PCD 1548 Investment in HR to deliver NMfL objectives

PCD 1548 Investment in HR to deliver NMfL objectives

This paper seeks approval for funding a total of  £3,852,000  to fund  the recruitment of additional staff within the HR department  to increase capacity and capability to support the delivery of  NMfL programmes, fulfil specific NMfL commitments to fix the foundations of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), and deliver and transform current MPS services in line with NMfL ambitions. Actual expenditure will be allocated only within the available budget. 

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to approve:    

1. Approve the proposal to recruit 18.5 additional fixed term HR staff to  provide the surge capacity needed in HR to deliver the additional supporting service needed by NMFL transformation programmes at an estimated total cost  of £3,100,000 from 23/24 to 25/26. Spend will only be committed within available budgetary limits. 

2. Approve the proposal to recruit two additional fixed term BB2/Assistant Director posts within HR to provide the additional leadership capacity needed to drive at pace the HR activity underpinning Resourcing the MPS and Transforming Leadership programmes at an estimated total of £752,000 from 23/24 to 25/26. Actual expenditure will be allocated only within the available budget. 

PART I - NON-CONFIDENTIAL FACTS AND ADVICE TO THE DMPC 

1. Introduction and background   

2. The current HR organisational model is structured  on a retained strategic function supported by  two external service providers that perform the transactional tasks required to operate a steady  state RUN function.  Inorder to deliver NMfL as a minimum, the MPS requires additional surge capacity while assessing what is required for transformation. 

3. In June 2022, HR submitted additional counsultancy and fixed-term staff requests to  the Transformation Directorate (TD) in order to facilitate NMfL delivery and support the start of the initial NMfL activities. HR reprioritised capacity by building multiple tiger teams and bringing in a small external delivery team prior to funding confirmation and Executive Committee (ExCo) approval on 10th October 2023. However, this wasn’t enough  to offset the years-long budget cuts that have prevented the MPS  from investing in or improving  core services.  

4. Issues for consideration.    

5.  To deliver the essential services the MPS urgently requires, and simultaneously deliver the transformational people programme ambitions, additional recruitment is required  to provide additional capacity and capability needed to deliver our NMFL commitments. 

6. Fixed Term NMfL HR Surge Capacity. Following a review in June 2023 a number of temporally posts (13.5) fixed term and consultancy support needed to deliver the enabling services requested by the NMfL programmes were identified. However, programme requirements have evolved since the initial review and, the resource burden has increased to 18.5 fixed term to support pension reform (McCloud) and workforce planning which are both high risk areas that will enable the MPS  to fix foundations and improve front-line services.  

7. Therefore the MPS is seeking for a decision to proceed  to recruite the additional staff to  build the HR SME surge capacity needed to support the delivery of NMFL requirements.  Without this, funding prioritisation decisions will have to be made – either to prioritise business as usual over NMFL, or prioritise programme over programme. The biggest impact on HR is upon the most stretched teams (i.e. Resourcing, Pay & Reward and Workforce Planning). The  additional capacity will help to release that pressure and provide time for service improvements as  the MPS  fixes its foundations. 

8. Fixed Term Transformation Capability. The current  HR structure does not have the leadership capacity  to drive the reform and change required. Therefore the retained HR leadership structures need bolstering with two additional fixed term BB2 deputy director posts to manage the transformation programme.  

9. The roles will give strategic direction for the most important HR transformation programmes as part of the Strong Organisational Core Mandate and will provide dedicated leaders with the capacity to direct and lead the level of ambition required ensuring that front line needs are placed at the heart of the new services. 

6. The MPS state that there is a risk that the organisation will not be able to adequately support the most essential NMfL work which requires increased attraction, recruitment, pay & award, and people change expertise without the additional resource. 

3. Financial Comments.  

1. Total funding of £3,100,000 from 23/24 to 25/26 is required to fund the recruitment of 18.5 additional fixed term staff. The posts include additional resourcing Subject Matter Experts (SME), people change specialists, workforce planning SMEs, pension SMEs, HR generalists, and project support staff. 

2. Total funding of £752,000 during from 23/24 to 25/26 is required to fund the recruitmet of two  additional fixed term BB2/Assistant Director posts. They will be accountable for driving the pace of transformation people change needed to support the fixing the foundations and cultural change ambitions within NMFL.  

3. MPS finance has reviewed the assumptions behind the above costings and assurances have been provided that  they are robust. However,  in-year deliverability and the possibility of offsetting savings for internal temporary promotions, in cases where posts will not be back-filled quickly, should also be taken into account.  

4. Legal Comments. 

1. The MPS Directorate of Legal Services confirm that the decision is legal.  

2. Paragraph 4.8 of the MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent provides that the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime (DMPC) has delegated authority to approve business cases for revenue or capital expenditure of £500,000 or above. 

5. Commercial Issues. 

1. There are no commercial issues. 

6. GDPR and Data Privacy. 

1. MOPAC will adhere to the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 and ensure that any organisations who are commissioned to do work with or on behalf of MOPAC are fully compliant with the policy and understand their GDPR responsibilities.   

2. The MPS assure that the investment in HR uplift project  does not use personal identifiable data of members of the public, so there are no current GDPR issues to be considered. 

7. Equality Comments.  

1. MOPAC is required to comply with the public sector equality duty set out in section 149(1) of the Equality Act 2010. This requires MOPAC to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations by reference to people with protected characteristics. The protected characteristics are: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. 

2.  The MPS assure that recruitment required to increase capacity and capability within the HR team will adopt the standards of MPS HR policies, which ensure Equality and Diversity considerations are taken account of. 

3. Background/supporting papers. 

4. MPS Report  Part 1  Investment in HR to deliver New MPS For London (NMfL) objectives