Archived decisions
AT A MEETING of the PERSONNEL PANEL of the POLICE AUTHORITY held in the Chute Room, Queen Elizabeth II Court, The Castle, Winchester on Tuesday 28 January, 2003
PRESENT:
Mr. G.M. King JP (Chairman); Mrs. R. Atkinson; Mr. R. Gully; Councillor P. Mason; Councillor Mrs. J. Rayment.
Also present: Mr. P.C.B. Robertson (Clerk); Mrs. M. Adamson (Director of Personnel); Mrs. C. McKenna (Assistant Director of Personnel); Mr. D. Leverett (Health and Safety Adviser); Mrs. M. Boyes and Ms. C. Vagg (Clerk's office).
160 APOLOGIES
Apologies were received from Councillor D. Gillett.
161 MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on 12 November, 2002 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
162 HEALTH AND SAFETY UPDATE
The Panel considered a report of the Chief Constable (Item 3 in the Minute Book) on the health and safety training courses available, who should attend and how often they should attend refresher courses. The health and safety training policy was attached to the report.
The Director of Personnel introduced the force Health and Safety Advisor who would be attending future meetings of the Panel when appropriate. The Director of Personnel introduced the report and confirmed to Members the monitoring arrangements in place within the Force in relation to time off due to injury sustained whilst on duty. She further advised that through NSPIS the Force hoped to buy a human resource system which would provide much better information for monitoring/measuring sickness absence relating to injuries on duty.
The Health and Safety Advisor confirmed that if an accident occurred at work it was recorded appropriately on an AD85 reporting form. The Panel sought clarification on the process that was carried out when a member of staff returned to work having been off sick in order to track accident profile and safety items generally. This was provided by the Director of Personnel.
The Panel agreed that the health and safety committee minutes would come to the Panel in the future and the Panel Chairman would also continue to attend.
The Director of Personnel advised members that the reporting period in the graph shown in Paragraph 3.1 was actually a four month period (July to October, 2002), elsewhere in the graph the figures represented a three month period. The extrapolated figures showed that accidents were remaining steady.
The Health and Safety Advisor advised the Panel that the force wide audit of health and safety would take approximately 2½ years to complete, the preliminary findings would be available shortly. An interim report would be available in May.
The Panel noted that a future report would be brought to the Panel on the number of trained safety representatives within the Force. The Chairman asked to see the written agreement that had been drawn up between the Federation and UNISON in relation to safety representatives. The Panel further agreed that the emphasis on health and safety also being an individual's responsibility be written into the policy.
The Director of Personnel advised that the Assistant Director of Personnel had recently undertaken a course of study towards obtaining the Health and Safety Certificate, which had been paid for by the Force.
The Health and Safety Advisor confirmed to members that the number of fire representatives was a shortfall on the numbers required due to the fire strike, as training was unable to be undertaken. He clarified that in the event of a fire staff should evacuate buildings and not remain to fight fires.
163 POLICE STRENGTH FORECAST 2002/03
The Panel considered a report of the Chief Constable (Item 4 in the Minute Book) on the current and expected position on police numbers for 2002/03.
The Director of Personnel introduced the report and advised the Panel that currently the Force was down by 35 officers of its full budgeted strength. This was the best position that the Force had been in for 3½ years. By the end of March, 2003 strength was expected to be around 3,710 showing an increase of 200 officers over the year which was mainly due to the Crime Fighting Fund (CFF). The Assistant Director of Personnel advised the Panel that there were no problems with recruitment and that yesterday 52 recruits had joined the force.
The Panel were pleased with the information and confirmed that although it was well received, they were aware that in some divisions numbers were not up to strength.
The Chairman confirmed that the Panel would discuss and debate receiving this report at future meetings.
RESOLVED:
That the report be noted.
164 RECRUITMENT UPDATE
The Panel considered a report of the Chief Constable (Item 5 in the Minute Book) illustrating the trends in police recruitment which continue to be positive.
The Assistant Director of Personnel advised the Panel that the average intake had risen from 21 to 40, and that the selection process had changed over time to improve the quality of applications. The April intake had already been filled and the intake day yesterday had been extremely successful with 52 of the 53 places being filled. She further confirmed that there were now 48 minority ethnic officers within the Force and that the paying of bounties to divisions had ceased at the end of December. In addition, between October and December, 2002 a further 8 officers had transferred into the Force and 10 officers had transferred out. The Force was currently experiencing more leavers from Basingstoke and North East Hampshire and a survey was being undertaken to identify some of the reasons that so many leavers were going from this area of the County.
The Panel sought clarification on the figures contained within the table in Paragraph 4.1. The Assistant Director of Personnel confirmed that if there were too few places available at Centrex, probationers would be deployed elsewhere until the places were available for them. Centrex have been unable to give commitments that they can accommodate the full Hampshire intakes throughout the year although the position changes on a day to day basis. They have already advised that they are unable to accommodate the full January intake of 54, although this will not be certain until the day before the recruits are due to leave for the training centre.
The Panel thanked the Force for all their hard work in relation to recruitment and asked for these comments to be relayed to the staff concerned. The Director of Personnel advised that the force were to be offered another 18 police officers under the CFF 2. These are funded at 75%, not 100% as were CFF 1, but the ACPO group have agreed to fund the difference. It is understood that training places may not be available with Centrex, and the Director of Personnel advised that special consideration is being sought for South East forces to have priority over other forces.
The Chairman sought information on the current standards for new recruits. The Director of Personnel advised that a review was underway to check that recruits match the standards required. The Chairman requested a copy of the review when it had been completed.
RESOLVED:
That the report be noted.
165 HOUSING PROVISION FOR POLICE STAFF
The Panel considered a report of the Chief Constable (Item 6 in the Minute Book) following a proposal that had been made by a local housing association to allow the Authority to support the provision of rented accommodation for police staff at affordable rents. The report recommends approval of the scheme and the inclusion of £250,000 in the capital programme for 2003/04 to cover the provision of about 6 dwellings.
RESOLVED:
(a) That the position be noted on the take up of the Starter Homes Initiative (SHI) and the extension of the NHS accommodation bureau.
(b) That the proposed nomination right scheme be approved.
(c) That it be a RECOMMENDATION to the Financial Affairs Panel that the sum of £250,000 be included in the draft capital programme for 2003/04 to provide nomination rights for the provision of rented accommodation by a registered social landlord for the benefit of staff.
166 SICKNESS ABSENCE
The Panel considered a report of the Chief Constable (Item 7 in the Minute Book) on the management of sickness absence which is a key performance indicator for the Constabulary. The target for 2002/03 is an average of not more than 10 days sickness absence per person, per annum for a police officer or member of support staff.
The Assistant Director of Personnel introduced the report and advised the Panel that the force average was likely to meet this target in this financial year. Members' attention was drawn to paragraph 3.1 which detailed the absence levels and gave an average figure of 9.45 days absence per member of staff which met the target set for support staff. If police officer absence levels remained constant this would give an average figure of 9.62 days absence per officer which also meets the targets set.
The Panel sought clarification on the stress audit and back pain management programme in paragraph 6.5. The Assistant Director of Personnel clarified that a stress audit would be carried out in a number of divisions and departments and a report would be produced to assist with minimising stress across the Force. This can immediately be seen as a good motivator providing immediate spin-offs and morale boosting effects amongst staff. The back pain programme was being organised with specialists in the area of back pain, it would be aimed at teaching coping strategies to staff with problems in this area.
The Panel requested further information on unsatisfactory performance procedures. The Director of Personnel advised that there would be a change in the police regulations which would allow formal warnings to be given to an officer with poor attendance, and ultimately dismissal could take place, although this was not the objective. The aim of the new procedures was to improve performance.
RESOLVED:
That the report be noted.
167 RESTRICTED DUTIES - POLICE OFFICERS
The Panel considered a report of the Chief Constable (Item 8 in the Minute Book) on the number of officers subject to restricted duties in each division at the end of November, 2002.
The Director of Personnel introduced the report and advised the Panel that a future report would provide much more detail. She further advised the Panel that good example in the use of police officers on restricted duties being used very effectively to support frontline delivery of service was the role of shift assistant. Officers were not able to remain on restricted duties for too long without the involvement of the Occupational Health Department, with regular reviews being arranged. There have been recent changes to the pension regulations which now meant that a police officer has to be unfit up to the age of 55 years or for the duration of 30 years service.
The Chairman thanked the Director of Personnel for the report and asked for more information in relation to the amount of time people had been on restricted duties and that this matter needed continued monitoring by providing appropriate review dates.
RESOLVED:
That the report be noted.
168 ESTABLISHMENT REPORT PART I
The Panel considered a report of the Chief Constable (Item 9 in the Minute Book) on the commendations made by the Chief Constable since the last meeting of the Panel.
RESOLVED:
That the report be noted.
169 EXCLUSION OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC
RESOLVED:
That, by virtue of Paragraph 1 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public be excluded from this part of the meeting.
170 ESTABLISHMENT REPORT PART II
The Panel considered a confidential report of the Chief Constable (Item 11 in the Minute Book) on various personnel matters.
RESOLVED:
That the report be noted.
171 EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNAL STATISTICS - 1995 TO PRESENT
The Panel considered a confidential report of the Chief Constable (Item 12 in the Minute Book) on employment tribunal statistics that have been updated since the last meeting.
The Assistant Director of Personnel updated the Panel on the settlement figure following a recent tribunal application which was upheld, and further advised the Panel that the Force would be appealing the decision of the Tribunal.
RESOLVED:
That the data on employment tribunal cases be noted.
172 LEGAL PROTECTION INSURANCE FOR CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT AND SUPERINTENDENTS
The Panel considered a report of the Clerk (Item 13 in the Minute Book) on the provision of legal representation for police officers at risk of legal proceedings.
The Clerk introduced the report and gave background information to the Panel on the various levels of insurance that were currently in place for police officers throughout the Force. He further suggested to the Panel that the scheme be reviewed at certain intervals.
RESOLVED:
(a) That with effect from 1 April, 2003 the Police Authority pay the premiums for the legal protection insurance scheme provided through the Police Superintendents Association of England and Wales in respect of all Chief Superintendents and Superintendents.
(b) That with effect from 1 April, 2003 the Authority pay the premiums for the legal protection insurance provided through the Police Superintendents Association of England and Wales in respect of all retired Chief Superintendents and Superintendents.
(c) That with effect from 1 April, 2003 the Authority pay the premiums for the legal protection insurance schemed provided through the Police Superintendents Association of England and Wales in respect of all former Chief Superintendents and Superintendents whether be that through reversion to a lower rank or promotion.
(d) That the arrangements be reviewed in April, 2005.
(e) That the Police Superintendents Association be informed that the Police Authority reserves the right at any time in the future to withdraw from this arrangement at its unilateral discretion.
173 APPOINTMENT OF DEPUTY CHIEF CONSTABLE
The Panel considered a report of the Clerk (Item 14 in the Minute Book) regarding a personal contractual issue.
The Clerk introduced the report and confirmed that following receipt of Home Office Circular 68/2002 that the contract end date needed clarification, hence the necessity for this report.
RESOLVED:
That a new contract of 7 years to expire on 1 January, 2008 be agreed.
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