Minutes of the Senior Command Team Meeting
Monday 18 May 2009

Present:

CC Meredydd Hughes (Chair)
DCC Bob Dyson
ACC Andy Holt
DF Nigel Hiller
ACC Mark Whyman

Declarations of Interest

130. There were no declarations of interest.

Presentations

131. None

Standing Items

132. Minutes from SCT Meeting 5 May 2009 *Restricted*

The minutes were approved as a true and accurate record

134. Action Schedule and Work Programme

No action updates due.

135. Portfolio Issues

CC Hughes

 Outlined that all the papers presented at the recent ACPO Cabinet on 13th May went through. Some of the papers, amongst others, that were approved included the guidance on enforcement of the Hunting Act as well as common minimum standards for Firearms Role in relation to national capacity and capability work for 2012 Olympics.

 Raised the subject of QUEST, informing that Home Office officials have been in contact trying to sell the benefits to SYP and making recommendations to join in. Other participating forces, including WYP are already involved with QUEST, which is backed by NPIA funding. ACCs Holt and Whyman added their understanding of QUEST as a programme of intensive support that is designed to build capability across the police service to deliver ‘nuts-and-bolts. process improvement work. ACC Holt is meeting with Home Office and KPMG representatives this week to discuss this further and will report back to SCT.

 A letter has been received from John Crosse in respect of the IMPACT Programme, who is looking for an opportunity to meet and provide an update to chief officer teams on the current status and progress between June and September/October 2009. It was agreed to invite him to an SCT meeting during the stated period.

 Welcomed nominations for this year's attendance at the Judges and Police Dinner, to be hosted by the Master Cutler on 15th June 2009. The following were considered and will be invited to accompany the Chief Constable.: ACC Max Sahota, C/Supt Simon Torr, C/Supt Steve Redhall, Supt Mick Webster, D/Supt Bob Yates, C/Supt Bob Varey, C/Supt Keith Lumley, Supt Liz Watson and Ms Theresa Searl. Reserves are DCC Bob Dyson and DF Nigel Hiller

DCC Dyson

 Had taken a call from CC Tim Hollis who has asked for possible assistance with a case review which would be financed so long as SYP had the capacity to do so. There were no objections raised so case review will be progressed and actioned by DCC Dyson.

ACC Holt

 Informed that the Kent Kingsnorth Power Station review had been completed, which will now be documented and presented to CC Michael Fuller.

ACC Whyman

 Disclosed and informed that the new ‘Streamlined Process' will go live by end of June 2009 with the roll-out starting in Barnsley. Training for officers is ongoing and this process was set to save significant time for operational officers in file preparation.

 In response to HSE's assessment and recommendations on the ‘management of contractors', outstanding issues are currently being looked at and dealt with by the H&S team.

 The paper on Lead Force was approved at the Police Authority last Friday, and although it went through, he pointed out that further input and work was required in this area.

 Received a request from Corporate Communications - asking for the 3% cut to be waived as this decision was going to present problems this year. SCT were not in favour of this and declined the request.

DF Hiller

 Gave an update on IFRS implication of ‘weekly leave'. Recommendations were made to prioritise on top 50 locations and carry out a plan through Corporate Health Checks. This area will need regular monitoring and review to ensure compliance with new regulations that are taking effect from April next year.

 ISD have received requests for boundary changes for Rotherham, Barnsley and Doncaster which will require impact analysis on Mapping and other systems. The issue ISD is presented with is that such requests come in at different times, and it would be better to co-ordinate changes and group them together so that the process is not repeated for every District change. To be more cost efficient, SCT agreed that there would be only an annual set of changes which will be identified 31st October and then implemented by 1st April each year.

 Had a lengthy meeting with the Auditors at the Audit Commission (Use of Resources) on Friday, 15th May where he expressed his frustration and disappointment at the fact that SYP was not getting the credit due especially when minimum standards had been achieved.

136. Force Performance

ACC Holt updated colleagues on recent Force performance, and Confidence and Satisfaction figures.

Decision Papers

137. Remuneration Packages

ACC Whyman said this report was to inform SCT of the implications of giving out vouchers to employees of South Yorkshire Police and to seek approval as to whether vouchers should be issued to reward staff. If agreed, policies and processes surrounding this issue to be created.

The paper put forward the following recommendations:-

1. Senior Command Team to determine whether or not SYP shall have a voucher scheme.

2. That we are compliant with HMRC when giving out vouchers.

3. That processes and procedures are introduced for all staff within SYP to follow when giving out vouchers.

ACTION - ACC Whyman to implement a corporate policy based on the agreement that a threshold - of up to £25 - would be dealt with locally, whilst anything over this amount would go through Leaders in Action.

 

138. Special Priority Payments

ACC Whyman presented this paper, the purpose of which was to identify the police officer roles which will be eligible for receiving Special Priority Payment (SPP) during the financial year 2009/10. He asked that SCT agree the SPP qualifying roles recommended by the Special Priority Payment Panel which met on 29 April 2009, as detailed in the paper.

After discussion and consideration, it was decided that the paper was approved, however qualifying periods need to be considered by the panel to improve consistency as part of panel's ongoing considerations.

ACTION: ACC Whyman

139. Review of Attendance Management Policy

ACC Whyman said this report was to brief SCT on the review of the Attendance Management Policy and seek approval to implement an updated policy.

He outlined the reasons why there was a need for change some of which were poor attendance not being managed, potential loss of good staff, staff taking other leave to mask sickness, staff experiencing difficulties moving from unsuitable roles and impact on staff morale. These were issues centred mainly around the current attendance criteria.

He said that consultation had been carried out with OHU, Federation, Unison, line manager focus groups, Legal Services, Diversity Unit, Resolution Officers in addition to benchmarking with other organisations and consulting external experts and bodies. Earlier, draft versions of the policy had been presented to Ops Commanders and PAG. There was extensive debate at both meetings and the present version of the policy has been developed, taking account of those views.

SCT read and considered this paper, and on balance, given the strong support for the existing policy amongst District and Department Heads, it was decided to retain the current policy. ACC Whyman was requested to re-submit the paper.

ACTION: ACC Whyman

Discussion / Information Items

140. RCCG Agenda 20 May 2009

SCT discussed items on the agenda for the forthcoming RCCG meeting.

Audit Reports

141. None
 
Papers to Review

142. Police Authority papers:

Performance Committee 22 May 2009

142.2 21 Day Review of Corporate Communications

Approved

Audit Committee 5 June 2009

142.2 Risk Management Report

Approved

142.3 Telephone Interpreting Service

Approved

142.4 Outsourcing of Forensic Medical Services

Approved

Standing Items

143. Notification to Police Authority

No issues

144. Notification to Force

No issues

145. Any Other Business

No items