Northumbria Police Authority has a proactive and effective attendance management policy and procedure, which focuses on early intervention. The performance framework also focuses on the ongoing development of staff. This encourages continued attendance and good performance at work, which has contributed to:
- a reduction in crime
- a reduction in anti-social behaviour incidents
- high detection rates
- high satisfaction rates with the force amongst members of the local community
The force has an effective attendance management framework which encourages continued attendance at work. It also ensures an early return to work where this is not possible. This is supported by:
- Human Resources working closely with the senior management to ensure compliance with procedures
- the provision of fast track treatment such as physiotherapy
- the development of well-being initiatives
- benchmarking attendance data against most similar forces, and sharing best practice through regional and national working groups
Attendance management is supported by the performance framework, which focuses on ongoing improvement. The procedures have set 'trigger points' to identify poor attendance at an individual level and take appropriate development action.
Systems have been set up to support the performance framework which enable users to report and review attendance and accident data. This can then be used to identify trends and enable appropriate action to be taken. Employee Relation Advisors work closely with departments where there is underperformance to ensure improvement.
In order to invest in the leadership of chief officers and other senior officers, senior business leaders meetings are held. The emphasis of these meetings is on business principles. Both the Director of Finance and Human Resources are civilian posts and form part of the chief officer team.
The latest performance outcomes for the authority show that crime reduced by 3.4 per cent in 2008/09. This is despite the pressures from the recession, where performance has been static or increased in other areas. There has also been a total fall of over 36 per cent in recorded crime since 2002/03. The reduction in total recorded crime over the last few years has been amongst the highest in the country. This year the number of anti-social behaviour incidents has fallen by 16.5 per cent, reflecting a lot of the work undertaken by the force and its partners.
The force has high detection rates at 39.3 per cent, the third highest in the country. This is reflected in citizen's opinions of the force; it is the sixth highest in England and Wales in terms of satisfaction of users with the whole experience.
In addition, the percentage of people that think that Northumbria Police do a good job is in the top ten of forces in the country.