Agenda item

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered a Human Resources (HR) monitoring report of the Director of Human Resources and the following points were made.

·         The Assistant HR Director noted that there had been a significant uplift in the intake of probationers, with a further 16 probationers taking up their role from 20 November 2020. Members heard that the numbers of women and BAME recruits had also increased.

·         A member commented on the positive feedback in relation to the culture at the City of London Police, which was welcomed, but expressed concern at the high level of transfers (approximately 50%) and enquired as to whether exit interviews were carried out. In response, the Assistant HR Director advised that police officers frequently changed roles, which was supported within the Force given that this facilitated the building of a wide range of skills and expertise. This benefitted officers in terms of their personal development as well as the Force overall. Exit interviews were routinely conducted and changes to the process in recent years meant that these were now conducted by a member of a staff network rather than line management.

·         The same member asked why the statistics gathered from those who would be considered part of the group of those with protected characteristics were low. The Assistant HR Director, in response, advised that it had been explained to officers why the information was requested, how it would be used and that line managers were not able to access this information. This had helped to raise the level of information returned, although the number of responses remained lower than was desirable. It was noted that this was a voluntary return, rather than statutory.

·         A query was put seeking clarification of the role of the Chief Superintendent - Welfare Lead. The Assistant Commissioner advised that this was a proactive role to oversee staff welfare including statutory reports (e.g. staff assaults); conducting forums on stress, injury and wellbeing; overseeing delivery of occupational health with HR; and ensuring line management was supporting the welfare plan appropriately. The current post holder was proactive and had revised and updated the plan in place to assist staff in dealing with traumatic incidents. Internal evidence had shown that this model did support people appropriately and that incidents were reported.

·         A member enquired as to whether the statistics included the Special Constables and the Assistant HR Director advised that the Special Constables were recorded separately, with a separate Commander overseeing them.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.