Written evidence submitted by the
Police Federation of England and Wales
The Police Federation of England and Wales welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Home Affairs Select Committee’s ‘Inquiry – Policing for the future’.
Please find to follow our submission. This is not exhaustive, but instead focuses on a number of key areas we consider other submissions may not.
I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this, and other matters, with the Committee during the oral evidence stage.
Yours sincerely
Steve White
Chairman
1.1.1. The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) is the staff association for all police constables, sergeants, inspectors and chief inspectors in the 43 home office police forces of England and Wales and currently has approximately 119,000 members. It was created by the Police Act 1919, with a statutory responsibility to represent and promote the interests and welfare of its members and the efficiency of the police service.
1.1.2. As the representative staff association of rank and file officers of England and Wales we can offer the Home Affairs Select Committee a view from the coal face about those issues that police officers have concerns about. As a Federation we operate both nationally with government departments and stakeholders and locally within police forces and local stakeholders.
1.2.1. The model of policing by consent in England and Wales is envied across the world and must be retained, with the politically independent Office of Constable at its heart.
1.2.2. A holistic, independent and full review of policing – including funding levels, functions, roles and structure – is long overdue. We need a police service that delivers what the public want and can effectively tackle changing crime patterns.
1.2.3. There is a need for the overseers of policing to be less reactive and to proactively measure demand – taking into account public expectations – in order to improve planning for the future.
1.2.4. Police officers need the right equipment, training, rewards, resources and legal protections to deal with the varied and dangerous demands placed upon them and to protect the communities they police.
1.2.5. Officers also need to be held accountable, but in a manner that is supportive and appropriate. We need to ensure that policing can learn from mistakes by moving away from a culture of blame to a learning culture.
1.2.6. Policing needs a long-term politically independent strategy, taking account of funding, demands, resources, and public expectations, so that leaders within the service can plan with a degree of confidence.
1.2.7. Police ICT systems – and other systems too – should be inter-operational, user-friendly and fit for purpose.
2.1.1. We have been asked to comment on the following:
• Reforms which may be necessary to ensure the police service has the ongoing capacity and capability to fulfil its primary task of ensuring public safety, in the face of new and evolving threats and challenges.
• Current and future crime trends and their implications for policing in England and Wales, including emerging or growing categories of crime (such as online crime and child sexual abuse) and under-reported types of crime.
• The extent to which the police are sufficiently equipped to deal with these changing patterns of crime and other operational demands, such as mental health crisis work, and where gaps in capacity and capability are likely to lie.
• The relationship between public expectations of the police, including desired visibility and perceived priorities, and the operational realities of policing within the current financial context.
• Police funding levels, efficiency and cost-effectiveness, including the role of Police & Crime Commissioners (PCCs) in driving innovation and reform.
• The role of digital technology in policing, including take-up, risks and barriers to use.
• International best practice examples of innovation in policing, and the extent to which they could be replicated in England and Wales.
2.1.2. We believe these can be distilled into three main sets of issues:
First, the overall policing landscape, and reforms needed.
Second, public expectations and the balance of demand for policing, and funding.
Third, the way that the police are currently managed, both in terms of how they are held accountable, and how they are recognised and equipped.
3.1.1. We understand and appreciate that the landscape is changing in many ways. For example, the changing nature of crime has received much attention. We do not intend to revisit all these changes here, but rather to focus on a small number that may not receive as much attention in submissions by others, such as the employers. This does not mean we, as a staff association, do not have views on these matters too, and would welcome the opportunity to discuss them during oral evidence.
3.1.2. In recent years, police officers have operated within a culture of austerity which has seen numbers fall as the current levels of calls to the police increase. Officers have seen changes to their terms and condition of service, promotion prospects and possible changes to the rank and reward structure, adding to the uncertainty of the profession, both for those in the police service and those contemplating joining. There are numerous current initiatives: e.g. the College of Policing Leadership Review, the NPCC Reform programme, the review of the IPCC. Unfortunately while we have no doubt that each is in itself well intentioned, these are not well coordinated, and it seems that rather than designing a joined up programme of reform, there are competing and conflicting ideas vying for attention.
3.1.3. For more than a decade, the PFEW has been demanding a holistic and independent review of policing in order to properly determine what the public want and expect of their police service. While appreciating this would need to be balanced against the reality of the fiscal policy of the government of the day and its limitations on resources and capacity, it would, at the very least, be a starting point to ensure we have a police service fit for purpose and able to focus on those issues deemed to be public priority.
3.1.4. There are often conflicting and confusing messages from government about what they expect from policing. In recent years there has been an ethos that the police service should just focus on fighting crime; yet the reality is that currently the police service does far more than just that. For example, we continue to see increasing numbers of people with mental health issues coming into police contact as health and social care services struggle to cope with the level of demand against the level of resources they have to deal with it.
3.1.5. While there are good examples of forces working collaboratively, we consider that the structure of having 43 police forces in England and Wales makes little sense. Criminals know no barriers and all this has resulted in is 43 fiefdoms, with different ways of working and different systems and multiple procurement processes. If we were starting afresh today, we cannot see any logic or rationale in having this number of police forces. The public do not distinguish between different forces and, while officers take pride in their force badge, they take greater pride in being able to provide the best service possible to the public.
3.1.6. We maintain that a Royal Commission on Policing looking at the entire structure, function, roles and funding of the police service is long overdue. This would address the points raised above and many of the points to come in this submission. It would allow radical, long-term, strategic thinking, rather than knee-jerk responses and tinkering based on political whim.
4.1.1. The balance between what the public want the police service to do and what the police can actually deliver has become difficult during the recent years of austerity as we have seen a decline in police officer numbers.
4.1.2. In 2014, HMIC published a report which stated that, when focus group members were asked to consider the best use of police time, they immediately idtentified the importance they placed on the visible presence of the police in the community. (https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmic/wp-content/uploads/core-business.pdf).
4.1.3. This was supported in 2016, when an Ipsos MORI survey found that police visibility is explicitly stated as being important to people and more people are dissatisfied, than satisfied, with the levels of uniform policing in their area; and are over four times more likely to say they had seen a decline, rather than an increase, in the past year. (https://www.ipsos-mori.com/Assets/Docs/Publications/sri-public-views-of-policing-in-england-and-wales.pdf).
4.1.4. Regrettably, neighbourhood policing teams and the traditional beat bobby are victims of reduced budgets. We consider this to be a detrimental step in policing by consent, as it not only removes police officers from communities, eroding the trust and relationship with society; but it also removes the opportunity to gather essential intelligence to prevent and fight crime.
4.2.1. Knowing the level of demand on the police is imperative in order to properly plan and resource. The PFEW has concerns that the police service cannot currently, effectively manage plan and monitor the workforce effectively as the relevant data has not been identified and/or collected. To plan a workforce effectively you need to know what constitutes demand, to accurately measure demand, to understand the workforce in terms of recruitment, retention and skills mix, and to accurately measure the workforce. Currently, these are not being done in any co-ordinated, national method.
4.2.2. Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary identified this, stating in their report, Core business: An inspection into crime prevention, police attendance and the use of police time, that 90% of police forces lack a “sophisticated” understanding of their own local demands. (http://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmic/wp-content/uploads/core-business.pdf).
4.2.3. We welcome the fact that HMCIC, Tom Winsor, stated at our annual conference in May 2016 that forces will be required to produce force management statements which will clearly set out demand and workforce planning.
4.2.4. The College of Policing has also undertaken work on demand, but the National Audit Office considered the analysis limited. (http://www.college.police.uk/About/Pages/Demand-Analysis-Report.aspx ). (http://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/financial-sustainability-of-police-forces.pdf ).
4.2.5. Demand is often measured through the national crime figures alone, which is wholly inappropriate as the crime figures do not take account of all crimes and there is much proactive and preventive work undertaken by police officers which is not captured in crime statistics alone.
4.2.6. Part of the problem is that there is no clarity with regards to what the police should be doing, thereby making the assessment of demand more difficult still. The previous Home Secretary made clear that her mission for the police was to cut crime; but HMIC and the NPCC National Policing Vision include other work, such as protecting the vulnerable.
4.2.7. The police service has often plugged those gaps left by other public services and as the austerity measures and reductions in budgets continue to impact, our members tell us this has resulted in increased workloads, much not directly crime related. For example, according to the Sainsbury Centre for Mental health, up to 15% of incidents which the police deal with are thought to have some kind of mental health dimension.
4.2.8. The PFEW has concerns that there is currently insufficient capacity in the service to meet demand. The College of Policing has also stated that two indicators of the growing pressure on police resilience are decreased levels of police visibility and increasing requests for mutual aid. (http://www.college.police.uk/About/Pages/Demand-Analysis-Report.aspx).
4.2.9. In February 2016 approximately 17,000 police officers of federated ranks in England and Wales completed an online survey concerning job demands, capacity to meet demand and welfare. It showed that a 14% fall in officer numbers over a seven-year period from a high of 144,353 in 2009, to 122,859 in 2016, is having significant repercussions and directly impacting upon what police officers are able to deliver, given the demands they face. (http://www.polfed.org/fedatwork/Welfare_survey.aspx ).
4.2.10. Among the findings:
• 66% of officers indicated that their workload was too high;
• 67% disagreed or strongly disagreed that they were able to meet conflicting demands;
• 35% of officers have been physically attacked (unarmed) at least once per month;
• 36% of officers reported being attacked with a weapon at least once in the last year;
• 70% disagreed or strongly disagreed that they have enough time to engage in proactive policing;
• 67% agreed or strongly agreed that that they often had to work in crisis mode trying to do too much too quickly;
• 73% said that their team/unit had a minimum officer staffing level;
• 82% of respondents said that they don’t have enough officers in their team/unit;
• 53% of officers reported that were ‘Never’ or ‘Rarely’ able to take their full rest break entitlement;
• 80% of respondents experienced feelings of stress, low mood, anxiety, or other mental health and wellbeing difficulties;
• 92% of these indicated that their psychological difficulties had been caused or made worse by work.
4.3.1. The PFEW has serious concerns that the service will have the resilience and capacity to be able to sustain dealing with the new crimes, the increasing number of historical enquiries, while all the while dealing with traditional crime.
4.3.2. A report published by the College of Policing in 2015, stated that the changing crime mix means that over the last 10 years, costs of crime for the police have not fallen as much as overall numbers of crimes…… and it is possible time spent on more ‘costly’ crime has increased, particularly with relation to complex crimes such as Child Sexual Exploitation. Demand on the police associated with protective statutory requirements, such as Multi-Agency Public Protection Panels also appears to be increasing. (http://www.college.police.uk/News/College-news/Documents/Demand%20Report%2023_1_15_noBleed.pdf).
4.3.3. The police are also having to deal with cybercrime, a still relatively new, complex, time-consuming and resource intensive crime. This is also an activity that often sees officers taken off the streets and working behind the scenes to tackle. The knock-on effect being that policing in other areas may be left short as there is only so much that a finite number of officers can do.
4.3.4. The Home Affairs Select Committee should not underestimate the amount of time taken dealing with mental health issues. In the same College of Policing report mentioned above, they stated that incidents involving people with mental health issues appear to be increasing. The Metropolitan Police, West Yorkshire, Dorset and Avon and Somerset all estimated that approximately 2% of incidents reported to the police in a year were linked to mental health. But further work undertaken by the Metropolitan Police for the Independent Commission for Mental Health and Policing estimated that 15%-20% of incidents are linked to mental health.
4.3.5. According to the National Police Chiefs' Council the total use of s136 of the Mental Health Act by the police in 2015/16 was 28,271 ocassions.
(http://www.npcc.police.uk/documents/S136%20Data%202015%2016.pdf)
5.1.1. Another area we consider in need of reform is the system of accountability and an inherent and historical culture of blame, which often makes it difficult for the police service to have open and inclusive conversations about how it can improve processes and, therefore, difficult to implement positive change.
5.1.2. We consider that the Independent Police Complaints Commission is in need of reform if it is to have the confidence of police officers and the public. Currently, investigations are protracted and costly, placing huge pressure on officers under investigation and taking from forces already dwindling resources. Merely changing the name of an organisation does not change the structure and culture and we would wish to see a move towards a culture of learning from mistakes, rather than one that focuses on blame and misconduct.
5.2.1. As a staff association representing the interests of rank and file police officers, the Home Affairs Select Committee would undoubtedly be surprised if we did not mention the concern about the level of assaults on police officers and the protections, through law and equipment, afforded them.
5.2.2. To date, it has been difficult to determine the actual number of police officers assaulted every year; much of this being down to what data has been used, taking into consideration inconsistencies and a variety of recording processes. Incidents are also often under-reported, further contributing to an incomplete national picture on what is a growing concern. Up until now, there has been an estimated 23,000 police officers assaulted every year but these new figures present the stark reality of the job and what officers have to deal with.
5.2.3. However, figures we released at the start of February 2016 reveal the potential extent and frequency of assaults on police officers. Estimations based on our welfare survey data suggest that there were potentially more than two million (2,113,602) unarmed physical assaults on officers over a 12 month period, and a further 302,842 assaults using a deadly weapon during the same period.
5.2.4. This means:
· there were a total of 2,416,445 attacks;
· there were 40,009 injuries due to violence;
· an assault happening every four minutes.
5.2.5. We believe an assault on a police officer is an assault on society. Furthermore, we consider that no emergency service worker should face the danger of assault and would encourage the Home Affairs Select Committee to support legislation being proposed by Holly Lynch MP that makes such an assault an aggravating factor in the eyes of the law and that sentences suitably reflect the gravity of the situation.
5.2.6. The PFEW believes that, in the face of growing dangers and threats, police officers need to be properly protected and have the right equipment to protect society too. With more frontline officers working alone, we wish to see the approval of use in England and Wales of the Taser X2 and a greater rollout to all frontline, uniformed officers who wish to be trained to carry it; not just firearms and specialist officers.
5.2.7. In January 2016, we conducted a national survey of officers regarding Taser. From the 6,200 responses:
5.2.8. Also, in January 2016, the Metropolitan Police Federation separately surveyed their members. From their 10,955 responses, 75% feel all Metropolitan Police officers should be issued with Taser while on duty.
5.2.9. Conscious that there has been criticism in the past that officers carrying Taser would mean police officers would be seen as less approachable by the public, we commissioned an Ipsos MORI survey of 2,000 people in November 2016.
5.2.10. The results speak for themselves:
5.2.11. The PFEW also wishes to see officers routinely supplied with spit guards. There can be serious health implications of being spat at, including uncertainty of infection from bodily fluids and the need to go on to anti-virals causing nausea and impacting on an officer’s personal life. Spit guards are only ever put on suspects where there is a risk of them spitting at an officer, so we consider it a red-herring to suggest in any way it is an infringement of civil liberties or draconian. We would welcome the Committee’s support.
5.2.12. Another area of reform we believe is needed to ensure public protection relates to police pursuits and response driving. We remain gravely concerned that, under current legislation, police officers across the 43 forces of England and Wales are not being afforded adequate protection for doing what the public rightly expect of them – to get to incidents as safely, but also as quickly, as is possible. In addition, to fight crime and pursue and apprehend criminals, whether that is on foot or in a vehicle.
5.2.13. Whilst there is guidance from the College of Policing set out in their Authorised Professional Practice on Police Pursuits, it is merely just that – guidance; and even this recognises the anomaly in the law which needs addressing. We wish to see the guidance enshrined in law to ensure that, if a situation arises where an officer during the execution of their duty does have to engage in a vehicle response or vehicle pursuit, that they are not unfairly processed through the court. We consider there must be exemptions in place, in law, which recognise the skills of trained police drivers and their role and function as a police officer.
5.3.1. After years of detrimental change to police officers’ terms and conditions of service, which 71 % of officers have told us has resulted in a negative effect on their morale and 68% said pay and benefits had a major effect on their intention to leave, there are further changes to come which could see this worsen. There are plans examining the current rank structure, degree entry qualifications and a professional register to practice. It would seem that the lessons of past years have not been learnt and, once again, we are seeing piecemeal reforms without any overall plan or direction of travel. To that end, we consider that a review of policing to determine what the public want, would give clearer direction to police leaders, a long-term and sustainable strategy and a mandate for change to achieve this; a mandate for change that all the service can buy in to.
5.3.2. The PFEW consider that, as part of such a review of policing, the funding structure should also be examined. Together with a number of other stakeholders, we played a key role in the National Debate Advisory Group, which published a report in 2015, making a number of recommendations regarding funding that we supported. (https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmic/wp-content/uploads/reshaping-policing-for-the-public.pdf).
5.3.3. The PFEW believes that a healthy, motivated workforce is imperative to sustaining the best police service in the world. This year the PFEW has submitted joint evidence with the Police Superintendents’ Association of England and Wales to the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB). Quite simply, we believe there is a need to ensure the pay system reflects a number of considerations: it should attract and retain officers who are representative of the public served; it should be designed so as to ensure officers believe there is organisational justice within the system; it should be designed, based on evidence of need, and what works; it should facilitate deployability to a range of roles and requiring a range of skills; and it should appropriately recognise the skills, knowledge, and attributes, and workload required.
5.3.4. The PFEW considers there should also be consistent and thorough welfare provision and support available to all police officers. The Defence Medical Welfare Service are currently piloting a scheme in Hampshire , which we would like to see roled out nationally.We support a bid being made to the Police Reform Transformation Board for the funding for such an innovative and helpful scheme.
5.4.1. While accepting that local approaches need recognising at a national level, the PFEW believes that all police ICT systems should be inter-operational. On a positive note, the aspiration of systems working together across forces throughout the country, in a standardised way, is one that all stakeholders in policing are working towards.
5.4.2. There are some key areas which need to be focused on in any work aimed towards better enhancing police ICT. These include:
5.4.3. Another essential element to any ICT system, is to ensure the users are properly trained. It is absolutely essential that all officers receive full, comprehensive and ongoing training for all the products they will need to use, so as to ensure they can carry out their job properly. While a technology nirvana is something we are yet to achieve, it is essential we all understand that technology should be an addition to good policing, not a replacement for it.
6.1.1. All of the issues addressed above demonstrate that the police service is continually in a state of flux. We urge the Home Affairs Select Committee to call for an independent review of policing to address all the issues of changing crime, demand, resources, structure and funding. Importantly though, to ascertain what the public want and can expect from their police service in the future. We need a long-term strategy of more than 5-10 years. We need a long-term strategy that allows the police leaders to plan with a degree of confidence. We need police officers to remain at the heart of policing, to retain the model of policing by consent and to ensure that those tasked with protecting our communities have the support of the law, are given the appropriate protections, equipment and training to do the job and are valued, motivated and fairly rewarded.
Metin Enver, Strategic Adviser, Chairman’s Office
Police Federation of England and Wales
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