Agenda item

a)    Finance and resources - Risk report and risk register - verbal update on the impact on MTFS

 

b)    Implications for national and local ICT programmes - verbal update

 

c)    Recruiting officers and staff and implications for the uplift

 

d)    Recovery phase

 

 

Naji Darwish – Deputy Chief Executive, OPCC outlined the PCC Risk Register which was included in the agenda pack.

 

Points made included:

 

·         The register was a dynamic document and was intended to capture live management of risk and mitigation, rather than being a record of all possible risks.

 

·         The register was reviewed monthly on an informal basis by the Deputy Chief Executive and formally by the Commissioner’s Monitoring Board on a quarterly basis, prior to meetings of the Joint Independent Audit Committee and the Police and Crime Panel.  It was now also considered at OPCC Executive Leadership Team monthly meetings.  The Commissioning and Policy Officer had responsibility for the day?to-day management of the register. 

 

·         Owners for each risk were identified and they were responsible for providing updates on mitigation and score.

 

The PCP noted the register.

 

The Chairman thanked Naji Darwish for his report.

 

Clive Barker - Chief Finance Officer, Wiltshire Police gave a short update on the Medium Term Financial Strategy

 

Points made included:

 

·         Wiltshire Police were entering an uncertain period.

 

·         Next year’s costs were being closely looked at.

 

·         Over the Summer finance staff would be trying to gauge what Central Government may do regarding re-funding etc.

 

·         Estate Strategy – that the delay was marginal at present.

 

  

Clive Barker - Chief Finance Officer, Wiltshire Police gave a short update on the new Wiltshire Police ICT Department and infrastructure.

 

Points made included:

·         The new IT Department was being delivered over three phases.

 

·         Phases one and two were complete with some twenty posts filled.

 

·         That many interviews during the lockdown had been done via SKYPE – these interviews had been well received.

 

·         That interviews were now to be arranged for some eleven posts in phase three.

 

·         Work on the infrastructure continued to move forward.

 

A question was raised by the panel as to Clive Barker managing the new Wiltshire Police ICT as well as being the151 officer. The panel were advised by the OPCC that Clive Barker was not the Head of the ICT programme, and that he was held to account by various Wiltshire Police boards and of course the risk register.

 

The Chairman thanked Clive Barker for his updates.

 

Chris McMullen – Director of People and Change, OPCC presented a report which outlined Operation Uplift – COVID-19 Implications.

 

Points made included:

 

·         That the national Uplift programme was an opportunity to increase resourcing and re-invest in policing following a ten-year period of austerity and a fall in police officer numbers.

 

·         The service had been asked to introduce 2,000 extra officers by March 2020, rising to 6,000 extra officers by March 2021.

 

·         At the last Police and Crime Panel, a paper outlined the local implications for Wiltshire, stating that Wiltshire had to recruit 49 extra officers by March 2021. High level assumptions continued to be made on financial and workforce plans for beyond March 2021, which suggested a total number of 147 extra officers by March 2023.

 

·         In order to achieve the uplift numbers, in addition to maintaining the numbers required due to officers leaving the organisation, Wiltshire would be required to recruit over 400 officers up to March 2023. It was estimated at this stage that one in eight applicants get through the process, resulting in needing approximately 3,200 applicants for police officer jobs in Wiltshire – this was a huge requirement.

 

·         That overall, there had been a significant amount of change for the Uplift programme due to COVID. It had been a clear priority from the College and the Government to continue with this programme and as outlined in this report, the majority of amendments had supported Forces to continue recruiting new officers, and in some cases provided new opportunities.

 

·         That the true impact on the Uplift programme would not be felt for some time to come, however Wiltshire continued to plan and expect to meet the Uplift numbers required.

 

·         That Wiltshire Police still expected to hit their recruitment targets, but there were many unknowns due to the pandemic.

 

·         That special Constable recruitment would continue, numbers were down as some had left to pursue careers as regular officers.

 

The Chairman thanked Chris McMullen for his report.

 

 

Naji Darwish – Deputy Chief Executive, OPCC presented a report that outlined COVID-19 OPCC and Force recovery.

 

Points made included:

 

·         That the operational and organisational impact of COVID-19 had been managed in line with emergency planning and business continuity plans. There was significant organisational focus initially to ensure that policing and the organisation was prepared to respond and manage the potential risks and impact of COVID-19

 

·         That the impact of COVID had been global, touching every aspect of society. An event of this magnitude would lead to wider changes in organisations and in society. The COVID-19 regulations and public health guidance created rapid change but the longer term changes would take time to emerge.

 

·         Recovery from COVID would be very gradual and we would not enter a ‘recovery phase’ in the same way as usual emergency planning. This was due to the scale of change, continued managing of public health risk and the length of time this would take. This meant that a ‘new normal’ had emerged and would continue to evolve. It was questionable whether recovery would lead to a return to ‘pre-COVID’ conditions, as organisations continued to adapt.

 

·         Wiltshire Police and OPCC had been adapting to the impact of COVID and the risks on its impact on the workforce. Extensive planning had been completed to mitigate these risks during potential COVID scenarios. Part of this work had reprioritised resources to ensure continued operational capability, new COVID specific capability and ensuring services could be delivered safely and in line with public health guidance.

 

·         Operational and strategic risk registers continued to be reviewed in light of COVID and this would continue to be refined as risks and mitigation develop.

 

·         The emergency management and governance arrangements had been shared with the Police and Crime Panel in April 2020. As initial COVID-19 response work had been implemented with new operating processes in place (such as PPE distribution, COVID regulations etc), COVID-19 governance had reduced in frequency. 

 

·         Recovery was the focus of Silver command weekly and was reported onto Gold and respective governance structures. This is led by ACC Deb Smith for Wiltshire Police and D/CEO Naji Darwish for the OPCC. This currently used the existing gold, silver, bronze structures, however this would continue to be fluid due to the complexity of recovery. All significant medium and long term decisions would continue to be managed by the respective executive leadership teams and CMB structures.

 

·         There were a range of impacts on workforce, efficiency and effectiveness. Both Wiltshire OPCC and Force recognised that there had been an exceptional level of change due to COVID and this presents both risks and opportunities. A number of assessments had been commissioned looking at the impact on crime and police demand, productivity, future workforce practices and business continuity response.

 

·         There were however opportunities going forward, how Wiltshire Police delivered its business, how policing could be delivered in a different way.

 

The Chairman thanked Naji Darwish for his report.

 

It was noted that due to the pandemic, Angus MacPherson would remain in post for a further twelve months. A Policing Plan update would be emailed to the panel members for their input and observations and then published.