Cleveland Police cause of concern revisit – Understanding demand and strategic planning

Letter information

Sent from:
Andy Cooke QPM, Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary

Sent to:
Mr Richard Lewis, Chief Constable
Cleveland Police

Cc: Mr Steve Turner, Police and Crime Commissioner
Cleveland Police

Sent on:
3 September 2021

Background

We inspected Cleveland Police, as part of our PEEL programme of inspection, between 20 and 31 May 2019. During the inspection, we identified six causes of concern. One of them was about the efficiency of the force in understanding its demand and its strategic planning. We found that:

“Cleveland Police doesn’t adequately understand the demand it faces. A thorough understanding of demand is required to underpin all strategic planning. This failure means it doesn’t have coherent workforce and financial plans to meet demand and deliver the necessary outcomes.

To address this cause of concern, the force should immediately:

• carry out a comprehensive assessment of current and potential future demand across all operational areas to inform the force’s operating model. This should include latent demand, and the demand generated by internal processes;
• provide senior leaders with the relevant information, support and skills to inform their understanding of demand; and
• develop co-ordinated financial and workforce plans based on demand, which should be integrated into the force’s strategic planning cycle.”

2. We reviewed progress against this cause of concern between 11 May and 21 June 2021. Our revisit was conducted both remotely and on-site to allow for reality testing.
3. During the revisit, we interviewed staff from across the force, observed force meetings, and reviewed a range of documents and data. A summary of our findings is below.

Progress against the cause of concern recommendations

Carry out a comprehensive assessment of current and potential future demand across all operational areas to inform the force’s operating model. This should include latent demand, and the demand generated by internal processes – in progress

4. In 2019, we found that the force had a poor understanding of demand and didn’t sufficiently prioritise between different types of demand. As a result, it wasn’t making best use of its resources. Its operating model was driven by the money it had, rather than an understanding of what it needed, to determine what was then affordable. And its future operating model remained uncertain.
5. We are pleased to find that the force better understands the demand it faces. It has appointed external consultants to help it better understand the levels of demand it deals with. It has since trained its own staff in the approach used. Its understanding, and decisions made, are now overseen by a managing demand board. It has reviewed most, but not yet all, of its operational areas. On the basis of this understanding, the force’s operating model will remain the same for now. But it will influence how it allocates resources to respond to and manage demand, and use technology better.
6. This understanding has also informed its force management statement, its first since 2018, which is positive progress.

Provide senior leaders with the relevant information, support and skills to inform their understanding of demand – in progress

7. In 2019, we found that senior leaders didn’t understand demand in their own business areas to enable them to manage it, and inform the deployment of resources.
8. The force has since engaged its senior leaders in its annual process of understanding demand and resourcing, which informs its force management statement. It now has a more structured approach. Through hosted sessions, senior leaders make decisions about future demand, resources and assets. The force recognises that there is still more to be done to support senior leaders. For this year’s process, it is preparing information packs taken from data already available on force systems. The process is also being run earlier in the year to inform its strategic decision making, and a wider group of senior leaders will be briefed on what is required of them.
9. On a day-to-day basis, there is better information to support, understand and manage demand to inform deploying resources in real-time. The force now has a twice daily management meeting, in the morning and evening, which informs day-to-day demand management. This provides an overview of incoming demand from calls and incidents involving people who are vulnerable and assessed as high-risk. It assists with prioritising the most wanted suspects and provides an understanding of the number of officers in its operational units to help identify available resources.

Develop co-ordinated financial and workforce plans based on demand, which should be integrated into the force’s strategic planning cycle – in progress

10. In 2019, we found that the force didn’t have a single coherent picture, at the same time, to be able to do the future strategic financial, workforce and operational planning that it needed, informed by its understanding of demand.
11. The force now has all the documents required for strategic planning, which include:

• a strategic threat and risk assessment – an annual assessment of crime which determines the crime priorities;
• a force management statement – an assessment of demand and resources which helps determine organisational priorities;
• an operating model informed by an understanding of most operational demand (but not yet all);
• a workforce plan for police officers, which will inform how the operating model is resourced, with the plan bringing together the overall number required to meet demand; and
• a long-term financial plan, which determines if the operating model and required resourcing are achievable.

12. The force has improved its internal processes to ensure that the information in its force management statement better reflects what is happening in the force in most areas.
13. The workforce plan is for 2021-2023, and provides the resource requirements for police officers. There is further work taking place to forecast the requirement three to five years ahead, and to include police staff.
14. The force is yet to incorporate all these documents and plans into an overarching strategic planning cycle. This will allow it to set crime and organisational priorities together, and sooner, before the next financial year begins.
15. We will review this recommendation again once a full strategic planning cycle is complete.

Conclusion

16. The force is making progress with this cause of concern, which is critical for its strategic planning and resource deployment. While we have continually monitored progress, this is the first time we have formally reviewed the force’s results. As a result of our review, all recommendations remain in progress and will be further reviewed as part of our PEEL programme of inspection.
17. This is one of six PEEL causes of concern being monitored. As such, Cleveland Police remains in the engage phase of our monitoring process, at least until our next review period.

Back to publication

Cleveland Police cause of concern revisit – Understanding demand and strategic planning