scope for much greater collaboration between forces including setting up a new Police Procurement Centre of Excellence. The APA s member liaison network (EMLIN) has helped authorities take forward the efficiency agenda locally. The APA also now chairs a tripartite group looking at resource management in the police service. Modernising the workforce The APA continues to work proactively towards a modernised, fully integrated workforce. In partnership with colleagues on the Employer Side of the Police Staff Council, we ran a series of regional events looking at the Trade Union Side s submission on pay and conditions. Following the PNB agreement on chief officer pay in 2003/04, APA members negotiated a performance bonus scheme for chief officers and ran, with the PNB Official Side, a series of well-received regional workshops for police authority members and staff. The APA s training liaison member network (TRAMLINE) has continued to flourish. A key issue has been introduction of the new Initial Police Learning and Development Programme (IPLDP) whereby probationer officers are trained within the communities they will police. The APA fully supports the principles behind the change but roll-out of the programme will be a major challenge in the coming year. Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) have proved a hit with our communities and we welcomed the Government s proposals for a further 24, 000 PCSOs. However, we want to make sure that any proposals to extend their powers do not lead to any reduction in their day to day presence on the streets which is what communities value so much. The APA s Complaints Network, now renamed the Professional Standards Network, has helped authorities share good practice and develop policy positions as well as put in place a highly constructive working relationship with the new Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). Working to stamp out racism and discrimination Race and Diversity issues continued to be at the forefront of our agenda during 2004/5. The APA contributed to the Taylor Review of Police Discipline; and gave oral and written evidence to both the Morris Inquiry and the CRE s Formal Investigation into the Police Service. We worked with five authorities whose Race Equality Schemes were found by the CRE to be non-compliant and were pleased that all successfully submitted revised schemes which met with CRE approval. With ACPO and the Home Office, the APA contributed to the development of the Interim Race Equality Plan intended to prepare authorities and forces for the outcomes of the Morris and CRE Reports and we will be contributing to the national tripartite team set up to help the service respond to these reports. Stop and Search and the issue of disproportionality remains the fundamental touchstone by which BME communities judge their equity of treatment by the service. The APA has continued its strong commitment in this area, including the production of a range of revised Know Your Rights publicity material to support the implementation from 1 April 2005 of recording of stops. We have also produced guidance for authorities on publicising the changes locally, and contributed to the development of a new tripartite Stop and Search Manual. Improving police and CJS performance The APA has continued to play a major part in the national policing performance agenda, including ongoing input into the development of the Policing Performance Assessment Framework and how performance data within PPAF will be analysed and assessed. The APA has played a key role in leading the development of a methodology for assessing performance in the local domain of PPAF which will be implemented in 2006/07. The APA s Can You Manage It? training package on performance issues continues to be in considerable demand with courses being held around the country during Police authorities are becoming more sophisticated in their performance management of forces and the APA continues to provide support and guidance to staff and members on performance management and monitoring. The APA s iquanta Guide for Police Authorities launched last November has been widely welcomed by authorities and proved a key tool in this respect. 2004/5 saw an increasing focus on wider Criminal Justice System (CJS) performance with the establishment of the Office for Criminal Justice Reform and the growing impetus of the National and Local Criminal Justice Boards. The APA has continued to ensure police authority input in the wider agenda and the APA s CJS Task Group has undertaken a key project on police authority engagement in CJS issues. Exploiting technology The APA has continued to play a key role in ensuring the views of police authorities are reflected in a range of strategic fora including through the Police Information Technology Organisation Board, Case and Custody Steering Group and the Airwave Steering Group. During the year, the APA took over the chair of the Airwave Business Benefits Realisation Board and will be working to ensure that authorities and forces exploit all the benefits Airwave has to offer. A major new demand during the year has been involvement in tripartite efforts to take forward the recommendations of the Bichard Report, including the development of the IMPACT Programme to develop a national capacity for sharing intelligence. More responsive local policing Improving policing services to local people is at the heart of the job of police authorities and this has been a key focus of this year s work. National quality of service commitment standards The National Policing Plan requires all forces to have national standards in place by the November Police authorities have a key role to play in ensuring that the views of communities

4 Contacts inform local standards and in overseeing force implementation. The APA, ACPO and Home Office worked together to produce joint guidance to help forces and authorities prepare for implementation. Engaging communities Consulting communities and giving them a voice in local policing has always been a key responsibility for police authorities. As more and more authorities have recognised the importance of this work, the APA set up a Community Engagement Network for authority practitioners. This, in turn, has stimulated the formation of a number of regional networks. The Joint Home Office/APA Invest to Save Project has continued to support the National Practitioner Panel (made up of representatives from police forces and authorities) in developing a web-based Guide for practitioners working with community engagement, together with a database of good practice. Neighbourhood policing The APA has fully supported the development of Neighbourhood Policing and has been represented on the Neighbourhood Policing Programme Board overseeing the development and implementation of this agenda. APA Accountability in Action pilots The APA has encouraged and supported a series of pilots by police authorities around the country to look at accountability and engagement with communities at sub force level. A wide range of different approaches are being trialled and information and learning shared through a dedicated liaison network. The pilots will run from January to December 2005 but we will be keeping authorities informed of the outcomes throughout the coming year. Supporting authorities locally Authorities have enthusiastically taken up the challenge of benchmarking themselves against the APA s Police Authority Assessment Framework. The Secretariat has worked to support authorities, and with HMIC on using the framework as the basis for inspecting police authority s best value reviews of their own functions. Given the plans to introduce inspection for authorities, we are pleased that the framework is seen as a foundation for this. The first phase of the APA s redeveloped website was launched at our conference in November. It aims to provide a more userfriendly experience to the public and provide members with a wider range of up to date information. Development on the site will continue in the coming year to make more interactive tools available for members. Fionnuala Gill Executive Director fionnuala.gill@lga.gov.uk Dawn Osborne PA and Events Manager dawn.osborn@lga.gov.uk Trefor Wilkinson Business Manager trefor.wilkinson@lga.gov.uk Keith Mannings Policy Director (ICT) keith.mannings@lga.gov.uk Andrew Honeyman Policy Director andrew.honeyman@lga.gov.uk Sonia Cunningham Performance Adviser sonia.cunningham@lga.gov.uk Tania Eagle Policy Project Officer tania.eagle@lga.gov.uk Cat McIntyre Policy Project Officer cat.mcintyre@lga.gov.uk Will Turner Research Officer william.turner@lga.gov.uk Cheryl Wilkinson Administrator cheryl.wilkinson@lga.gov.uk Fax The APA s relaunched Know Your Rights material is now available in 25 languages, Braille, CD and audiotape versions

5 Facts and figures The Secretariat During 2004/5, the secretariat averaged 10 staff with a number of vacancies held at various times during the year. We were indebted to Surrey and Durham Police Authorities for seconding Johanna Burne and Neil Kingston to the Secretariat for parts of the year. The Secretariat has continued to work under considerable pressure to provide a quality service to member authorities and the APA s contribution at national level on behalf of all police authorities has continued to be sought and valued by the Home Office and others. The APA has also continued its drive to support its member authorities with information, advice and training to develop their own performance and structures. Advisers The APA is supported by a team of chief executive/clerk and treasurer advisers, providing specialist advice to inform the work of the Secretariat, policy groups and networks. Finance The APA is funded primarily by subscriptions from member authorities supplemented by income from conferences and in 2004/5 a small Home Office grant to support work on performance. Summary of Accounts 2004/05 Income Subscriptions from Police Authorities 1,304,182 Conference income 132,024 Grants 50,000 Other income 11,000 Bank interest 35,621 Total income 1,532,827 Expenditure Staff costs 433,267 Members allowances 212,882 Consultancy and professional advice 81,856 Recruitment, training and travel 69,489 Accommodation costs 95,589 Administration costs 56,697 LGA services 55,075 Design and printing 42,084 Meeting room hire and catering 68,564 Stop and Search publicity material 28,825 APA performance training 7,688 APA improvement programme 12,486 APA website redevelopment 12,742 APA lobbying 11,346 Conference expenditure 124,384 Audit 3,500 Depreciation 8,083 Total 1,324,557 Surplus for year including assets 208,270

6 Who s who? EXECUTIVE SUB-COMMITTEE APA SECRETARIAT Baroness Henig of Lancaster Chairman Peter Holland Vice Chairman Bob Jones Brian Greenslade Moira Hamlin Michael Kennedy Deputy Chairmen Lord Harris Bertie Woolnough Executive Members Fionnuala Gill Executive Director Dawn Osborne PA and Events Manager Keith Andrew Trefor Mannings Honeyman Wilkinson Policy Policy Business Director Director Manager Tania Cat Sonia Eagle McIntyre Cunningham Policy Policy Performance Project Project Adviser Officer Officer Cheryl Wilkinson Administrator Will Turner Research Officer HOW WE WORK The working structure of the APA actively promotes corporacy by involving members at all levels of policy development. Plenary Representatives of all member authorities. The number of delegates is determined by the population in each police authority Secretariat Executive Sub-Committee Members elected annually by the Plenary Policy Groups 2004/05 Member Networks Policy Groups Diversity Toby Harris Acting Chair Performance Management Michael Browne Community Leadership Malcolm King Personnel and HR Marie Dickie Operational Policing Finance and IT Kerry Curtis Working to promote ethics, human rights and diversity issues Supporting police authorities to scrutinise and improve force performance Developing the role of police authorities in helping to deliver safer communities Developing policy on all human resource issues Influencing the development of operational policing policies, IT systems for the police service and ensuring that the funding requirements of the service are represented to Government