Cumbria PEEL 2016

Cumbria Constabulary does not yet have a full understanding of the current and likely future demand for its services, but is taking some steps to address this.

The constabulary has a reasonably up-to-date understanding of reactive demand. It conducts an annual assessment, which is updated quarterly, and has additionally conducted a review of calls for service, which has led to changes in the staffing and practice within the control room. In the light of this learning, work is underway to look again at other reviews, including the study of demand in the crime command, to inform understanding of the time taken to investigate more complex crimes and to keep vulnerable people safe. This will enable the constabulary to understand some aspects of hidden demand better, but this is an area in which the constabulary’s understanding is otherwise very limited.

In terms of future demand, the constabulary recognises that it needs to make improvements, and managing demand better is one of the significant enablers identified within its framework of priorities. The constabulary has developed good links with academia at national and local levels to help it to enhance the capability of its technology, to develop its policing techniques and to enable staff to work more efficiently and thereby reduce future demand. It has also shown that it can use learning to plan effectively for future demand and to develop responses in relation to issues such as flooding.

Cumbria Constabulary is good in the way that it uses its resources to manage current demand. The constabulary faces an uncertain financial future, due to the lack of clarity around the police funding formula, which is unlikely to be resolved until April 2017. Although it has considered a range of different scenarios for policing with fewer resources, its ability to make firm plans is hampered by this uncertainty.

Despite the uncertainty, the constabulary is continuing with a well-managed and ambitious change programme. It has introduced a business improvement unit to co-ordinate and track action on priorities within its ‘Big 6’ framework.

The constabulary has already improved its efficiency, making substantial savings. It aims to continue to improve the productivity of the workforce, principally through organisational change and ICT. All frontline staff have been provided with hand-held devices, and this means that officers are now more productive and able to stay out in their communities, providing visible policing. The constabulary considers skills requirements routinely within all change programmes and includes relevant actions in business plans so that, during the implementation of change, sufficient focus is given to ensuring that the right staff with the right skills are available. There is also a high-level force-resourcing panel and a strategic workforce-planning group to ensure that staff are deployed to those departments requiring additional resources at the right time.

The extent of collaborative working in Cumbria is limited compared with other forces. However, the constabulary does share a learning and development function with Lancashire Constabulary and has plans to extend collaboration to other services. It also has plans to improve the way it works with other local agencies, including an innovative mental health multi-agency assessment and crisis centre, which has the potential to reduce demand on the constabulary significantly and, importantly, to improve services to some of the most vulnerable victims.

The constabulary has made savings by rationalising its buildings, including closing down some police stations and building new ones where they will be needed in the future.

Cumbria Constabulary has a good track record of prudent financial management and a thorough understanding of its current financial position. However, it is not yet in a position to align its workforce model fully to demand, because it does not yet have a complete understanding of all the demand it faces.

The constabulary sees better community engagement and problem-solving work as crucial to reducing demand in the long term. It has therefore placed teams of police officers and PCSOs in each area, who will not be redeployed to deal with responsive work. The constabulary considers this model to be scalable, so that, as the funding available reduces, so too can the size of the teams.

The constabulary has made significant investments in ICT to provide all frontline officers with mobile data and technology to enable them to be more efficient and to increase their productivity. These are working well, with further developments planned to enhance their usefulness.

The constabulary is expanding its change programme, which is enabling both savings and investment for the future. A further £2.5m of savings are planned for 2016/17. However, there is uncertainty around the constabulary’s future financial position, and it could do more to develop more detailed plans in preparation for different funding scenarios arising from future change in the police funding formula.

It currently holds reserves of about £21m and plans to invest a substantial proportion of these reserves in estates, ICT and its vehicle fleet to further modernise the service.

A strategic alliance is being developed with Lancashire Constabulary, which will build on the success of their learning and development collaboration and look at specialist policing assets in the first instance.