WEST MERCIAPOLICE

EMPLOYMENT MONITORING REPORT

July 2015 – September 2015

CONTENTS / PAGE
  1. Executive Summary
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  1. Workforce Composition
  • Staffing Levels: Police Officers and Police Staff.
  • Analysis of Workforce Diversity by Protected Characteristics
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3. Recruitment
  • Police officers
  • Police staff
  • PCSO
  • Transferees
  • Special Constabulary
  • Redeployment
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9
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10
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4. Retention and Progression
a. Promotions
b. Leavers
c. Appraisals
d. Training Requests / 10
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12
5. Grievances
a. Disciplinary Action
b. Grievances / 12
GLOSSARY and ABBREVIATIONS
BME / Black and Minority Ethnic Background
Gender / Gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women. For purposes of the Equality Act (2010) Gender and Sex are used interchangeably (EHRC 2012).
Gender Reassignment / Gender reassignment applies to the process of transitioning from one gender to another. The Equality Act uses the term transsexual to describe people who intend to transition, are transitioning or have transitioned.
LGB / Lesbian Gay & Bisexual
Race / Race is an umbrella term which covers:
Ethnicity, Colour and Nationality (EHRC)
Sex / Terms sex and gender are used and understood interchangeably for purposes of the Equality Act (2010) (EHRC 2012)
Transsexual / Term used by the Equality Act to describe individuals intending to undergo, undergoing or having undergone the process of gender reassignment (EHRC 2012)

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

West Mercia (WMP) is committed to providing a place of work where equality of opportunity is available to all and encourages applications from those that have been historically under-represented to create a workforce representative of all the communities it serves.

This report gives the current status and composition of the workforce. West Mercia Police continues to undergo a significant period of change, still positively providing resilience to policing services across the two forces, whilst still delivering the financial efficiencies and cost savings.

  • Current Workforce

During this period 77 Student Officers have joined Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police.

  • Recruitment

The current recruitment processes for all officers and staff has been under review. From the 1st November all new applications for Officers and staff will apply ‘on line’. This will include a pre sifting and eligibility online programme for potential student officers and Special Constables.

The WCN recruitment application stage for all officers and staff will allow the recruitment processes to be managed in a shorter time scale. Candidates will be able to select their own interview slots and will be kept up to date at each stage of the recruitment process. Managers are currently being trained in the new system, where they will be able to track preferred candidates for roles.

A new ‘Specials Recruitment Unit’ is now in place. The team will manage all potential Specials applications from the pre SIFT and Eligibility through to vetting and medical checks. Three ‘Specials’ have been recruited to support the recruitment events and campaigns across Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police.

  • Retention and Progression

During this period Police Officer promotion Boards for the rank of Sergeant and Inspector were held in conjunction with Warwickshire Police.

Appraisals with individual line managers are carried out at the end of each year. Throughout the year interim assessments can be carried out and if an individual changes role the PDR will be updated accordingly with the new personal qualities, also allowing the previous line manager to add their comments.

The process allows for

  • Objectives to be set accordingly
  • Personal Qualities of the role profile – individuals add their own evidence throughout the year
  • Career Aspirations
  • Training requests
  • Sign off from first and second line managers.

PDR Appraisals are currently under review

West Mercia Police collects employment data as required by the Equality Act 2010.

This report is based on Employment Monitoring analysis and statistical data provided by the Human Resources Systems correct at 30th September 2015.

This report covers the period - 1st July 2015 – 30th September relating to the Protected Characteristics

Workforce Composition

On the 30th September 2015 West Mercia Police overall workforce total is 4257 comprising

  • Police Officers 49.2% (2096)
  • Police Staff 38% (1621)
  • Police Community Support Officers 5.4% (232)
  • Special Constables 7.2% (308)

Protected Characteristic / Observations
Age / The majority of Police Officers fall into the 41-55 age groups, The majority of Police Staff fall into the 41-55 age group.
For both Police Officers and staff, the numbers within the 25 and under age band are relatively low. Student Police Officer recruitment is currently closed.
The number of Special Constables who are 25 and under remains proportionately higher.
Specials recruitment has been active throughout the year and to support the uplift in numbers required a ‘Specials Unit’ has been set up with a team of nine. A new recruitment process has been put in place to bring individuals into the organisation in a shorter space of time.
Within the over 55 age band, Police Staff represent the highest number. There are very few officers aged over 55due to the compulsory retirement age of 60.
Disability / Disability is a voluntary declaration and the data will not reflect the true figures of individuals who could declare a disability. Currently 1.6% of Police Officers have declared a disability, 3% Police Staff and including PCSO. The Special Constables are showing no declared disability.
Gender Reassignment / Gender Reassignment is a voluntary declaration. There are no declarations underthis Protective Characteristic
Marital Status / The majority of officers and staff have indicated ‘marriage or civil partnerships’
  • 61.7% Police Officers
  • 55.3% Police Staff to include PCSO
The majority of Special Constables (66.5%) are single
Pregnancy and Maternity / From 1st July2015 to 30th September 2015
  • 27 Police Officers
  • 36Police Staff to include PCSO

Race / From 1st July 2015 to 30th September 2015
Workforce Black and Minority (BME) representation is 2.5% which is an increase of 0.5% from the previous reporting year.
  • Police Staff to include PCSO 2.5%
  • Police Officer is 2.1%
  • The Special Constabulary representation is 2.9%
  • The majority of all BME Police Officers are Constables and Police Staff are in the pay band 4 to 6.

Religion and Belief / Of 1220 Police Officer and Police staff who have declared their Religion and Belief:
  • 88.5% are Christians
  • 0.8% are Muslims
  • 0.7% are Sikhs
  • 0.7% Hindu, Buddhists or Jewish

Sex / The National target for representation of female Police Officers as set by the British Association Woman Policing (BAWP) is 35%.
  • Female officer representation is 30% of the Police Officer workforce; this has remained static on the previous report.
  • Female Police Staff and PCSO representation is 61.5% of the Police Staff workforce; this is an increase of 8.7% on the previous reporting year.
  • Female Special Constables represent 33%. This is a decrease of 1.2% on the last report. (April 15 to June 15).

Sexual Orientation / Sexual Orientation is a voluntary declaration and the data will not reflect the true figures.
Of 2096Police Officers
  • 65.8% have not declared their sexual orientation
  • 29.5% declared as heterosexual
  • 1.2% are Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual
Of 1853 Police Staff to include PCSO
  • 79.3% have not declared their sexual orientation
  • 19.3% declared heterosexual
  • 0.8% Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual
Of 308 Special Constables
  • 67% have not declared their sexual orientation
  • 25.3% declared as heterosexual
  • 4.2% as Gay/Lesbian/ Bisexual.

3.Recruitment

Police Staff

1stJuly to 30th September 2015

  • 128 Police Staff vacancies were advertised
  • 1342 applications were received
  • 349 candidates were interviewed
  • 140 new employees joined Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police

PCSOs

1stJuly to 30th September 2015

 For this reporting period there has been no PCSO campaigns running

Nil Applications Received

Nil candidates were Interviewed

From the previous campaign16 candidates commenced their training

on the 7th September 2015.

 15 Candidates were posted to West Mercia Police and one candidate

to Warwickshire Police

 Of the 16 candidates 5 were female, 1 Declared Disability and 1 BME

Police Officers

1stJuly to 30th September 2015

  • 61 Student Police Officers joined Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police – of which 15 female and 4 BME officers.
  • Recruitment is currently closed and no new applications are being accepted.
  • Within the current campaign during this reporting period 167 candidates were interviewed - 111 were successful.

Transferees

1stJuly to 30th September 2015

  • 19 Constables transferred to Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police during this reporting period.

Special Constables

1stJuly to 30th September 2015.

  • 17 Special Constables joined West Mercia Police ( 4 Female and 13 Male) and 7 Special Constables joined Warwickshire Police ( 3 Female and 4 Male and 1 BME Officer) during this reporting period.
  • 51 applications were received for West Mercia Police and 30 received for Warwickshire Police.
  • 41 candidates attended a Special Constable Assessment Centre, of whom 29 were successful.

Redeployment

1st July to 30th September 2015.

  • 13 staff joined the Redeployment Register from Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police Staff
  • 4West Mercia staff have been successfully redeployed into suitable posts
  • 1 Warwickshire staff have been successfully redeployed into suitable posts

4.Retention and Progression- 1st July to 30th September 2015

a. Promotions – Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police

Sergeants

  • 110 applications received - (87 male, 23 female and 5 BME).
  • 70 candidates were invited to interview - (13 female and 2 BME)
  • 48 candidates were successful - (41 male, 7 female and 1 BME)

b. Inspectors

  • 55 applications received – (47 male, 8 female and 1 BME)
  • 43 Invited to Interview – (4 female and 1 BME)
  • 20 successful – (2 female and 1 BME)

c. Leavers

During this reporting period 37Police Officers, 137 Police Staff and 29 Special Constables left West Mercia Police.

  • Retirement has been the main reason for Police Officer leavers(49%).Of these officers 24% were female.
  • The two main reasons for Police Staff leaving was voluntary resignation (34%), in addition (39%) transfer of contract to Place Partnership.Of the police staff leavers (35%) were female and 1.5% BME.
  • The two main reasons for a Special Officer leaving was voluntary resignation(76%) and to join as a student police officer (21%). Of these officers 34% were female and 3.4% BME.

d. Appraisals

Appraisals for year ending 31st March 2015 were all due for completion by June 2015.The current PDR’s received and recorded for Police Officer’s (31%) and for Police Staff (29%).

The PDR process is currently under review.

e. Training Attendance for Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police

During this reporting period 5265 delegates have attended a training course.

L&D Unit / July Aug & Sept Delegates Actual / July Aug & Sept Places Available / % Utilised
Driver Training / 442 / 490 / 90%
Firearms / 391 / 529 / 74%
General Policing / 327 / 450 / 73%
Investigative Skills / 95 / 114 / 83%
ICT / 1341 / 1999 / 67%
Leadership / 140 / 269 / 52%
OST / 2461 / 3064 / 80%
Other / 68 / 157 / 43%
Total / 5265 / 7072 / 70%

5.Disciplinary Action and Grievance

During this reporting period for individuals facing disciplinary charges there are currently 5 open cases for Police Staff and 7 open cases for Police Officer’s

During this reporting period there are 2 open grievances for Police Officers and 10 open grievances for Police Staff.

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