NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED

Transcription

1 Meeting SPA, HRRC Date and Time 04 March 2016, Location Pacific Quay Title of Paper Police Scotland Recruitment Strategy Overview Item Number 13 Presented By Peter Blair, Police Scotland Recommendation to Members For Consultation Appendix Attached: NO 1. PURPOSE 1.1 To provide members of the SPA, HRRC with an update on Police Scotland s Police Officer Recruitment Strategy. 2. BACKGROUND 2.1 Members will recall that a paper was brought to the HRRC in December 2015 which outlined the work underway in terms of a 4 point recruitment strategy which looked to: modernise Police Officer recruitment develop a candidate focussed approach; provide a local focus for recruitment activity; and develop a supportive marketing strategy. 2.2 This paper will provide an update on the progress of the strategy across these areas. 3. FURTHER DETAIL ON THE REPORT TOPIC 3.1 Modernise Police Officer Recruitment On reviewing the processes involved in recruitment, a number of potential barriers to application were identified that appeared to be contradictory to the need to maintain applications. These included the requirement for driving licences, the residential element of police training (covered by Pathways to Policing project), fitness testing, the Standard Entrance Test and the tattoo policy In terms of the necessity to have a current driving license, this requirement was removed in late October 2015 as an essential condition to join Police Scotland. Since that time 203 applications have been received from applicants who do not have a driving license, this equates to 16.6% of all applications in that time The Uniform and Appearance Standards SOP was published in February 1

2 2016 and amended the direction given to officers in terms of tattoos. With the exception of tattoos on the face, which are not permitted unless for cultural, medical or religious reasons, officers are permitted to have visible tattoos as long as they do not: undermine the dignity and authority of the office of constable; cause offence to members of the public or colleagues and/or invite provocation; indicate unacceptable attitudes towards and individual or section of the community; indicate alignment with a particular group which could cause offence to members of the public or colleagues; and be considered inflammatory, rude, lewd, crude, racist, sexist, sectarian, homophobic, violent or intimidating This amendment now allows for suitable tattoos on hands and neck areas which were previously not permitted and excluded some applicants from applying for Police Scotland The reduction of the residential element of the Initial Training Course will be addressed by the introduction of one element of the Pathways to Policing project where the 12 week course will be reduced to 7 weeks supplemented by pre-learn material. This is likely to be ready to be introduced in June 2016, although the timescale for full implementation has yet to be set out The fitness test is still under review and data is currently being collected for analysis. The Standard Entrance Test is also still under review but may be superseded by the introduction of SEARCH, the College of Policing recruitment system which has a testing element and which is currently being considered by Police Scotland. 3.2 Website and e-recruitment The recruitment website and the electronic application process are both outdated. In that respect Corporate Communications in conjunction with ICT are presently looking at the development of a new microsite to modernise the look and feel of the candidate interaction. This is currently nearing the final stages of development and will deliver in the first quarter of 2016/ In terms of recruitment software, as previously stated Police Scotland is one of the few public sector organisations without an integrated end to end e-recruitment solution which brings many inefficiencies to the recruitment process The business case for an e-recruitment solution is currently being developed and will be presented to the Force in the first quarter of 2016/ Recruitment Pathways The Pathways to Policing project has been in place for some time and is 2

3 developing a number of alternative options for entry into Policing Scotland which will deliver a more modern entry route when implemented. Up until now much of the work in the standard entry element has centre around the refocussing of the Initial Training Course however as the implementation phase is drawing near a proposal has been put forward that the governance over the recruitment strategy and review link with the project governance of Pathways to Policing in order to simplify this structure. This has been approved by the Force Executive. 3.4 Develop a Candidate Focussed Approach Making an Application As previously said, Police Scotland introduced a revised application form in October 2015 which, whilst still based on competency, reduced the requirement for specific examples that some people potentially found difficult to evidence. The impact this has had on completed application forms is currently being analysed. 3.5 Provide a Local Focus for Recruitment Activity A small team of 7 officers has been in place since October 2015 to assist Divisions in working locally to generate applications for Police Scotland taking particular account of under-represented groups As part of this work it is recognised that closed Facebook sites are being used by many organisations to engage with potential candidates. During a recent visit to West Midlands Police (WMP) evidence presented indicated that the use of a closed Facebook page creates a self-supporting community which encourages and supports BME candidates throughout the recruitment process The introduction of such a closed site would be in support of the Force Corporate Strategy which advises that engagement with our people, partners and stakeholders will be proactive in manner, and include the use of modern communication channels. Police Scotland will adopt a policy of clear, meaningful and proactive twoway communication We will listen to the public, our partners and our staff to incorporate their views. To help to achieve this, we will embrace new media and widen our communications channels. This proposal is currently being considered by Police Scotland Other activity includes: Working with external media outlets that direct communications to under-represented groups Delivering candidate briefing sessions in communities and institutions where under-represented groups frequent 3

4 Taking part in the Positive Action Practitioner s Alliance which shares best recruitment practice across UK Police Forces Engaging with the workforce of employers who are implementing large scale redundancies Working with Armed Services and Professional Sporting organisations to provide options for potential candidates leaving their organisations 3.9 Develop a Supportive Marketing Strategy A recruitment marketing campaign has now been developed by Leith Agency in consultation with Police Scotland and local communities including under-represented groups. This will be presented to Police Scotland in April 2016 and at that time consideration will be given as how this should best be used. 4. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS 4.1 There are no immediate financial implications associated with this paper. 5. PERSONNEL IMPLICATIONS 5.1 Nothing beyond what has been outlined in the paper 5. LEGAL IMPLICATIONS 5.1 There are no legal implications in this paper. 6. REPUTATIONAL IMPLICATIONS 6.1 There are reputational implications associated with this paper. The service needs to maintain an operational resilience and service delivery and effective and efficient recruitment practice is core to that aim. 7. SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS 7.1 There are no social implications associated with this paper. 8. COMMUNITY IMPACT 8.1 There are no community impact implications associated with this paper. The support provided by local Divisions in attracting applicants should not impact on the delivery of core policing. 9. EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS 4

5 9.1 There are equality implications associated with this paper. Without an e recruitment solution there is an ongoing risk relating to Police Scotland s inability to provide accurate reporting of data or management information relating to our Equality Duty. Additionally, the desire of Police Scotland to attract and retain employees that are representative of Scotland as a whole should be improved by the implementation of this strategy. RECOMMENDATIONS It is recommended that members of the HRRC note the contents of this paper. 5