Information

Force Problem Solving Meeting

Welcome and introductions.

 

Attendees:

PFCC Danielle Stone (DS)

DPFCC Marianne Kimani (MK)

Jonny Bugg (JB)

Paul Fell (PF)

Vaughan Ashcroft (VA)

Louise Sheridan (LS)

A/CC Ivan Balhatchet (IB)

A/DCC Ash Tuckley (AT)

Nick Alexander (NA)

D/Supt Steve Watkins (SW)

Supt. Liz Wilcox (LW)

 

• DS welcomed everyone to the problem-solving meeting.
• Apologies were accepted from Vaughan Ashcroft

 

Vetting

 

• The vetting landscape has changed significantly following Op Admiral and the publication of the Angiolini report.
• The new vetting manager has made lots of progress since July.
• An end-to-end review of our vetting process has taken place -376 pages long report.
• The Force has now improved the way it conducts military service checks and all transferees are re-vetted.
• In addition, qualifications and work references are also carefully reviewed by HR
• There was a discussion about vetting timescales.
• LW confirmed she has 1 vetting manager and 7 vetting officers. This will increase to 10 by the summer.
• Police officer recruits are prioritised. (onboarding in cohorts and financial penalties)
• Vetting renewals and enhancements are the next priority – risk to organisation.
• Contractors and change of circumstances are next
• New applicants progress but are slowed when higher priority applications are received.
• Demand on the team has been high
• 2 x VOs working on police officers and PCSOs – average time is 6 weeks
• 2- 3 x VOs dealing with re-vetting
• 1 x VO dealing with contractor vetting
• 1- 2 x VOs dealing with reviews and change of circumstances
• VOs will increase from 7 to 9 in April and by July will have Admin support which will release another VO increasing VOs to 10
• The oldest applicant awaiting vetting clearance is 16.5 weeks however the average time is 14 weeks.
• Once fully staffed the aims is to have all new applicants vetted within 6 – 9 weeks.
• However, will have to clear backlog of 198 applicants, plus change of circumstances before this is a standard service level, but by July hope to have 2 VOs working on the backlog fulltime.
• There was a discussion on potential solutions to speed up the backlog clearance using staff on restricted duties.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) was also discussed however automation should never replace human judgement.
• option to send contractor vetting to Warwickshire who have a central vetting function dealing with contractors around the country.

Solutions

• Send contractor cases to Warwickshire who have a central vetting function dealing with contractors around the country. This was agreed as a viable and preferred way forward.
• Use those on restricted duties to help reduce the backlog

Resilience

• The Commissioner asked if there was enough resilience in the team
• Concerned that people waiting to start will become disillusioned and drop out of the process.
• Pleased that the Force has set such a high standard for passing vetting but they also need good processes.
• IB commented that the business case is sound but the staffing requirement is probably on the conservative side. Ideally, he would like to recruit two more VOs.
• There was a discussion about whether the aspiration for vetting clearance is six weeks or closer to 10 weeks.
• If it is six weeks, what resource is needed to achieve that and maintain that service level.
• Demand is only going to keep going up and departments are having to manage for an extended period of time without resource, having to keep newly recruited staff warm for 14 – 16 weeks. This is not acceptable.

Action – LW/IB to relook at the business case with a view to be able to achieve and maintain an 8-week vetting position. Also factor in what a 6 week vetting situation would look like and the cost.

Action – LW to outsource contractor vetting to Warwickshire. (National contract to national standard)

 

Assurance statement:

There was an informed discussion in relation to vetting processes in the Force. All agreed that there had been a need to improve some elements of these processes and the new College of Policing APP and the additional safeguards adopted locally following recent events had led to an additional workload and backlogs.

 It was agreed that the additional processes and safeguards put into place were welcomed and should provide additional assurances internally and for the public but that current vetting timescales were too long.

 The Commissioner thanked the Chief Constable for the robust processes and stance he had adopted but requested that he scope what resource would be required to consistently achieve a 6 and an 8 week timescale for all vetting of new appointees.

 

Firearms Licensing

 

• D/Supt Steve Watkins provided an overview.
• The team deal with license applications from firearms holders and clubs.
• Mostly shot guns, sporting rifles and a small number of handguns. (35,532 shotgun certificates in the county but many people have more than 1 shotgun on their license).
• Public safety is the number one priority.
• The Home Office have recently increased the cost of licence fees and suggested this will be reinvested to improving productivity and service levels. This is certainly an apparent expectation.
• However, don’t have full cost recovery even with the new fees. Will only generate £240 732 of income rather than £110, 852.
• The cost of running the department is higher than the fees it receives.
• There was a discussion about licence requirements and the delays caused obtaining medical evidence.
• The Commissioner asked if there was a mechanism to enable the applicant to obtain the medical evidence prior to the application being submitted.
• SW confirmed that the team require that the medical sign off to come directly to them so as to avoid any possibility of undue influence.
• It was agreed that delays in acquiring medical evidence is not the Forces problem to fix but SW would speak to the manger of the team to see what more could be done to address GP timeliness issues.
• There was a discussion about visits that are required to inspect the properties of licence holders and where and how guns are stored.
• FEO’s are professionally curious – looking to ensure there are no sign of instability.
• If any adverse information comes to light, then the license can be refused or if have a license the gun is taken away
• Some can be borderline and might require more detailed medical evidence or an interview with the manager.
• This adds to the delay and generates complaints.
• In October 2023 there was a backlog of 521 applications. This was cleared manageable numbers by December 2024 using restricted officers and overtime.
• In addition, there was a high number of Temporary permits issued in covid when couldn’t do visits. Temporary permits are now back to normal levels.
• However now entering a busy renewal period and the key challenge for the team is how to maintain performance and prevent backlogs without using restricted officers.
• Broadly performing in the top third of forces now and this is manged/monitored via the Chief Constables Executive meeting.
• Further improvements/solutions to double the keying of information are being sought but need a national system that has an end-to-end process.
• SW confirmed the Force has signed up to a national project whereby any individual who lives in Northants but comes to the attention of another Force, a notification is sent to Northants – If this renders the person unsuitable for firearms licence then the team will revoke licence.
• This is a really positive step for public safety.

Action – SWIB to explore additional staffing, processes and technology in the Firearms licensing team to be able to achieve minimum national 16-week SLA and potentially improve on this.

 

 

Assurance Statement:

 There was a lengthy discussion relating to this subject and the balance between the provision of better customer service and public safety. The Chief Constable and the Commissioner were clear that the priority was and will remain public safety.

 It was acknowledged following the conversation however, that there had been too many occasions where the length of time to grant or renew licences was far too long and while the Force had followed national advice and guidance that a 16 week turnaround was standard there were still too many times where this was not being achieved.

 There was a discussion about internal processes and management practices and whether these supported this aspiration for delivery.

 The Commissioner and Chief Constable agreed that the additional money to be received from increases in fees would be red circled for additionality and change in this team, but the Commissioner asked for the exploration of additional staffing, processes and technology in achieving this.

 

 

AOB

 No further business was raised