Human Resources
Case Studies: Rostering
Rostering case studies from forces where there has been good practice with a low spend or where there has been reduced expenditure recently.
Several forces have identified changes to their working practice which have helped them make savings.
North Wales Police have carried out a successful major project looking at end-to-end resource management. This included:
- assessment of demand and supply profiles
- 'what if' scenario analysis using simulation modelling to test out resource allocation options and a major custody suites change
- creation and implementation of new rostering structures
- rigorous assessment of both predicted and realised benefits
The project resulted in benefits that hugely outweighed the costs. More details can be found in the following documents:
Post Implementation Review - including benefits realisation (summary)
Post Implementation Review - including benefits realisation (full report)
Sussex Police
Sussex Police have undertaken a major review of shift patterns across a range of policing activities and in March 2008 introduced a shift pattern for response officers which appears to be unique in England and Wales.The increase in resources attempts to respond to the new night time economy driven by 24 hour licensing.
The new response pattern has five sections working a 10-week shift cycle.The purpose of the five section response Variable Shift Arrangement (VSA) is to enhance resources on Friday and Saturday evenings by bringing in a (third) supplementary section which supplements the late and night shifts rather than the common practice of simply extending and overlapping the late and night shifts.
The case study presented in the report 'Increasing Front-line Resources' gives the historic, current and theoretical future methods of deployment using enhanced shift patterns combining response officers, neighbourhood and other 'front-line' units. It shows how the force analysed the need for change and overcame problems to introduce VSAs.
Sussex Police hopes to be able to evaluate any financial overtime savings when the new project has completed its first anniversary and is reviewed around April 2009. It should also be possible, as part of this review, to fully evaluate any operational effects including response to calls targets and effects on crime where the supplementary shift is on duty. Evaluation reports will be available after April 2009. More details can be found in the report Increasing front-line resources.
Norfolk Constabulary
In 2008, Norfolk Constabulary moved away from a traditional BCU-based structure towards a single service delivery unit for the entire county. This unit – the County Delivery Unit (CDU) – is headed by a Chief Superintendent, supported by seven Superintendents with responsibilities aligned to local authority boundaries. The head of the CDU owns all of the Response and Safer Neighbourhood resources. Criminal Investigation Department (CID) resources as well as any support resources such as HR and finance are managed through a matrix arrangement.
In April 2009, the force will reduce the number of bases from which their Response teams work from 35 down to six. The total establishment of the response function will also be reduced by just over 100, with more posts going into the Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNT).
New shift patterns
This new arrangement is linked to the introduction of new shift patterns. The majority of the force’s detectives are currently working Mon-Fri day shifts (normally 10-hour shifts). Whilst some of their work clearly means that they need to be on duty at these times, most serious crime occurs in the evening. A variable shift pattern where supply meets demand may be more useful in tackling crime incidents when resources are needed most. The new shift patterns will also see the Response teams, SNT and CID all on a common rest day pattern. Also key will be the establishment of a single Resources Management Unit for the force.
Norfolk Constabulary’s vision for Response is for a single country-wide function that can be used flexibly in light of different demands or requirements. Linked to this is a major piece of work to introduce a command and control model into the force’s control room, backed up by an updated Automatic Vehicle Location System (AVLS). This is scheduled to go live by January 2009.
Once the new arrangements are in place, Norfolk Constabulary is confident of being able to deliver a much better match of resources to demand, of reducing expenditure on overtime and of contributing to increased visibility, customer satisfaction and public confidence. The force believes that it is not just the shift pattern that will deliver savings, but a comprehensive and professional approach to resource management. The force has set a 25% reduction target for police officer overtime for 2009/10. Reports on the evaluation of the initiatives and any delivered benefits will be available in due course.
The new pattern for the force’s Response teams as well as the new pattern for CID and Safer Neighbourhood Teams is available to view. The new CID pattern is a 6-week one, worked by 3 teams, so at any one time there will be one team working on every alternate week in the cycle. This means that there will always be one team on days, one on lates and one on rest day. The rest day cycles in both patterns are identical. Shifts are 8-hours Sun-Thurs and 10-hours Fri-Sat to reflect the significantly higher demand on those days.
