Force management statement 2: Template and guidance for forces

Purpose of this document

This document is to help your force produce its force management statement (FMS).

This year, there are some new requirements. You will find these on page 6. Please make sure you have read and understood these before you start filling in your FMS. We will send FMS 2 documents back to you for further work if your document hasn’t met the requirements.

Last year, we gave you detailed guidelines on how to fill in the template. We’ve given you these again in the Annexes. The main document focuses more on what’s changed since last year. You can send us your FMS at any point, but it must be with us at the latest by Friday 31 May 2019.

What is an FMS?

FMSs are self-assessments that forces produce for us. We require them for the purposes of both pre-inspection information gathering and as evidence during inspections. It is the chief constable’s statement and explanation of:

• the demand the force expects to face in the next four years;
• how the force will change and improve the condition, capacity, capability, serviceability, performance and security of supply of its workforce and other assets to cope with that demand;
• how the force will improve to make sure the gap between future demand and future capability is as small as it can be; and
• the money the force expects to have to do all this.

FMSs encourage forces to ask themselves: what do I need to do now to solve or, better still, avoid the problems of the future? FMSs are a forward-looking part of the information we hold on a force. They support and guide the integrated PEEL assessment, thematic inspections, and monitoring of force performance.

Guidelines for filling in the FMS

Before you start filling in your FMS, please read these guidelines.

How it works

There are two parts to an FMS:

• a summary, of no more than 4-5 pages. This must include not only the main findings from the information in the rest of the FMS, but also the decisions you are making based on these findings; and
• a series of 12 sections which cover different aspects of demand. Each of these must consider and include the four steps we outline on page 11, which will draw out how your force is getting itself ready to meet future demand.

The FMS is made up of both parts. There is a declaration box at the end of the summary part of the FMS. The chief constable must sign this. It covers the whole FMS.

You must fill in each section. If you have any reservations about the completeness or quality of the information you are giving us, please tell us in the relevant section and explain why. This will help us as we continue to develop the FMS.

How to fill in the template

Please focus on giving us a clear, concise, focused analysis of the main issues rather than telling us everything you know about each area. If you want to give supporting material, that’s fine. But your answers shouldn’t just be a set of hyperlinks. The FMS should be a single self-contained document.

The FMS should contain an assessment which is candid and as accurate as possible. Giving misleading information or deliberately leaving out relevant information is not acceptable.

If you think the guidance or template limits your ability to fill in your FMS, is too restrictive or causes you to duplicate effort, please speak to our FMS team and your force liaison lead as soon as possible. We would prefer you to include the information you think is relevant, rather than leave it out; we may be able to resolve the problem between us.

When you’re giving us sensitive information (for example, about counterterrorism and firearms policing), please mark it clearly with the appropriate security classification and handling requirements. Ideally, this should go in a separate, detachable annex.

How many sections you need to fill in

The FMS contains eleven main sections, plus a RAG summary rating and a section for collaborations (section 12) if you need it. This year, you must use all the section headings we have laid out in the specified order. If you have other sections, please put these at the end of your FMS.

The protecting vulnerable people (PVP) section is made up of several sub-sections for every type of PVP demand. We need you to go through the four steps for each sub-section, but you might want to present this information all together, separately for each sub-section or using a combination of the two approaches.

If your force has a combined team leading on safeguarding adults and children, you might choose to combine that area but present domestic abuse separately. You can adjust how you use the template to reflect local circumstances, but you must cover all the sub-sections one way or another.

The sections in the template can’t be perfect, self-contained divisions of police work; there will be some overlap. If one section asks for information which might also be in another, please just cross-refer us to the relevant section and avoid repetition.

Our data requirements

We expect you will continue to use some information and data we haven’t received before. We might need more information about this, but we will develop this in collaboration with the police service and relevant interested parties. Any extra data we ask for will only be information that a well-managed force needs.

Although we are not requiring any specific data in this second year of the FMS, we do consider that a well-managed force may need to refer to some of the relevant data from their Integrated PEEL data return or value for money profiles or other data, such as their annual data requirement.

Also, those forces involved in the Big Data tool project are encouraged to include relevant findings in their FMSs, along with any conclusions and analysis.

New requirements for FMS 2

This is Year 2 of development for the FMS in a three-year process. The FMS process and template are broadly the same as FMS 1. But we have made some changes to what we are asking you to do.

1. Use the template structure

You must follow the headings and steps in the order we have stated.

That doesn’t mean you have to use the boxes – it isn’t a form. But we do expect you to have easy-to-find sections with the same title(s) we use. Within each section, use the step numbers (and preferably the full step title) as subheadings. Please draw together all the sections into a single document when you submit it to us.

2. Don’t include too much information

Your entire FMS should be between 130 and 170 pages, including the 4 to 5-page summary and declaration.

We don’t require any maps or photos or full-page section breaks. However, tables, graphs and a few infographics are fine. We don’t need background information on change programmes, the history or general description of the force etc (we can refer to FMS 1 for these if we need to). However, if you are creating a version of the FMS that is required for additional purposes such content and branding is at your discretion, within the page range given above.

Please don’t include these guidelines when you send your FMS back to us. The template begins after the guidelines.

3. Include structured case studies

The best case studies contain the following information:

• why there was a problem and what you did (include relevant data such as resource commitment or unit costs);
• what improved and how was this measured (feedback from users, decrease in demand, decrease in cost etc – was it proved to be effective or efficient, or both?); and
• if the case study refers to work that has since been implemented more widely than the original scope (for example, a pilot that was then extended), what happened? Were the benefits replicated or were there diminishing returns? How was this reviewed and measured? This would be particularly important if you have already given us case studies in FMS 1.

4. Include a RAG rating

This year we are asking you to carry out a red, amber, green (RAG) rating assessment. This is something that we saw in the returns from some forces in FMS 1. We have included space for the summary of this in the template, though it should also feature throughout your sections of the FMS.

An example of a RAG risk assessment is the risk matrix crafted in collaboration between Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire (BCH). We have Bedfordshire’s permission to give you the risk matrix they produced for their FMS 1 including the methodology which we will send to you separately. You can use this, an adapted version of MoRiLE, another existing organisational risk assessment method or create your own, but you must explain what methodology you used. We will explore the benefits and limitations of the methods used in collaboration with forces to provide stronger guidance for FMS 3.

5. Follow our data conventions

To help us compare the information we receive, please follow these conventions when presenting data in your FMS:

• Please present all historical data for the most recent full years data (by quarter) as the baseline for planning, so this could be calendar year, financial year, school year etc. However, to ensure that future years forecasts are consistent and can be aggregated, these must be in financial years, and on four-year projections, broken down by financial year. If you are showing decisions made within a financial year based on the previous 12 months, please make this clear.
• All financial data should be in millions of pounds rounded to a single decimal place (e.g. £3.4m, not £3,400,000).
• Please include the periods and volumes that percentage changes apply to. For example, ‘demand is predicted to increase 19 percent’ doesn’t give us enough detail. ‘Demand is predicted to increase 19 percent between 2019 and 2022, from 32,000 to 38,000’ is better.
• We don’t need full base level data in FMS 2, just your analysis of it. However, the base data should be available in Excel format if we need it. The final aim is that data provided in FMSs will be available through Power BI.

6. Carry out a thorough analysis

The focus of the FMS is on how you assess and plan to meet future demand. We want you to give us your assumptions about the future as well as the choices you are making now to prepare and plan for that future. And we need you to tell us how you have made these assessments.

We would still like you to fill in your FMS by drawing on the data you feel most appropriate in this second year. But we would like to see more thorough analysis where possible, going beyond basic data presentation.

In FMS 2, you should re-examine any predictions on trends and future forecasts you made in FMS 1, to:

• assess how accurate the prediction was;
• where possible, refine it; and
• where appropriate, try alternative models of prediction.

Across all forces, we hope to see which kinds of analysis perform well under which circumstances.

The context of the FMS

How does the FMS relate to police and crime plans?

FMSs are not substitutes for police and crime plans, and they don’t compete with them. The FMS will help a local policing body assess whether the objectives of its police and crime plan are likely to be met, how quickly and at what cost, but that isn’t its purpose.

You should refer to the police and crime plan throughout the FMS, but you should not insert sections of it into the FMS. When filling in the template, you should clearly identify sections relevant to the police and crime plan priorities.

The FMS doesn’t replace or supersede the Strategic Policing Requirement, chief constables’ annual reports, force strategic assessments, governance statements or the Home Office annual data return. The FMS is different from these things, but they are likely to be closely linked.

How does local context inform the FMS?

Almost all policing is local, and the FMS must fully reflect that. Local context is highly relevant to understanding how a force operates, performs and may change.

We need to collect data in a standard format, and full use of the FMS will facilitate an increased comparability. However, within the structure of FMS 2, we still encourage you to explain your local context and say how it affects your assumptions and decisions.

Local factors are likely to be most relevant in understanding how demand might change. They will also inform the different methods, costs and resource implications of meeting demand in the ways best tailored to local conditions.

How does the FMS work with partnerships and collaborations?

An individual force can face demand from external bodies (such as public bodies concerned with education, health, social services and housing) and meet demand by working with them.

The FMS asks you to explain and assess:

• the effect of these arrangements on current and future demand; and
• whether they are an effective and efficient way to provide a service, now and in the future, given changing demands and priorities.

The four-step approach

Broadly, the FMS encourages forces to ask themselves: what do I need to do now to solve or, better still, avoid the problems of the future?

To help you do that, we have based the structure of the template on a four-step approach.

Step 1: Establish the gap between current demand and demand you expect in the next four years.

Step 2: Establish the current status of your workforce and other assets: their performance, condition, capacity, capability, serviceability, wellbeing and security of supply.

Step 3: Explain what you will do to make sure your workforce and other assets will be able to meet the demand you are anticipating; this may be by changing the skills of your workforce, investing in new ICT and making efficiencies.

Step 4: State how much and what types of future demand you don’t expect to be able to meet, having made the changes and efficiencies in step 3.

There are more detailed guidelines for step 1 and step 2 in Annex 1.

Following these steps will help you see the effect that changing demand will have on your force’s performance. You need to draw out the main themes, focusing the most attention on the areas where you have found the most important risks. It isn’t enough just to fill in the sections equally without drawing out the themes or explaining the risks.

How much detail to include

The template is specific about the types of information we need, but it doesn’t insist on high levels of detail and precision. It is up to you to explain these things as you see them, within the broad categories we have given you. We also ask you to explain how you have measured or assessed the things you are describing, the assumptions you have made and why you chose them.

In broad terms, we expect you to show in your FMS a good understanding of the nature, sources and seriousness of demand, including:

• a summary numerical analysis of the current demand – isolating the main aspects or causes of demand. For example: the numbers and type of incidents/ victims, the main areas responsible for demand, the proportion that are emergencies and the capacity consumed in meeting that demand in officer and staff hours;
• an estimate of future demands – we would expect to see more detail and certainty about near-term demands with broader estimates about future demands (2 to 3 years) including: the most likely best case/worst case scenarios; and
• a concise narrative explaining the factors responsible for the demand, e.g. numbers of pubs and clubs/gangs/whether drugs were involved. This should be supported by a rationale explaining the basis for the best/worst case scenarios.

Establishing future demand

We understand that forecasting will be at various levels of maturity in different categories, but we do ask you to explain how you plan for the future in each category and the work you are doing to improve how you plan.

We expect that this year forces will be able to forecast each of the next four years separately. If you can’t, please explain why.

The FMS template

Summary

Please provide a paragraph or two covering each of the below sections of the FMS, which summarises what you consider to be your force’s main points for each. Then please provide an overall statement on the force’s findings in the FMS.

There is no need to provide: a force or chief officer history, generic descriptions of force-specific issues (such as seasonal variation). Do not include sections of the police and crime plan, maps, photographs or too many infographics (a small number of infographics is fine).

Declaration

Declaration (to be signed by chief constable / Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service / Commissioner of City of London Police):

This is the force management statement for [name of police force]. Except where stated otherwise, the information in this statement is complete and accurate in all material respects.

Signed:

RAG risk assessment

Please include here a summary table of the results of your red, amber, green risk assessment, aligned to the section headings of the FMS. Please include the methodology you have used in an appendix.

[Insert text here]

Section 1: Finance

This section is about your force’s current financial position, the projected changes in income and expenditure, and the gaps in your financial plans which exist and are likely to exist because of the demand the force faces and will face.

Your medium term financial plan (MTFP) should give you most of the information. When discussing how your reserves are being used, you may need to refer to your PEEL data for the outturn reserves for the end of 2018/19 as a proportion of your net revenue expenditure, and how this compared to your previous forecast of that position.

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Section 2a: Responding to the public – requests for service

Requests for service come through different channels. Please describe these channels and how your force organises, classifies and responds to those requests.

There are two sub-sections within this section: requests for service and incident response. Please assess them separately.

You may need to refer to your 999 and 101 data (and possibly other channels). If you made predictions in FMS 1, how did these compare against what happened? Can you identify a proportion that are avoidable repeat contacts chasing the same incident?

Step 1

Establish the gap between current demand and demand you expect in the next four years.

[Insert text here]

Step 2

Establish the current status of your workforce and other assets: their performance, condition, capacity, capability, serviceability, wellbeing and security of supply.

[Insert text here]

Step 2 (wellbeing)

Distinguish the wellbeing of the workforce from other assets.

[Insert text here]

Step 3

Explain what you will do to make sure your workforce and other assets will be able to meet the demand you are anticipating; this may be by changing the skills of your workforce, investing in new ICT and making efficiencies.

[Insert text here]

Step 4

State how much and what types of future demand you don’t expect to be able to meet, having made the changes and efficiencies in step 3.

[Insert text here]

Section 2b: Responding to the public – incident response

Requests for service come through different channels. Please describe these channels and how your force organises, classifies and responds to those requests.

There are two sub-sections within this section: requests for service and incident response. Please assess them separately.

You may need to refer to incident data here, particularly emergency and priority attendances. Can you determine average number of officers deployed per type? Does this vary by season, location, shift type? Did you make predictions or notice trends in FMS 1 – how do these compare to the data now? You may also need to refer to your police-recorded crime data. How do you assess what is an increase due to crime data integrity improvements and what is a genuine increase to victim-based crime?

Step 1

Establish the gap between current demand and demand you expect in the next four years.

[Insert text here]

Step 2

Establish the current status of your workforce and other assets: their performance, condition, capacity, capability, serviceability, wellbeing and security of supply.

[Insert text here]

Step 2 (wellbeing)

Distinguish the wellbeing of the workforce from other assets.

[Insert text here]

Step 3

Explain what you will do to make sure your workforce and other assets will be able to meet the demand you are anticipating; this may be by changing the skills of your workforce, investing in new ICT and making efficiencies.

[Insert text here]

Step 4

State how much and what types of future demand you don’t expect to be able to meet, having made the changes and efficiencies in step 3.

[Insert text here]

Section 3: Prevention and deterrence (neighbourhood policing)

This section is about your force’s prevention, deterrence and community-based activities to reduce demand and make the community more confident in the police. Please describe your force’s activities at a community or neighbourhood level.

Step 1

Establish the gap between current demand and demand you expect in the next four years.

[Insert text here]

Step 2

Establish the current status of your workforce and other assets: their performance, condition, capacity, capability, serviceability, wellbeing and security of supply.

[Insert text here]

Step 2 (wellbeing)

Distinguish the wellbeing of the workforce from other assets.

[Insert text here]

Step 3

Explain what you will do to make sure your workforce and other assets will be able to meet the demand you are anticipating; this may be by changing the skills of your workforce, investing in new ICT and making efficiencies.

[Insert text here]

Step 4

State how much and what types of future demand you don’t expect to be able to meet, having made the changes and efficiencies in step 3.

[Insert text here]

Section 4: Investigations

This section is about how you use your investigation resources. It includes digital/online crime investigation, custody, forensic services and how people are put through the system of sanction or prosecution (i.e. what many forces refer to as criminal justice activity).

Step 1

Establish the gap between current demand and demand you expect in the next four years.

[Insert text here]

Step 2

Establish the current status of your workforce and other assets: their performance, condition, capacity, capability, serviceability, wellbeing and security of supply.

[Insert text here]

Step 2 (wellbeing)

Distinguish the wellbeing of the workforce from other assets.

[Insert text here]

Step 3

Explain what you will do to make sure your workforce and other assets will be able to meet the demand you are anticipating; this may be by changing the skills of your workforce, investing in new ICT and making efficiencies.

[Insert text here]

Step 4

State how much and what types of future demand you don’t expect to be able to meet, having made the changes and efficiencies in step 3.

[Insert text here]

Section 5: Protecting vulnerable people

This section is about how your force identifies and safeguards vulnerable people and investigates offences against them. We recognise this is a complex area with high levels of partnership working and interdependency. Please explain how your force understands and manages this complexity and how you are planning to deal with it in the future.

Please cover at least each of these sub-sections:

• domestic abuse (including domestic-related stalking and harassment);
• child and adult safeguarding;
• child abuse;
• sexual offences (including child sexual exploitation);
• hate crime;
• so-called honour-based violence, female genital mutilation and forced marriage;
• human trafficking and forced labour;
• missing persons;
• people with mental ill-health; and
• harassment, stalking and cyber-bullying.

You can either present this section as an overall assessment or treat the sub-sections separately.

Step 1

Establish the gap between current demand and demand you expect in the next four years.

[Insert text here]

Step 2

Establish the current status of your workforce and other assets: their performance, condition, capacity, capability, serviceability, wellbeing and security of supply.

[Insert text here]

Step 2 (wellbeing)

Distinguish the wellbeing of the workforce from other assets.

[Insert text here]

Step 3

Explain what you will do to make sure your workforce and other assets will be able to meet the demand you are anticipating; this may be by changing the skills of your workforce, investing in new ICT and making efficiencies.

[Insert text here]

Step 4

State how much and what types of future demand you don’t expect to be able to meet, having made the changes and efficiencies in step 3.

[Insert text here]

Section 6: Managing offenders

This category is about the demand that arises from managing people who have been convicted of offences and who present a risk to others. This includes registered sex offenders, repeat offenders and anyone else the force is managing because of its own assessment and analysis.

Please cover at least each of these sub-sections:

• registered sex offenders;
• integrated offender management; and
• multi-agency public protection arrangements.

You can either present this section as an overall assessment or treat the sub-sections separately.

Step 1

Establish the gap between current demand and demand you expect in the next four years.

[Insert text here]

Step 2

Establish the current status of your workforce and other assets: their performance, condition, capacity, capability, serviceability, wellbeing and security of supply.

[Insert text here]

Step 2 (wellbeing)

Distinguish the wellbeing of the workforce from other assets.

[Insert text here]

Step 3

Explain what you will do to make sure your workforce and other assets will be able to meet the demand you are anticipating; this may be by changing the skills of your workforce, investing in new ICT and making efficiencies.

[Insert text here]

Step 4

State how much and what types of future demand you don’t expect to be able to meet, having made the changes and efficiencies in step 3.

[Insert text here]

Section 7: Managing serious and organised crime (SOC)

Serious and organised crime breaks down at a national level into:

• prosperity (for example, cyber or economic crime);
• commodity (for example, drugs or firearms); and
• vulnerability (for example, child sexual exploitation, immigration crime or human trafficking).

You are free to categorise demand and assets using these definitions or give details about how you categorise different aspects of SOC.

The national performance framework breaks activity down into four strands (the four Ps): prevent, protect, prepare and pursue.

Please state or explain:

• your force’s overall demand caused by SOC and by type;
• how your force decides how much resource, what resource and what amount of effort to apply to the four Ps in response to your assessment of demand; and
• how your force works with other forces and law enforcement organisations, including the National Crime Agency and Border Force

There are no specific sub-sections in this section. You are welcome to use either the four Ps or the national SOC categories if you prefer to give us multiple sections.

Step 1

Establish the gap between current demand and demand you expect in the next four years.

[Insert text here]

Step 2

Establish the current status of your workforce and other assets: their performance, condition, capacity, capability, serviceability, wellbeing and security of supply.

[Insert text here]

Step 2 (wellbeing)

Distinguish the wellbeing of the workforce from other assets.

[Insert text here]

Step 3

Explain what you will do to make sure your workforce and other assets will be able to meet the demand you are anticipating; this may be by changing the skills of your workforce, investing in new ICT and making efficiencies.

[Insert text here]

Step 4

State how much and what types of future demand you don’t expect to be able to meet, having made the changes and efficiencies in step 3.

[Insert text here]

Section 8: Major events

This section covers these sub-sections:

• public order;
• civil emergencies;
• terrorism;
• armed policing; and
• roads policing.

You can either present this section as an overall assessment or treat the sub-sections separately.

We recognise forces often have people performing multiple roles in this area (‘multi-hatting’). Please describe these arrangements and how they function in response to a surge in demand or significant incident. This should include an assessment of how you maintain routine business.

Step 1

Establish the gap between current demand and demand you expect in the next four years.

[Insert text here]

Step 2

Establish the current status of your workforce and other assets: their performance, condition, capacity, capability, serviceability, wellbeing and security of supply.

[Insert text here]

Step 2 (wellbeing)

Distinguish the wellbeing of the workforce from other assets.

[Insert text here]

Step 3

Explain what you will do to make sure your workforce and other assets will be able to meet the demand you are anticipating; this may be by changing the skills of your workforce, investing in new ICT and making efficiencies.

[Insert text here]

Step 4

State how much and what types of future demand you don’t expect to be able to meet, having made the changes and efficiencies in step 3.

[Insert text here]

Section 9: Force wellbeing

This section is about your force’s overall approach to the wellbeing of the people who work in it. We recognise that you might not have covered your entire workforce in the previous categories and that you won’t have been able to describe the force’s overall approach to wellbeing.

Please tell us how well your force understands wellbeing and tracks progress in this area. You need to give us an overall assessment of your force’s wellbeing, and how that is expected to change. You should also give an assessment of the units, resources or departments dedicated to wellbeing (such as a force occupational health unit).

Step 1

Establish the gap between current demand and demand you expect in the next four years.

[Insert text here]

Step 2

Establish the current status of your workforce and other assets: their performance, condition, capacity, capability, serviceability, wellbeing and security of supply.

[Insert text here]

Step 3

Explain what you will do to make sure your workforce and other assets will be able to meet the demand you are anticipating; this may be by changing the skills of your workforce, investing in new ICT and making efficiencies.

[Insert text here]

Step 4

State how much and what types of future demand you don’t expect to be able to meet, having made the changes and efficiencies in step 3.

[Insert text here]

Section 10: ICT and information management

This section is about how your information and ICT assets make your force more efficient and effective, now and in the future. It includes how useful, accurate, timely and secure your data and information are.

Step 1

Establish the gap between current demand for information and ICT and demand you expect in the next four years.

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Step 2

Establish the current status of your workforce in relation to information and ICT and other assets: their performance, condition, capacity, capability, serviceability, wellbeing and security of supply.

[Insert text here]

Step 3

Explain what you will do to make sure your workforce and other assets will be able to meet the demand you are anticipating; this may be by changing the skills of your workforce, investing in new ICT and making efficiencies.

[Insert text here]

Step 4

State how much and what types of future information and ICT demand you don’t expect to be able to meet, having made the changes and efficiencies in step 3.

[Insert text here]

Section 11: Force-wide functions

This section is about the functions of your force that might not be covered in other sections.

Please cover at least these sub-sections:

• human resources and workforce planning;
• learning and development;
• professional standards;
• finance and legal services;
• corporate development;
• estates and fleet management; and
• special constabulary and volunteers.

You can either present this section as an overall assessment or treat the sub-sections separately.

Step 1

Establish the gap between current demand for force-wide functions and demand you expect in the next four years.

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Step 2

Establish the current status of your workforce involved in force-wide functions and other assets: their performance, condition, capacity, capability, serviceability, wellbeing and security of supply.

[Insert text here]

Step 2 (wellbeing)

Distinguish the wellbeing of the workforce from other assets.

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Step 3

Explain what you will do to make sure your workforce and other assets will be able to meet the demand you are anticipating; this may be by changing the skills of your workforce, investing in new ICT and making efficiencies.

[Insert text here]

Step 4

State how much and what types of future force-wide functions demand you don’t expect to be able to meet, having made the changes and efficiencies in step 3.

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Section 12: Collaboration

For larger collaborations, you might find it more useful to produce a separate section about them. The same headings apply, but please be careful not to duplicate information with other forces.

Step 1

Establish the gap between current collaboration-related demand and demand you expect in the next four years.

[Insert text here]

Step 2

Establish the current status of your collaboration-related workforce and other assets: their performance, condition, capacity, capability, serviceability, wellbeing and security of supply.

[Insert text here]

Step 2 (wellbeing)

Distinguish the wellbeing of the workforce from other assets.

[Insert text here]

Step 3

Explain what you will do to make sure your collaboration-related workforce and other assets will be able to meet the demand you are anticipating; this may be by changing the skills of your workforce, investing in new ICT and making efficiencies.

[Insert text here]

Step 4

State how much and what types of future collaboration-related demand you don’t expect to be able to meet, having made the changes and efficiencies in step 3.

[Insert text here]

Annex 1: specific guidelines for steps 1 and 2

We have been asked to provide additional guidance about the content of Force Managements Statements that were helpful.

Step 1: Establishing demand

There are several things to bear in mind when describing and explaining demand.

These include:

• how your force measures all demand. This covers crime and non-crime, protective and preventative, hidden and visible. You need to treat each of these separately;
• how much your force focuses on preventing crime, managing demand and early intervention. This includes why and how you assess what resources to dedicate to this work, based on all the demand you think you are likely to face;
• how your force works with other public and private bodies to prevent antisocial behaviour, crime and disorder, including by collaborating formally as well as informally;
• your force’s relationship with partner agencies (for example, local authorities and public bodies concerned with health, education, social services and housing), as what they do, or don’t do, can have a positive or negative effect on demand;
• what your force does to manage any increases in demand arising from what partner agencies do or don’t do;

Forces who provided more strategic insight in their Force Management Statements also included information about the following:

• how certain types of demand carry more risk, threat and harm and how these factors affect decisions;
• which types of demand need more effort and investment to handle;
• how hard-to-reach communities, potential and repeat victims and high-demand service users are reflected in your force’s explanation of current and future demand;
• case acceptance criteria and rates for fraud and other economic crimes;
• how much and what type of demand is created by people suffering mental ill-health; and
• crimes including fraud, retail crime, domestic abuse, sexual offences (including child sexual exploitation), child abuse, offences of violence (especially violence against women and girls, elderly people, disabled people and other vulnerable victims), acquisitive crime, terrorism, serious and organised crime, slavery, human trafficking and forced labour, public order offences and hate crime.

Step 2a: Status of assets

For a force to be effective and efficient, it needs to have a sound understanding of all aspects of the demand it faces and will face. It also needs to know about its workforce and other assets and what they can and will be able to do.

For example, a force might have a highly efficient shift system, closely matched to the demand analysis for responding to incidents (performance). But it might not have enough assets (for example, people or vehicles) or people with the right skills to service the demand when they attend (capability and capacity).

There are several aspects to bear in mind when assessing the status of workforce and other assets.

Performance

When you are describing your force’s current performance, please describe your actual performance compared to the level set by local policy, national guidance or best practice.

When you are describing future performance, please do the same based on what you expect those policies etc will be.

Forces who provided more strategic insight in their Force Management Statements also included information about the following:

• follow-up rates for known suspects;
• crime recording;
• victim care and how consistent it is with the Victims’ Code;
• public confidence and satisfaction;
• offender management; and
• how effective and efficient your force is in dealing with the main crime types and/or crimes against the vulnerable, sexual offences, fraud and violent crime (see below).

Effectiveness and efficiency

Forces who provided more strategic insight in their Force Management Statements also included information about the following:

• rostering, shift patterns and working arrangements based on demand;
• whether your force has and uses the right technology for each activity;
• outsourcing and collaboration;
• how your force manages contracts and procurement;
• your workforce mix, recruitment and retention relative to what skills you need now and, in the future, and your budget;
• how your force works with other forces, agencies and services;
• how your force finds new sources of income or resources;
• your force’s working relationship with the National Crime Agency; and
• the general approach, focus and steps your force takes to improve its efficiency, effectiveness and productivity.

Condition, capacity, capability and serviceability

Please describe your current condition, capacity and capability relative to current demand. You also need to tell us how your force plans to use its assets more efficiently, so you can manage future demand with the same or fewer resources, while still properly looking after your workforce’s wellbeing. And you need to tell us how you will change the condition, capacity and capability of your assets relative to projected future demand.

Please explain to what extent condition, capacity and/or capability problems are causing any shortcomings in performance now and might do in the future. Will the gap get bigger or smaller, depending on how you manage the condition, capacity and capability of your assets and how efficiently you use them? How much bigger or smaller will the gap be, and in what respects?

You should consider:

• how many police officers, police staff, specials and volunteers you have, how productive they are and whether they have the skills you need to meet demand in each category and in general, now and in the future;
• what qualifications your people have, how current they are and how your force is maintaining and will improve them;
• the quality of training and development for everyone;
• what policies and practices your force has and will have in place for career development, professional development and promotion;

Forces who provided more strategic insight in their Force Management Statements also included information about the following:

• how your force identifies and recruits staff with skills it needs for the future;
• the abilities of all staff in victim care;
• the ability of the force to meet the demands of offender management;
• attrition rates for all the staff groups above, with explanations for any areas of concern;
• disciplinary matters, complaints and conduct matters;
• the state of the force ICT systems, what the force is doing to improve them and make sure they work with other systems (intra-force, inter-force and inter-agency);
• the status of the force fleet and estate;
• what collaborations and partnerships your force has and how productive they are; what collaborations there are likely to be in the future;
• surge capacity and the use of mutual aid; and
• how the force deals and will deal with spikes in demand.

Step 2b: Wellbeing

We suggest forces distinguish wellbeing of the workforce from condition, capacity, capability and serviceability of other assets. This is because the workforce is the most valuable and complex asset in policing and, in the past, it has not always received the attention it merits. We have given you a separate section in the template structure to provide this information but you may want to reflect on wellbeing within specific sections if there are particular challenges in an area.

You could consider:

• the wellbeing of officers and staff. This includes their current physical and mental condition;
• any underlying causes of poor wellbeing (for example, highly stressful work, long hours, danger, lack of adequate supervision);
• the extent to which current and future wellbeing could affect the condition, capacity and capability of the workforce in the future; and
• what prevention and treatment measures are and will be in place to deal with these problems.

The FMS asks you to assess the wellbeing of staff in several sensitive areas of demand. It also asks for an organisation-wide response.

Please also bear in mind:

• fitness testing pass and fail rates;
• how your force tracks, manages and analyses sickness and restricted duties;
• how much your force spends on overtime;
• working hours, including those for staff who don’t get paid for overtime; and
• the support systems and networks available for police officers and staff suffering from stress or mental health problems.

Annex 2: Specific guidelines for the finance section

Wherever you can, please set the financial assessment against each category of current and future demand your force faces. You should try to describe four main aspects:

• the extent to which your force is making best use of its financial resources. This might mean assessing relevant procurement, collaboration and outsourcing decisions, as well as things such as using overtime to cover peaks in workload and special payments;
• your assessment of the financial implications of future demand for each category. Please compare these with the budget you expect to get and the resources that budget makes available. (For example, increases in pay could mean reductions in the staff numbers.) We have designed the FMS to help you show what you have done and will do to make efficiency savings, and the extent to which these will help close any gap between demand and financial resources;
• how you propose to mitigate or manage any major financial risks; and
• an organisation-wide financial assessment. This should include an assessment of your force’s current and future financial needs, alongside any changes in how much income you think your force will get.

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Force management statement templates and guidance – FMS 2