AVON AND SOMERSET POLICE

Guidance Notes

Promotion Process - Superintendent

The provision of effective leadership is critical to the force’s performance. It is essential that the right people with the right skills and attributes are promoted to lead and that the promotion process is fair and transparent.

The intention of this guidance is to provide a fair and effective framework for managing the police promotion process in Avon and Somerset Constabulary in accordance with employment and equality legislation and with the requirements of the Police Promotion Examinations Board (PPEB) and Police Regulations.

Avon and Somerset Constabulary – Objectives and Values

Mission: Make the communities of Avon and Somerset be safe and feel safe
Vision: The communities of Avon and Somerset will have the highest levels of confidence in our delivery of policing services
Values: Public First, Quality Counts, Today’s Business Today, Friendly, Professional and Interested

Organisational Context

The Head of HR is responsible for ensuring appropriate management systems and procedures are in place to deliver a quality value for money promotion system, in accordance with the principles set out in this policy and The Police (Promotion) (Amendment) Regulations 1996, as amended.

The Head of HR will determine the need to run promotion assessments and the number of vacancies to be appointed to, based on the resourcing needs at that time.All prospective candidates need to be clear that promotion opportunities are limited, that the process is competitive and that ultimately not all candidates will succeed in gaining a promotion - so that they have a realistic understanding of what is required of them throughout the process.

A representative from the Police Federation may monitor the promotion process throughout all stages.

Introduction

These guidance notes provide you with information concerning the process and cover in detail each of the steps that you as a candidate will be required to go through. It also gives some general background information to help you in your personal preparation for the selection process. You are advised to fully acquaint yourself with the role profile.

The process consists of a formal application form which containsfourcompetency based questions.

Candidates are required to evidence against the Police Professional Framework (PPF) for their current rank however where possible you should try and evidence against the Police Professional Framework (PPF) for the rank you are applying for.

A central shortlisting panel will consider the evidence you provide to the competency questions in Section B of your application form. The shortlisting process will be a `blind shortlisting process’ and candidates will only be identifiable by their allocated candidate number.

Criteria

Before entering the process you must satisfy yourself that you meet the fixed minimum criteria outlined below:

Eligibility criteria - on the closing date of receipt of applications you must:

  • Be substantive in your current rank
  • Have no live written improvement notices issued under the Police (Performance) Regulations 2008 or reduction in rank under those procedures in the previous 18 months;
  • Have no live written warning, final written warning or extended final written warning issued under the Police (Conduct) Regulations 2008; (note – a finding of misconduct but where no separate penalty is applied (Regulation 35(1)(b)), does not debar an officer from proceeding);
  • Have no improvement notice/action plan in place, in accordance with the Police Officer Performance and Attendance procedures.

Timescales

All application forms are to be submitted to #HR Planning or 9am on Friday 16th June.

Late applications will not be considered.

All applications will be subject to a shortlisting process. Candidates who are successful will be invited to attend an assessment centre process.

A timeline of dates for the process will be published with the advertisement.

Withdrawal from the process

Should you wish to withdraw from the process at any stage, you should do so by emailing

#HR Planning (internal candidates) (external candidates) stating the reason for your decision.

The Selection process

There are 4 main steps in the selection process. They are:

  1. Advertisement & Structured application form
  1. Shortlisting Process on section B of the application
  1. Assessment centre may include interview, presentation and briefing
  1. Identifying successful candidates available for promoting into vacancies at the next rank
  1. Structured Application Form

The application form that you must complete is an electronic template.

  • Please ensure that you save a personal copy of the application form before submitting
  • Applications forms must be typed on the template provided
  • Please ensure that your preferred name is shown on section A
  • The templatemust not be modified
  • The amount of text in each answer box must not exceed 2500 characters
  • Evidence outside the boxes or additional material will be disregarded
  • Evidence must be verified by a peer or other member of the constabulary who is in a position to do so.

Format of Application Form

The application form contains the following sections for internal candidates:

Section A – Candidate personal details

Section B – Competency questions

Section C – Recommendation (x2)

Section D – Additional Candidate Information

Section E– Candidate declaration

Section F – Equal opportunities monitoring form

The application form contains the following sections for external candidates:

Section A – Candidate personal details

Section B – Competency questions

Section C – Recommendation (x2)

Section D – Additional Candidate Information

Section E – Transferee Information

Section F– Candidate declaration

Section G – Equal opportunities monitoring form

  1. Shortlisting process

The shortlisting process is a competitive process; therefore the number of candidates shortlisted to attend the assessment centre will be determined by the Head of HR taking into account the number of vacancies and the standard of applications.

All applications received by the closing date will be shortlisted by a central panel.

  • Only Section B will be given to the shortlisting panel
  • Candidates will only be identifiable by their allocated candidate number
  • The shortlisting panel will consist of a senior ranking police officer and HR Manager
  • A validation panel will review the results of the shortlisting panel to ensure a fair and consistent process.
  • The validation panel may consist of a Federation Representative, a HR Business Partner and an officer of appropriate rank.

Candidates will be required to provide details relating to a person who can verify the evidence provided under each competency area. Verifiers maybe contacted by HR to check the authenticity of the evidence.

Candidates who are not successful through the shortlisting process will receive basic feedback.

Candidates who are successful through the shortlist process will be invited to attend an assessment centre.

Evidence of performance and competence

Section B requires you to provide evidence of performance and provide examples of your individual contribution.

Please note that in order not to differentiate/discriminate in favour of/against post holders these questions are by definition ‘bland’ – this affords the candidate the opportunity to choose their best evidence to match a broad question but against the framework we assess them against.

You should:

  • Ensure that you show your ability to meet the demands of the rank you are applying for, and where possible you should try and evidence against the Police Professional Framework (PPF) for the rank you are applying for
  • Provide evidence of effectiveness in your current role and the potential for future promotion
  • Focus on answering the question asked and demonstrating evidence of the specific competency which is described in your response.
  • Provide specific examples, which demonstrate you have the skills and competence required.
  • Evidence should be as up to date as possible and usually within the last 2 years.

You should not:

  • Go into excessive detail
  • Identify individuals or yourself
  • Make general claims without supporting evidence e.g. `I am able to make decisions under pressure’ ….. `I always define tasks clearly and set clear objectives’. You need to state `how’.
  • Exceed 2500 characters per answer; as such information will be disregarded.
  • Submit a hand-written application form

Assessment Centre

Candidates will take part in an assessment process agreed by the Chief Officer Group. The assessment will be against the full Police Professional Framework (PPF) for the rank you are applying.

The Assessment Centre could include:

  • A Briefing Exercise
  • Presentation
  • Interview

Independent or community members may be invited to observe the assessment centre process.

External assessors may also be used as part of the assessment centre process.

  1. Identifying successful candidates ready for promotion

Following the assessment centre process a further validation panel may review the scores from each exercise.

The numbers of officers successful during the promotion board process will be in accordance with the projected number of vacancies for the next 12 months e.g. if 30 people achieve the pass mark but there are only 15 projected vacancies then only 15 officers will be placed in the promotion pool. The other 15 will be unsuccessful and will need to reapply.

Candidates not successful during the assessment centre process will be provided with feedback.

When posting officers, full consideration will be given to the officer’s welfare needs, specialist skills need for further skills-based training and geographical location.

If any officer declines to accept a reasonable offer of a post, they will normally be removed from the promotion pool. They will be eligible to apply for future promotion but will be required to be successful through another selection process.

General Information

Appeals Process

If a candidate feels that he/she has been treated unfairly or there has been a contravention of the promotion selection process resulting in them being unsuccessful at any stage of the promotion process, he/she may register an appeal in writing to#HR Planning(internal applicants) / (external applicants) within seven days of the notification of the results at each relevant stage of the process.

A candidate appealing must seek to show:

a)substantial irregularity in the process;and

b)that this has had a significant adverse effect on the candidate’s performance.

Appeals based on a candidate’s own assessment of performance will not be considered by the panel.

The appeals process is not an opportunity to have your application rescored.

Appeals will be reviewed by an independent Chief Superintendent or above.

Disciplinary Record

All candidates seeking promotion will be subject to review by the Professional Standards Department, including consideration of any serious misconduct or outstanding complaints. Any decision to exclude a candidate as a result of this review will be made by a member of the Chief Officer Group.

Dress Code

The dress code for the interview will be smart business attire or police uniform.

Equal Opportunities

Avon and Somerset Constabulary seeks to ensure that all officers seeking promotion are treated fairly, that the best officer(s) are selected for promotion and that no officer is disadvantaged due to grounds of race, colour, religion or belief, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, gender, age, disability, marital status or part-time status or will be disadvantaged by promotion decisions that cannot be justified as necessary on operational grounds.

The Equality Act 2010 introduced in October 2010 replaces three public sector duties

– for disability, race and gender. Section 60 of the Equality Act 2010 restricts the circumstances, in which employers can ask candidates questions about disability or health which has been taken into consideration in this guidance.

Reasonable Adjustments

Please indicate on your application form if you require any reasonable adjustments at any stage of the promotion board process.

Reasonable adjustments will be made for disabled officers to ensure, so far as it is possible, that they are not placed at a disadvantage compared with non-disabled candidates. If reasonable adjustments are required, the candidate must indicate this under Section A of the application form. Please contact #HR Planning(internal applicants) / (external applicants) prior to the closing date if you require any assistance with your application form e.g. larger format.

HR Planning will contact the candidate to ensure any appropriate reasonable adjustment is made and candidates can be accommodated in this way, regardless of the form of promotion assessment that takes place e.g. structured application form, interview or assessment centre.

Transferee Process – information for candidates from other Forces

Candidates from other Forces will be required to successfully complete the transferee recruitment process including medical, physical and vetting processes.

References and Validation Panels at shortlisting and assessment stage

Further to feedback from Senior Leadership Teams (SLTs) and officers that they wish to see more inclusion of line management in the Police Officer Promotion board, the Chief Officer Group have agreed the following:

Candidates need to provide one reference from a person at Chief Superintendent rank or above who can confirm that from what they know of the candidate, they support the candidate for promotion.

In addition, the candidate needs to provide a supporting statement from a member of the SLT within their current line management structure. The statement needs to provide a score for the candidate, 5-1, and 200 words supporting your score having reviewed the seven PPQ’s. The policing personal qualities to be referenced are Leading People, Professionalism, Managing Performance, Serving the Public, Leading Change, Decision Making and Working with Others.

The validation panel may review the whole application at any stage throughout the promotion process and may contact the referees for further clarification. The purpose of the panel is to validate a fair and consistent process has been applied e.g. consistent marking across applications at shortlisting stage.

Terms of reference

Police Professional Framework (PPF)

Verification of evidence – an individual who can authenticate the evidence submitted by the candidate.

Validation Panel - A Validation Panel will review the results of the Shortlisting and Assessment Centre to ensure a fair and consistent process.

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