Frontline Review Survey Results - UNISON



HOME OFFICE FRONT LINE REVIEWSURVEY OF UNISON POLICE STAFF MEMBERSIntroductionDuring the summer of 2018, the Policing Minister commissioned the Front Line Review to ‘...capture feedback from police officers and staff on their lived experience of operational policing, with a view to seeking their ideas to address systemic issues which act as barriers to their day-to-day roles.’The review is also aimed at improving the availability and experience of support and development opportunities for front line officers and staff.UNISON was invited to sit on the Ministerial Steering Group to advise on the development and delivery of the review.This briefing sets out the results of an on-line survey of our police staff membership which UNISON undertook in support of the Front Line Review.The results were very revealing and worrying. Our survey suggests a number of urgent actions for the Front Line Review to take forward in relation to improving the wellbeing of, reducing the workload for, listening to, supporting and valuing front line police staff in forces in England and Wales.Questions for the Front Line WorkforceThe Ministerial Steering Group responsible for the Review agreed that the following questions would form the basis of engagement with the front line workforce, both officers and staff, in relation to the Front Line Review:Leadership1. What is your experience of leadership at line management level? 2. How effective is senior leadership in your force? 3. What more could be done to make your leaders more effective? Professional Development 1. What support and development do you get in your current role? 2. How does your workplace support your personal career ambitions? 3. What more could be done to support your ongoing professional development? Wellbeing 1. How does your work influence your wellbeing? 2. If you wanted to get wellbeing support where would you go? 3. How does your line manager support your wellbeing? 4. What more could be done by your force to support your wellbeing at work? Innovation 1. What does your force do to encourage you to generate ideas for improving your job or the organisation? 2. What could be done to allow you to be more innovative in the workplace? 3. How could local innovation be better used to improve national policing? Engagement StrategyThe Ministerial Steering Group decided that it would seek answers to these questions via digital channels and some face to face workshops in forces. The digital channels included twitter, force intranet sites and POLKA. UNISON was concerned that these digital channels were unsuitable as the medium for staff feedback as they are open access and carry the risk that comments will be attributable. As an alternative, UNISON undertook a confidential on-line survey of our entire police staff membership.UNISON believes that all police staff are essential to the successful operation of police forces. So we invited all our police staff members in England and Wales to complete the survey, regardless of their role, whilst asking respondents to self-identify whether they were ‘front line’ or not.We used the HMIC definition of ‘front line’ set out in its 2011 Report ‘Demanding Times: The Front Line and Police Visibility’:‘The police front line comprises those who are in everyday contact with the public and who directly intervene to keep people safe and enforce the law.’The survey closed on Friday 14 September 2018.The following results have been extracted from the overall survey responses and relate only to respondents who self-identified as ‘front line’. UNISON will publish the results of the whole survey separately.Survey Results4,500 police staff responded to the on-line survey by the closing date. Of these respondents, 2,555 self-identified as ‘front line’.UNISON Survey FindingsHere are the key findings from UNISON’s survey of front line police staff:6.1 Gender of Respondents50.6%Female49.3%Male0.1% Identify in another wayWhilst women are in the majority in the overall police staff workforce, at 60% of all staff, the gender balance of operational police staff respondents to our survey is far more equal, with 51% being women and 49% male. We have separately analysed the male and female responses and significant differences in response by gender are set out at section 6.12 of this report. UNISON believes that it is essential that the Front Line Review reflects on the differences in the way in which female and male front line police staff have responded to the survey and in the working out of the Review recommendations and action plan.6.2 Protected Characteristics of Respondents1.2%Black7.9%Disabled6.7%LGBT84.9% None of the aboveBlack Staff, at only 1.2% of respondents, are underrepresented in our survey results in relation to their strength in the overall police staff workforce. Home Office police workforce data published in March 2018 shows that 6.8% of police staff , 9.5% of PCSOs and 8.1% of designated officers are BME. There is no Home Office published data on the overall representation of disabled or LGBT staff in the police staff workforce, so it is difficult to assess how representative our survey is of staff with these protected characteristics.6.3 Age of RespondentsThe following statistics indicate that the front line police staff workforce is very experienced and relatively mature in age.69% are 40 – 60, or over, in age44% are 50 – 60, or over, in age11% are 20 – 29This is a workforce which has gained huge expertise in the work it carries out, but which, as later responses indicate, is not given the opportunity to generate ideas to improve the way in which forces operate, and which is ignored when forces are proposing changes. The distinctive age profile of the operational police staff workforce is a critical area upon which the Front Line Review will need to reflect in UNISON’s opinion. Older, more experienced, workers will have different needs in relation to support for their wellbeing and development than younger workers and the Review needs to take this into account.6.4 Working Patterns of Respondents76% of front line police staff work shifts/unsocial hours11% work office hours11% work flexible hoursThese results are broadly as expected, with the majority of front line staff working shifts, or unsocial hours, to deliver services 24/7.The majority of front line police staff work full time (85%) with only 14% working part time. There is some suggestion here that part time working may not be easily accessible by front line staff in some forces.It is well known that, from an occupational health perspective, shift working is bad for workers’ health and wellbeing at the best of times. Many of the individual verbatim responses to the survey highlight poor shift management by some forces, which has a very negative impact on staff wellbeing and workplace performance. Much of this has been caused by cuts to the police workforce and not surprisingly these cuts feature in a large way in the responses of many of those contributing to our survey. Wellbeing of RespondentsRespondents were asked how their work influences their wellbeing?38% of front line police staff say that their work influences their wellbeing quite negatively10% say that work influences their well being very negatively.32% of respondents answered neutrally to this question.Clearly, with 47% of respondents (nearly half) indicating that their work influences their wellbeing negatively, there is a job of work for the Service to overcome these negative influences. UNISON asks the Review Team to address this action in any recommendations coming out of its review.6.6 Help and SupportMembers were asked if you have a wellbeing problem at work, who do you contact for help?If front line police staff have a problem at work, most (69%) would contact their line manager for help. After line managers, staff would next contact friends or family (49.9%), or work colleagues (44.6%) for help.The line manager is therefore a critical figure in the support network available to front line police staff and our research makes clear the importance of good line management for the wellbeing and operational effectiveness of policing. We would like the Review Team to take this finding on board with a view to promoting effective line management as a critical factor in both staff wellbeing and operational effectiveness.How Supportive are line managers, or supervisors, of staff wellbeing at work?Given the importance of the role of line manager/supervisor it is encouraging that a majority of respondents (73%) say that their line manager is supportive all, or some, of the time. 15% of respondents answered neutrally to this question, and only 12% said that their line manager was unsupportive some, or all, of the time.6.8 Have you undertaken any work related training or study in the last 12 months?60% of front line police staff have undertaken work related training or study in the last 12 months40% have notIt is positive that a majority of operational police staff have had work related training in the last year, but very worrying that a large minority (40%) have not. The Front Line Review should investigate these statistics to ensure that all front line police staff receive appropriate training to keep their skills and knowledge up to date.6.9 Front Line Police Staff Career StructureRespondents were asked whether there is a defined career structure for their current job, or type of work?It is extremely worrying that 79% of front line police staff say that there is no defined career development structure for their current job/type of work. This response is very revealing of the lack of career opportunities for police staff generally, but will come as a surprise to some in respect of the operational workforce. Not only should this be a matter of concern to the Front Line Review, it should also be a matter of concern to the College of Policing. UNISON would like the Review to focus on this issue with the College.6.10 Do forces encourage front line police staff to generate ideas for improving their job, or the organisation?Respondents were asked this question and responded as follows:The failure of forces to encourage front line police staff to generate ideas for improving their job, or the work of the force more generally, is one of the most disappointing results to come out of our survey. A majority of respondents (53%) say that their force does not encourage them to do this. Quite why this should be is difficult to determine, as any organisation which aims for continual improvement needs to engage with its workforce over how to achieve this. On the other hand, 47% of police staff responding to the survey did report positively that their force does engage with them over ideas to improve their work. One of the key objectives for the Review Team is therefore to find out what makes the difference between a force, or department, which encourages positive feedback from staff and those which don’t.6.11 Are front line police staff views are taken into account when forces are proposing changes?72% of front line police staff say that they do not have their views taken into account when their force is proposing changes. This very depressing statistic goes to the heart of the relationship between front line staff and their forces. UNISON asks the Review Team to seriously address this apparent failing in the way that forces are run. As we have pointed out earlier, the front line police staff workforce has immense organisational expertise and knowledge. For forces to ignore this at times of change is both irresponsible and foolhardy. UNISON wants this to change and we ask the Front Line Review to support a programme of cultural change on this issue.6.12 Differences in Survey Responses by GenderAs part of our survey analysis, UNISON investigated whether there were any significant differences in the responses of male and female front line police staff respondents. We found the following significant differences:AgeThe male police staff workforce is older:50% of male respondents are 50 years of age or older38% of female respondents are 50 years of age or olderWorking TimeMore male police staff than women work full time: 93% of men work full time78% of women work full timeWellbeingFemale police staff report higher levels of negative workplace influence on their wellbeing than their male colleagues:44% of male respondents said that their work influenced their wellbeing quite or very negatively50% of female respondents said that their work influenced their wellbeing quite or very negativelyHelp at WorkFemale police staff are more likely to confide in work colleagues (49%) and friends and family (50%) if they have a problem at work than men, for whom the same figures are 40% and 38% respectively.Line Manager SupportA higher proportion of female police staff say that their line manager is unsupportive some, or all of the time (14%), when compared to men (11%).Work Related TrainingSlightly more men (62%) than women (58%) have undertaken work related training or study in the last 12 months.It is a matter of great concern to UNISON from a gender equality point of view that female frontline police staff are experiencing a more negative influence on their wellbeing at work when compared to their male colleagues and that they experience less support from their line managers than men. There is also disparity in the level of training received by women compared to their male colleagues. These are statistics which UNISON asks the Front Line Review Team to reflect upon and bring forward proposals to tackle the disproportionate gender impacts uncovered by UNISON’s survey.UNISON also believes that there is work for the College of Policing to seek to ensure that women are not being consciously, or unconsciously, discriminated against by forces in relation to training opportunities.Verbatim Responses to UNISON’s SurveyRespondents to UNISON’s front line police staff survey were invited to answer the question: what could be done better by your own force to support your wellbeing at work?The majority of the 2,500 front line police staff who responded to the survey took the opportunity to reply to this question. The results when analysed show that police staff have a lot to say about their wellbeing at work and what has happened in their work places to put this wellbeing in jeopardy. No one who has played any role in policing in the last 8 years will be surprised by the comments, but taken as a whole the individual testimony of operational police staff is very powerful.The 25% cut to police budgets, the loss of 40,000 police officer and staff jobs have had quite predictable consequences not only for police capability and resilience, but also for the health safety and wellbeing of the front line police staff who keep communities safe. The verbatim responses to UNISON’s survey (attached) confront the Review with an inescapable reality which cries out to be addressed. UNISON has analysed the 2,500 verbatim responses to the survey into the following main headings, which were arrived at as a result of conducting word searches for the most commonly occurring themes in the individual responses. They most common themes were as follows:WellbeingWorkloadListeningSupportShiftsValueStressConclusions and Action PlanThe results of UNISON’s on-line member survey in support of the Front Line Review identify some key issues and concerns for the Review. UNISON is committed to working with the Review Team and the College of Policing to address these matters in a productive fashion to hopefully improve both the working lives of our members and the operational efficiency of the police service.UNISON welcomes the fact that UNISON and the Staff Associations have been invited onto the Front Line Review Steering Committee. The results of our operational police staff survey suggest areas of improvement in the engagement, management and treatment of police staff that can only be properly worked out in partnership with representative organisations.The results of our survey lead UNISON to the following action plan which we believe is necessary to properly support front line policing:Policing to receive more resources going forward to create the capacity and resilience which has been lost as a result of 8 years of government cuts. A large proportion of the verbatim responses to our survey relate to impossible workload and the pressures that this brings to bear, both on force performance and on staff wellbeing. It is not possible to ignore this fact. The government has an opportunity to provide this funding for policing as part of the next comprehensive spending review.Police forces to demonstrably show care and attention to their police staffs’ wellbeing and welfare. Many respondents told of inadequate welfare provision in their forces and a lack of commitment from leaders to staff wellbeing, possibly born out of a lack of understanding of the daily pressures faced by the workforce. Police leaders to listen to their front line police staff workforce. A majority of respondents say that their force never asks them for their ideas to improve their job, or the work of the force. In addition, the oft reported lack of engagement with front line staff by leaders, when making changes in force, is one of the most worrying findings in our survey. The request for their force to listen to front line police staff was repeated again and again in our survey responses. UNISON hopes that these voices are listened to as part of the Front Line Review.Police forces and the College of Policing to work together to provide genuine professional development opportunities for their front line police staff. Nearly 80% of respondents to our survey told us that they have no defined career structure. This is simply unacceptable both from the point of view of the individual staff and of forces. Police staff need proper career development opportunities and forces need to retain gifted and hardworking police staff. Better career development would be a win-win outcome.Shift Patterns to be planned more effectively to allow better work-life balance for front line police staff. Many front line respondents to our survey told of the misery caused by continual and badly managed changes to shift rotas. Undoubtedly much of what members reported is a result of police cuts, and the fact that forces no longer have sufficient front line police staff to do the job. Poor shift management is corrosive of staff morale and performance. The staff who work in these often miserable conditions are entitled to ask what their force, and the government, is doing to support their loyalty and commitment to the job?The different experience of male and female front line police staff to be acknowledged by forces and the government, and action taken to tackle any disproportionate workplace impacts on female police staff. Our survey indicates that women’s wellbeing is lower than that of their male colleagues; that they feel less supported by their manager than their male counterparts and that women get less workplace training than men. This is unacceptable and needs to change. The lack of any focus on protected characteristics in the Home Office Front Line Review methodology is a serious flaw, very much shown up by our survey results when broken down by gender. ................
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