EXECUTIVE 20 MAY 2010 CO-LOCATION OF POLICE NEIGHBOURHOOD STAFF WITHIN MILLMEAD OFFICES

Transcription

1 EXECUTIVE 20 MAY 2010 CO-LOCATION OF POLICE NEIGHBOURHOOD STAFF WITHIN MILLMEAD OFFICES SUMMARY This report is intended to brief the Executive on proposals to integrate the local police neighbourhood team with the Council s own neighbourhood team, based in Neighbourhood and Housing Management Services (NHMS) at Millmead. Although, strictly speaking, there are no formal Executive decisions to be taken to allow co-location to take place, it was felt to be prudent to advise the Executive of the planned arrangements and to seek its support. As the project develops and consideration is given to shared management resources, it is likely that councillors will need to consider the constitutional issues that are likely to emerge and these will be brought back at the appropriate time.. 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 The context for the proposal is the recent approval by the Surrey Police Authority of a plan to radically change policing in the county. The plan includes a proposal to locate neighbourhood policing teams within the buildings of Borough and District Councils to ensure a more joined-up and effective approach to issues such as anti-social behaviour. It is hoped also that this approach will release funding to support 200 additional front-line staff across the county. 1.2 This model of joint working has already been implemented within the boroughs of Woking, Runnymede and Reigate and Banstead. Surrey Police have expressed a clear desire to work with us to co-locate their Neighbourhood Specialist Officers (NSOs), Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and associated support and administrative staff within the Millmead site and to integrate their staff with the most appropriate council services/staff to maximise the benefits of joined-up working. Discussions are also taking place with the police to explore the possibility of helping them to co-locate some of their teams within other council-owned sites in the borough (such as in Japonica Court in Ash) as part of their review of existing local police stations and resources in these areas. 1.3 Both organisations believe that there are significant benefits to be gained by bringing the local police neighbourhood team into Millmead. The greatest benefits would be derived by immediate co-location alongside our own neighbourhood services that currently sit within the Neighbourhood and Housing Management Service (NHMS). This includes the Community Safety Wardens who work across the whole borough and staff who deal with nuisance issues on our own estates. This would achieve a more comprehensive and effective partnership approach to the delivery of many of our Millmead neighbourhood services to the communities across the borough as a whole. It would also be a significant step forward in our ability to demonstrate how public services can come together and jointly deliver high quality services in new ways that can lead to significant overall efficiency savings for the council-tax payer. We believe that bringing together these important front-line services will improve public confidence in both organisations and enhance satisfaction with services and 1

2 how people feel about the area in which they live, important outcome measures for all organisations that deliver public services. 1.4 Once the physical co-location has happened, the intention is to explore how we could introduce other complementary council and even non-council services to integrate within this new team. This may include environmental enforcement (e.g. litter, fly tipping) but also licensing, other regulatory aspects of environmental health and also gypsy and traveller liaison work. 1.5 It is worth stressing that there are no plans for the Police to have any reception or counter facility within Millmead. This will be retained at the Guildford Police Station. The location will not be advertised as a venue for visitors to drop-in and engage with police staff but inevitably there will be times when the police will want to bring visitors into Millmead for meetings etc. and our own reception staff will treat them like any other visitors, ensuring they are signed in and escorted into secure areas. Thinking to the future, we can envisage us sharing resources to offer more comprehensive visitor services to the police (e.g. presentation of documents by drivers) as part of the development of a customer contact/service centre and we are in early discussions with the police to explore this possibility. 1.6 Both organisations have expressed a desire to explore even more innovative approaches to partnership working once the physical co-location has been achieved. This is likely to include opportunities for shared management of functions, thereby reducing management overhead costs. To support this work, we are in discussions with the police with the view to them seconding a senior officer to work with the Management Team to help shape this new joint service delivery model once the physical co-location has been completed. This is an exciting opportunity for both organisations and it is considered to be quite unique in the UK. For this reason, it is not possible to map out exactly how the new service will look. We have to keep an open mind and be flexible and responsive to the opportunities and challenges that arise. The Executive will be kept informed as to progress in this emerging area of work. 1.7 There is a detailed communications plan in place to support this project. Clearly, the NHMS team are immediately affected by the proposal and they are being consulted throughout the process. This has included joint sessions with the police and sharing experiences with council and police staff from Woking Borough Council where colocation has been introduced successfully. A number of workplace briefings have also taken place, a presentation to Staff Forum and an article has appeared in the monthly Team Talk/ Core Brief for all staff. This approach will continue throughout the implementation. The feedback received to date is that the staff involved welcome the closer working with the police but there is some natural uncertainty about what this may mean in terms of joint management of staff in the future. We will be focusing on this issue in the coming months and we will involve the staff and the union (Unison) closely throughout. 2. PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS 2.1 The project currently involves bringing around 70 neighbourhood police and support staff into Millmead during late summer/early Autumn with the significant elements of the move expected to be complete by September. The exact number of staff coming over may vary slightly as the police are still going through a number of structural changes that may have an impact and it is likely that they will also want to phase the move of their staff across over a number of months. 2

3 2.2 There is a joint project steering group in place, chaired by Mark Reed, Strategic Director and a joint project plan setting out clearly the commitment, expectations and responsibilities of both organisations to ultimately deliver good outcomes for our communities. There are significant areas of work that the group is working on to achieve the co-location, including essentials such as desk and storage space for the police, staff lockers for personal protective equipment, shower facilities, 24 hour access, building security and parking for operational vehicles. At the time of writing there are no significant issues likely to prevent the project going ahead. 2.3 In terms of physical location, it is intended that the police will share part of the space currently occupied by NHMS and the existing team will extend into the space occupied by the Community Care team on the same floor. A further set of moves that were already planned will enable this to happen. The police have a well developed approach to sharing desks or hot-desking so their actual floor space requirement is quite modest in relation to the staff numbers. They will also have use of the ground floor of the lodge at the entrance to the Millmead site (recently vacated by the Electoral Services team) where space will be created for a large number of personal storage lockers and a changing area. The current staff shower facilities will be retained but shared with the police staff. 2.4 The Executive will be aware that staff parking on the Millmead site is at a premium so we have agreed with the police that, apart from a parking space for the senior Inspector running the police team, there will not be any other private parking on-site. There is a requirement for approximately 17 marked, operational vehicles to use the site but we are confident that, based upon their pattern of use, we can accommodate them without any disruption to our existing staff. It is likely that there would only be significant numbers of their vehicles parked at Millmead outside of normal working hours when our own staff will have left for the day. 2.5 The 24 hour security of the Millmead site will not be compromised by co-location and, arguably, it will be enhanced. The police will require access to their part of the building at all hours, though at night this is likely to be minimal, and our security system can accommodate these movements without any additional caretaker support, ensuring that the site will be left secure. 3. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS 3.1 A key principle agreed with the police from the outset has been that they will pay for the costs attributable to the co-location of their staff, both in terms of the initial move into Millmead and through the on-going payment of rental. We will cover the costs associated with relocating any of our own staff to accommodate the police and this will be achieved within existing approved budgets. 3.2 The project will therefore generate an income for the Council from the outset. We are working through the detail of this and Chris Mansfield, Head of Economic Development is taking the lead in negotiating an agreement with the estates team within Surrey Police to achieve a fair and equitable arrangement. This will shortly be encapsulated into a legal agreement. 3.3 Apart from the income stream generated, the project is not expected to achieve any immediate financial savings at the outset on the overall resource deployed by both organisations. Going forward, one of the key principles behind the joint work with the police, looking at shared management, will be to reduce costs. 3

4 4. HUMAN RESOURCES IMPLICATIONS 4.1 As stated above, we are working closely with staff in NHMS to ensure they are kept fully informed and involved on progress with the implementation of the project. Inevitably some staff will need to move their desk space to accommodate the police arriving and there will be some changes and adjustments to be made by staff in both organisations to accommodate the perceived differences in style of working and management approach. However, we do not expect there to be any significant challenges to overcome and it is already clear that our staff are embracing the change and involving themselves actively in making it a success. 4.2 Our staff also appreciate the need to positively welcome the police staff coming over. For the latter, it is a completely new working environment and many of the individuals will be adapting to changes around their travelling arrangements, parking limitations (no parking provision for private cars) etc., so it is important that we recognise this and do all we can to help them to adapt. A key part of this will be truly integrating them into the organisation where we can by, for example, ensuring that police staff wear council identification/door entry cards (in addition to their own ID cards), encouraging use of the staff restaurant, shared use of meeting rooms, and shared access to staff information and briefings. The police have very much welcomed this approach. 5. LEGAL IMPLICATIONS 5.1 The co-location arrangements will be covered by a legal agreement with the Police. It is also recognised that we may wish to discuss variations to this agreement as the project develops and further opportunities for joint working to the benefit of both organisations emerge. 6. THE COUNCIL S STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK 6.1 The initiative being undertaken is in line with the Mission of the Council as a forward thinking, efficiently run council working in partnership with others and providing first class services that give the community value for money. It will also support work towards achieving the Key Strategic Priorities of securing a Safe and Vibrant Community and Excellence and Value for Money providing efficient, cost effective and relevant quality public services. 7. CONCLUSION 7.1 The report sets out the significant benefits or the co-location of the police neighbourhood team within Millmead and the further potential that this will generate for joint working between both organisations leading to improved outcomes for the community. 8. DECISION 8.1 The Executive is asked: (i) To endorse the principle of co-location of the police Neighbourhood team within the Millmead offices and its implementation along the lines set out in the report. 4

5 (ii) To authorise the Head of Economic Development, in consultation with the Strategic Director with responsibility for finance, to reach a suitable and appropriate agreement with the police to cover the transition costs and future rental arrangements associated with the project. Reason for Decision: To allow the Executive to demonstrate its support and approval for a significant partnership project between the Council and Surrey Police. Originator: Mark Reed, Strategic Director. Tel: (01483) mark.reed@guildford.gov.uk 5