SPSA Comments on Strathclyde Police Authority Paper
The Strathclyde Police Authority (SPA) meets on 4 February to note a Strathclyde Police position paper regarding service provision by SPSA. This paper, along with all the other papers for Thursday's Authority meeting, is now publicly available on the SPA's website.
This position paper focuses primarily on two of SPSA's core business areas - Forensic Services and ICT. It sets out Force concerns in these areas, and concludes that there is a need for an independent review of both SPSA and some major elements of ACPOS.
As discussion of this paper takes place in the public domain this week, it is important that SPSA staff and stakeholders are aware of our corporate response on these matters.
First, Forensic Services.
SPSA Forensic Services has been an area of real focus over the last year. We have made investment in an area where there has been historic under-investment, we have introduced new processes both within forensics and in partnership with customers to drive better overall outcomes, we have tackled demands that exceeded the baselines agreed with customers, and in general reduced the backlogs of cases that we inherited.
We would not suggest that there is no room for improvement and there will continue to be regular issues to be resolved on a day to day operational basis. Our output profile, while showing an overall improving trend, will not always be consistent - and we will communicate these issues honestly with Forces in an open and transparent way.
However, the evidence shows that Forensic Service delivery and productivity has improved significantly when compared to that inherited from Strathclyde and other Forces in 2007 - with some very significant improvements in the last 12 months. The Forensic Services teams deserve real credit for driving that improvement.
It is important to have a realistic and balanced reflection on performance and we believe the evidence on Forensic Services set out in the paper to the SPA this week is not as fully balanced as it might be.
For example:
In drug analysis SPSA inherited a backlog of 2,000 cases from Strathclyde (not referred to in Strathclyde report). Today it is 880 (highlighted in Strathclyde report).
In total biology (General and DNA together), we inherited a backlog of 2,171 case within the Glasgow Service Centre (not referred to in Strathclyde report). The current backlog (highlighted in the Strathclyde paper) is 1,052 - a more than 50 per cent improvement over that period.
In general chemistry, we inherited a Glasgow backlog of 109 cases in March 2007 (not referred to in Strathclyde report) and at end December it was 67 (highlighted in Strathclyde report)
In fingerprints, the backlog in Glasgow at April 2007 was approximately 1,000 cases. This has now fallen to 150 cases. (not referred to in Strathclyde report)
In fingerprint ‘mark enhancements', SPSA has reduced Strathclyde's backlog from 1,300 cases in April 2008 to about 330 cases currently (not referred to in Strathclyde report).
At handover to SPSA only 1 out of 10 samples taken from individuals in custody was processed and put on to the DNA database within four days. Today through investment and automation we have reversed that statistic with over 9 out of 10 results on the DNA database within 4 days. In December 2009, the figure for Strathclyde Police was exactly 100 per cent. (not referred to in Strathclyde report)
The quality of footwear intelligence recovered from our staff at crime scenes has improved. Alongside this we now make the data available to Strathclyde officers by email to quickly assist in tackling crimes such as house break-ins. The number of such updates given to Strathclyde officers is projected to have increased 220% this year (not referred to in Strathclyde report).
Let me turn now to ICT.
In assessing our Forensic performance it is important that this is looked at in the round.
Now ICT. As Vic Emery and Jo Brigham, SPSA's Convener and Interim Chief Executive, made clear when they met with Strathclyde Police Authority members in December, we continue to face significant challenges in ICT delivery.
Striking a balance between the sometimes competing national and local technology demands of Scottish Policing has been an ongoing issue. As the Strathclyde position paper states, the solution to this problem does not lie solely with SPSA.
SPSA fully supports the drive to develop common national ICT systems for Scottish policing. We have written to the Scottish Government setting out the scale of our current challenges across national and local ICT demands, and how we might address these issues. We look forward to their response.
We are hopeful that work and process now underway will address the current mismatch between increasing demand and resource, and enable us to focus without distraction on the real priorities and risks for operational policing.
However in the immediate future, SPSA is clear that its first priority is ensuring all the Forces have the technical support they need to do their day job. If that requires us to divert resources, or find some additional resources, on a temporary basis we will seek to do so.
SPSA inherited some considerable issues and challenges from the Forces, including Strathclyde. We know some of those issues rest fairly and squarely with us to sort out. There are also related, perhaps broader, issues that need to be tackled by ACPOS, the Forces and SPSA together.
Pat Shearer, Chief Constable of Dumfries and Galloway and President of ACPOS has issued a statement on these matters today. He said:
"ACPOS welcomes the continued commitment from the Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA) to address the complexity and challenge of providing both local and national forensic and ICT support services to the differing needs of the eight forces of Scotland.
"Since the formation of the SPSA, significant improvements have been made which have enhanced forensic support services provided. We recognise, as does the SPSA, that there are still areas for improvement, particularly in relation to ICT, and it has already been agreed that a series of areas relating to the ACPOS ICT programme and SPSA delivery will be reviewed to identify further necessary improvements and to determine solutions required.
"We have come a long way and made considerable progress on many issues. We have further to go and by working constructively with the SPSA and with individual forces, we will take forward appropriate recommendations to ensure that the Scottish Police Service has the best possible support in the critical areas of Forensic Services and ICT, at both local and national level."
Scottish policing does a difficult job very well. It is SPSA's job to support them in that. Where legitimate problems are raised with us, our top priority is to understand the problem and have the chance to address it.
However, in the understandable drive to address problems, we must not lose sight of the fact that real progress is being made.