This consultation asks for your views on HMICFRS’s proposed policing inspection programme for 2020 to 2021, and whether you think we cover the right themes and areas of policing. It seeks your views on changes to the PEEL inspection programme.

In particular, we are seeking responses to the following questions:

1. Do the proposed thematic inspections – of child protection; investigating and prosecuting rape cases; the multi-agency response to suspects and offenders who have mental ill health; serious youth violence; and how well policing responds to two threat areas within the Strategic Policing Requirement, namely serious organised crime (SOC), specifically through the activity of Regional Organised Crime Units, and public order cover areas that are of most concern to you at the moment?
2. Are there any significant new or emerging problems in policing that HMICFRS should take into account in our inspection activity?
3. How else could HMICFRS adapt the way in which we acquire information, to take account of current circumstances and risks to public safety?

This year, we are also consulting on changes to the PEEL inspection programme, and we welcome your views on these further questions:

1. What do you think of the proposed approach to assessing police forces in PEEL 2020 to 2021? How could this be improved?
2. Does the draft inspection methodology include the right inspection areas to gather evidence for a rounded assessment of police forces? How could this be improved?
3. Do you agree with the proposal to make judgements based on the characteristics of ‘Good’, causes of concern and areas for improvement?
4. Do you agree with the proposal to provide judgements at the core question level only?
5. Which of our proposals, four or five tiers of judgements, do you think will most promote improvements in policing?
6. Do you have any comments on our proposed approach to inspecting partnership and collaboration arrangements?

See the full report here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/870915/hmicfrs-inspection-programme-consultation-2020-21.pdf

 

Source: Gov.uk

Christine Elliott has been appointed by the Home Secretary as interim Chair of the College of Policing, following her nomination by the College Board.

She takes over the role from outgoing Chair Millie Banerjee.

Christine has been a College Non-Executive Director since April 2015. She is the College’s first Senior Independent Director and has chaired the Audit and Risk, and the Nominations and Remuneration Committees and currently chairs the College Regulatory Consultative Committee.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said:

Christine will be a strong and effective interim Chair of the College of Policing.

Her experience gained across a variety of senior leadership roles will help the College advance the professional development of all police officers across the country as this government recruits 20,000 new officers and ensures that policing prioritises reducing crime.

Christine is also Chair of the Health and Care Professions Council, which regulates fifteen professions, and is an independent lay member of the Editors’ Code Committee, which reviews and revises the code used by all UK press regulators.

Her career spans across the public, private and non-profit sectors. Notably she previously served as Director of Bletchley Park, the World War 2 code breaking site, helping it become an internationally renowned heritage attraction backed by millions in government infrastructure investment and private donations.

Christine Elliott said:

We all rely on brave and talented police officers and staff to protect us in increasingly complex circumstances and I’m looking forward to helping strengthen our connection with the frontline and deliver important pieces of work to support the service.

A fair and open process to recruit a substantive Chair will take place in the coming months.

 

Source: Gov.uk

Details have now been released for this years Emergency Services Show!

The show, which last year featured over 450 exhibiting companies and attracted a total of 8,300 visitors from the police, fire and rescue and ambulance services plus partner agencies, will be returning to the NEC during September, and will this year introduce a new feature dedicated to the Future of Policing.

Details of the event are as follows.

The Emergency Services Show 2020 incorporating Future Policing 2020
Wednesday 23 September to Thursday 24 September 2020
Hall 5, NEC, Birmingham, B40 1NT
Visitor entry is free
www.emergencyuk.com

Please see the Emergency Services Show website and social channels for more detail.

Website: www.emergencyuk.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/emergencyuk
Twitter: https://twitter.com/emergencyukshow & #ESS2020
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/3216983/ & https://www.linkedin.com/company/13055192
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emergencyuk/

• More than half of parents (58%) are working extra, unpaid hours, as campaigners warn many families and firms are losing fight to keep jobs “human-sized”
• 48% of working parents say that working from home has increased their workload
• 44% of working parents feel compelled to dip into work in the evenings
• Parents in “work mode” at home complain of negative impacts on children and relationships
• More than a third of working parents have faked illness to meet family obligations
• Warning comes despite overall improvements in family-friendly and flexible working
• Insights derive from annual survey polling more than 3,000 UK parents

Working parents’ ability to “switch off” from their work is being undermined by the rise of modern communications, with almost half agreeing the boundaries between home and the workplace have blurred, according to the most authoritative annual survey of working families in the UK.

The 2020 Modern Families Index reveals that while over half of parents are working flexibly, badly designed jobs have left many parents struggling to cope with the competing demands of home and the workplace. The survey shows that substantial portions of the working population aren’t benefiting from work-life balance improvements – often struggling to reconcile the pressure to “go the extra mile”, unmanageable workloads and an “always on” culture with their need for family life and good health.

Read the report

The Index, which surveys more than 3,000 parents from across the UK, has been published by work-life balance charity Working Families and Bright Horizons since 2012. This year’s survey coincides with the government’s plans to legislate to improve support for working families, following its commitments in December’s Queen’s Speech.

Family-friendly working ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’

The latest data reveals that half of working parents believe their employer cares about their work-life balance, an increase from 42% in 2015. More than half (55%) now enjoy flexible working hours or work from home. Millennial parents (those aged 35 or under) are leading the way, with 62% working flexibly – not only because of their childcare responsibilities but also to help manage their wellbeing and to pursue outside interests.

But the number of parents working flexibly drops to just over half (51%) amongst those aged between 36 and 55, evidence that many employers are still ignoring their people’s need for fulfilled family lives.

Amongst parents who do not work flexibly, more than three quarters (77%) indicated they wanted to. Almost a third (32%) reported it was “not available” where they worked.

Flexibility is also linked to seniority and salary. Better paid, white collar workers appear to be getting the best deal: 71% of senior managers or directors reported working flexibly, compared to 48% of parents in junior-level roles. More than two thirds of parents earning over £50,000 reported working flexibly, compared to 42% earning £15-20,000.

Technology blurs work-home boundaries

Meanwhile, technological innovations are making it harder for working parents to maintain boundaries between work and the home. The 2020 Index reveals that 44% of parents check emails or do other work in the evening; three-quarters of these feel they have no choice in the matter. Forty-seven per cent of working parents reported that technology has blurred the boundaries between work and home, whilst 25% said that technology has not affected their work-home boundaries. Those who felt the boundaries were too blurred also reported poorer wellbeing.

Negative effects on health and family life

Almost half of all parents able to work remotely reported that doing so had probably increased the hours they work. This comes alongside evidence in the Index that many parents are putting in extra hours as they attempt to manage unwieldy, poorly designed jobs. 60% of parents working extra hours reported that doing so was the only way to deal with their workload. More than half of these said working extra hours is part of their company’s culture.

The detrimental effects of this were clear, with parents in ‘work mode’ outside of their contracted hours more likely to report they feel stressed (72%) and that work impacts negatively on their relationships with partners and children. Some 54% of parents staying in ‘work mode’ said work led to arguments with their children, and 57% said it contributed to arguments with partners. Hostile workplace cultures mean many working parents don’t always feel they can be honest about their caring responsibilities, often for fear they will be seen as less committed to their job. Thirty-seven per cent of working parents in the Index faked illnesses to meet family obligations, and 38% have lied or bent the truth about family obligations that clashed with their work.

Changing attitudes towards childcare and home life

Work-life balance aspirations are de-gendering. The Index reveals that a similar percentage of fathers and mothers strive for increased work-life balance through downshifting to a less stressful job or reducing their work hours. Expectations for a better work-life balance are most noticeable in millennial parents, who are almost twice as likely to consider taking a pay cut and working fewer hours than working parents over 35.. Nearly a third of parents share childcare equally—the vast majority doing so by choice—- indicating significant long-term changes since the 1970s, when fathers’ involvement with children averaged less than 15 minutes a day [2]. Men now spend 16 hours a week doing unpaid care work (childcare and household chores). However, the figure is 26 hours a week for women [3].

Women are far more likely to work part-time than men: 40% of mothers in the Index work part-time, compared to just 4% of fathers. This has an impact on mothers’ earnings: 43% of mothers surveyed earn less than £15,000 a year, compared to 16% of fathers.

Short paternity leave and long maternity leave—and the fact more mothers than fathers reduce their hours when they return to work—perpetuates the idea of mothers as carers and fathers as workers, often to the detriment of both.

Jane van Zyl, CEO of Working Families, said:

Flexible working is crucial to supporting parents in balancing their working and caring responsibilities. However, flexibility alone is not enough. Companies should ensure that their staff have ‘human-sized’ roles, with managers who lead by example and keep their own work-life boundaries distinct. In some ways, technology has helped parents get a better work life balance, as it has allowed for more remote working and innovative ways of collaborating. But this needs to be properly managed as work and home boundaries become increasingly blurred.

Denise Priest, Director of Employer Partnerships, International at Bright Horizons, said:

This year’s research shows that for too many parents, work is still too “big” for the hours supposedly allotted to it. Too often, parents are working overlong hours, while mothers carry the double burden of paid work and childcare. Yet, increasingly, neither mothers nor fathers want this. It’s time for employers and lawmakers to reconsider the ‘normal’ 9 to 5 working model and acknowledge that work doesn’t really need to fit into a five-day-a-week package.

 

Source: Working Families - News