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The Police Service for Northern Ireland Submission

to the Police Remuneration Review Body for

Federated and Superintending Ranks

2016/17

January 2016

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Contents

Page

Executive Summary 4

Chapter 1 – Introduction 6

PSNI’s Vision 6

Chapter 2 – The Policing Environment and Security Situation 7

The Policing Environment 7

Policing Parades, Protests and Related Disorders 9

The Security Situation 10

Security Funding 11

Crime Funding 13

Chapter 3 – Economy and Earnings 15

The Northern Ireland Economy 15

Earnings 16

Chapter 4 – Government Pay Policy and Affordability 18

Pay Policy 18

PSNI’s Pay Proposal 19

Affordability 20

Parity with England and Wales 21

Chapter 5 – The PSNI Police Officer Workforce 22

Police Officer Numbers 22

Recruitment – Background 24

Recruitment – Assessment of Need 29

Recruitment – 2015 Campaign 30

Mapping Demand to Resources 31

Police Promotion Process 31

Wastage 33

Exit Interviews 34

Talent Management – Background 35

The National Position – Fast Track Inspectors Scheme 35

The PSNI Position – Fast Track Inspectors Scheme 36

The Current England & Wales Position – Fast Track Supts Scheme 37

The Current PSNI Position – Fast Track Superintendents Scheme 38

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Crime and Leadership Training 38

Absence Management – Background 40

Absence Management - Current Position 40

Chapter 6 – Pay Proposals and Recommendations for 2016/17 42

Impact of Implementation of Winsor Recommendations 42

Pension Reforms 43

Basic Pay – Uplift Scenarios 44

Allowances 46

Northern Ireland Transitional Allowance (NITA) 46

Dog Handlers Allowance 48

Compensatory Related Threshold Payment (CRTP) 48

Transitional Rent/Housing Allowance 49

On-Call Allowance 50

Temporary Supplement for Inspectors and Chief Inspectors 52

Recommendations for 2016/17 52

Way Forward 53

Chapter 7 – Appendices: 54

Appendix A – Northern Ireland Policing Board and the Police Service of 55

Northern Ireland - Policing Plan 2015-2016

Appendix B – Pay Remit Approval Process/Contractual Legal 79

Entitlement to Pay Awards

Appendix C – Pay Remit Approval Process and Guidance 82

Appendix D – Minister of Justice’s letter to PRRB 93

Appendix E – Chief Secretary to the Treasury’s letter to PRRB 96

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THE POLICE SERVICE FOR NORTHERN IRELAND SUBMISSION TO THE POLICE

REMUNERATION REVIEW BODY FOR FEDERATED AND SUPERINTENDING RANKS

2016/17

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This is the PSNI’s second report to the independent Review body on the remuneration of

police officers in the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) up to and including the rank of

Chief Superintendent.

This report details the PSNI’s pay submission to the Police Remuneration Review Body

(PRRB) including information on the Northern Ireland Executive Pay Policy, recruitment and

retention issues, pay progression, affordability, motivation, the modernisation of terms and

conditions and a detailed account of the policing and security context in which officers

operate.

The PSNI continues to work in a challenging environment and the ongoing financial cuts

continue to add to these challenges. Despite this, the most recent Perceptions of Policing

survey indicates that overall confidence levels have been maintained at 80.6%. This

achievement is a tribute to those officers and staff who continue to work every day to keep

people safe through working with the community.

The terrorist threat to PSNI remains at SEVERE. PSNI officers continue to operate under

significant threat from violent Dissident Republican Paramilitaries whilst on and off duty.

Over recent months, officers have dealt with a number of security alerts and viable explosive

devices at various locations including the site of recent PSNI recruitment events.

The impact of these incidents on Policing causes disruption to both the local community and

availability for police resources for other duties. Officers are also injured as a result of these

ongoing incidents. The situation continues to have a detrimental effect on conventional

Policing. Ultimately there is an impact on the level of resources available to other core areas

of Policing. This could have a negative impact on public confidence.

The Chief Constable has received funding relating to National Security and Reserved

Matters. This funding is provided from the Northern Ireland Executive and Her Majesty’s

Treasurer. The PSNI is required to report on security funding expenditure to the Northern

Ireland Policing Board (NIPB), the Department of Justice [DOJ] and the Department of

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Finance and Personnel (DFP). This funding is subject to the normal PSNI policies and

procedures including external and internal auditing processes. It has been estimated that

PSNI spends approximately 27% of its main grant budget dealing with the current security

situation.

In this pay submission, the PSNI have requested that the PRRB considers the Service

Executive Team’s recommendations for 2016/17 which are as follows:

pay progression for Federated and Superintending ranks in line with public sector

pay policy (up to 1% increase for staff in post):

retention of Northern Ireland Transitional Allowance with an increase of 1%; and

retention of the Dog Handler’s Allowance with an increase of 1%.

This is in compliance with the Northern Ireland Executive’s Pay Policy, which is awaiting

confirmation from DOJ.

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CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION

PSNI’s Vision

The 2014-17 Policing Plan published in conjunction with the Northern Ireland Policing Board

(NIPB) communicates the vision of the PSNI, which is to help build a confident, safe and

peaceful society.

The Plan outlines PSNI’s purpose, which is ‘Keeping People Safe’. This is achieved through

the prevention of crime, the protection of people and communities and the detection of those

who commit crime by bringing them to justice.

Underpinning the plan are the PSNI strategies to support service delivery, as well as the

revised Policing with the Community (PwC) Framework. PwC reinforces how the PSNI

connects with people as members of the general public, or as victims or witnesses of crime.

PwC also means connecting with partner agencies in criminal justice, public service and

voluntary and private sectors with the aim of supporting community safety and well-being.

To acknowledge the importance of Policing with the Community, the Plan was revised for

2015-16 to reflect a strengthened emphasis on quality of service, partnership working and a

focus on policing priorities (Appendix A).

The main theme of the plan is to improve community confidence in policing by:

• reducing the level of harm from crime and anti-social behaviour and domestic

burglaries;

• increasing rate of crime outcomes;

• continuous improvement, effectiveness and efficiency in our service; and

• enhancing our engagement, consultation and involvement with the community; and

working in partnership to deliver effective community engagement and joint problem

solving.

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CHAPTER 2 – THE POLICING ENVIRONMENT AND SECURITY SITUATION

The Policing Environment

The PSNI, like other public sector organisations is already under substantial financial strain

and has been impacted with budget cuts totalling some £364m since 2004. In the last 4

years alone, from 2011-2015, the PSNI budget had been reduced by £217.3m. Over the

same period, the Service has implemented organisational wide change programmes, dealt

with increasingly complex operational demands and absorbed many collateral pressures

from partner agencies.

The current Policing environment and reducing budgets present daily challenges for officers

facing a changing social environment with emerging crime patterns at a time when

Government spending is limited. Like all public sector organisations, the PSNI must continue

to deliver financial savings. In the past 5 years, Policing has realised savings of £175m. The

budget cuts for 2016/17 amounted to £40m representing a 5.1% cut, with further cuts of

£26.2m introduced in year at short notice. The Chancellor has announced his Autumn

Statement and unexpectedly provided protection for the Police Services in England and

Wales, in line with inflation. How this is translated to the Police budget in Northern Ireland is

yet to be determined. The draft Budget announced by the Finance Minister indicated the

reduction to the PSNI budget will be limited to 2% in 2016/17.

The Stormont Agreement has allowed the Northern Ireland Executive to finalise the

November Monitoring exercise. This resulted in PSNI contributing £22.6m to Departmental

and Block pressures. The January Monitoring exercise is currently under consideration.

Whilst the PSNI must share in the cuts impacting across the public sector, any reduction in

budgets will impact on our ability to deliver the scale of demands placed on Policing. The

PSNI has fewer officers and last year the Chief Constable had to make some difficult

decisions directly linked to head count. This resulted in a reduction in recruitment plans and

an end to the Agency Staff contract.

The PSNI has had to look at ways of reducing the cost of Policing – in 2005/06 the cost of

Policing per person per day in Northern Ireland was £1.72; in 2013/14 it was £1.05. These

challenges will continue and going forward the Chief Constable will have to prioritise

available resources to address the greatest threat, risk, harm and/or vulnerability.

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This will follow on from the work that has already been undertaken on the Review of Public

Administration (RPA) launched by the Northern Ireland Executive (NIE) in June 2002. The

remit of the review included an evaluation of the arrangements for the accountability,

development, administration and delivery of public services in Northern Ireland.

The review saw Northern Ireland move to a new 11 Council structure on 1st April 2015 and

the NIE charged with new powers and responsibilities including Community Planning. The

PSNI has realigned its frontline delivery from the previous 8 Districts to 11 which are co-

terminus with the 11 new Councils.

A key purpose of this alignment was to ensure Policing remains accountable to the public,

works effectively in partnership, has a clear local identity, and is responsive to local

concerns. Effective collaboration between service providers and partnership working

between Councils, Departments and Agencies equates to better co-ordination of service

delivery and less duplication. This will lead to more efficient, high quality services. Engaging

with the community and understanding local issues will also allow service delivery to be

more responsive to citizens’ needs.

Management of this new structure has involved the creation of an Area tier which divides the

11 Districts into 3 Areas; Belfast, North and South. The PSNI saw the first real effects of

RPA on 20th October 2014 when A and B Districts merged under the Service First

Programme to form Belfast City Policing District. This was the initial phase in a re-design of

the organisation.

One of the central themes and objectives of the District Policing Command (DPC) Change

Programme was to embed Policing with the Community as the culture, ethos and attitude

across all frontline delivery resources. This is being achieved through the establishment of

Local Policing Teams (LPTs). This has facilitated more effective management of demand

through streamlining core policing functions, consolidating roles and making efficiencies

where possible.

A significant amount of work has been undertaken to make sure that these changes have

been implemented as seamlessly as possible by the deadline of 1st October 2015. The

following work is planned in Phase 2 for completion by April 2016:

Review of Public Administration (RPA)

Phase 2: systems realignment Apr 2016;

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Review of Crime Operations Department (RPA)

Phase 2: Demand analysis Apr 2016;

Review of Operational Support Department (OSD) (RPA)

Phase 2: Scoping of (OSD) review of future OSD arrangements Apr 2016;

Review of Business Services (RPA)

Phase 2: Scope full re-structuring project Apr 2016.

Policing Parades, Protests and Related Disorders

The PSNI continues to experience considerable pressures in the summer months relating to

the parading issue in Northern Ireland. Parades in contested areas continue to require a

huge public order deployment. The PSNI is required to provide significant levels of public

order and other related resources to keep people safe over the marching season. This leads

to long hours for officers in potentially violent and confrontational situations and requires

backfill in the Districts to keep the day-to-day business running. The provision of Mutual Aid

from other Police services may also be required.

The total cost for the 5 month period from 1st April 2015 to 31st August 2015 for policing

parades, protests and related disorders was in the region of £6,744k. As the table below

shows, this represents a decrease on the 2014 costs due to the reduction in additional costs

with the 12th July taking place on a Sunday and the 13th July on a Monday.

Table 1 - Summary year on year costs of policing parades, protests & related disorder

The indications for political progress on the issues of flags and parades is positive and

the Chief Constable hopes that progress can be sustained on these complex issues in

the weeks and months ahead.

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In the incoming year, PSNI will have to police a series of competing events, including:

100th anniversary of the Easter Rising; and

100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme and other significant World War I

commemorations.

Effectively this will extend the number of days when the PSNI will potentially have to deploy

large numbers for Public Order related duty. And on some of these dates, there may be

events taking place involving both communities.

Additional commitments have resulted in the accumulation of Modified Rest Days

(MRDs)/Monthly leave days. Officers are often accumulating these days for taskings which

are not associated with their normal duties. The management of MRDs and monthly leave

days is set out in the PSNI Regulations 2005 and associated Determinations. It was

identified that through custom and practice there was a divergence from the Regulations

which resulted in the number of banked MRDs/Monthly leave days reaching an

unacceptable level. In August 2014 in excess of 50,000 MRDs/Monthly leave days were

banked and unused. The Service Executive Team issued instructions at that time to instigate

a phased reduction in the number of days held with a view to clearing the banks by the 31st

March 2016.

PFNI Chairman, Mark Lindsay, stated in a press release on 28th October 2015 that “our

officers are working in trying conditions, day in, day out. They’re not able to take time off,

rest days are cancelled at short notice and their work-life-balance is severely affected which

impacts on their families and home life”. In October 2015 the Service Executive Board

chaired by the Chief Constable gave approval to extend the time limit for the reduction of

MRDs/Monthly leave days to 31st March 2017. As of November 2015 there are a recorded

37,266 days remaining on the Options system.

The Security Situation

The Security Service (MI5) assess that the overall threat from Northern Ireland Related

Terrorism remains SEVERE – meaning that at any time an attack is highly likely. This threat

(which has been at this level since February 2009) comes primarily from dissident

republicans (DRs) who have rejected the political and peace process and seek to keep alive

the flame of violent republicanism. Since 1998 these groups have mounted between 15 and

40 attacks each year, killing nine people.

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The PSNI remain the principal targets for DRs and a number of police officers have narrowly

escaped injury in the past twelve months. Officers have been targeted both on and off duty

(brief details of a number of these attacks are detailed in Table 2 below). Members of the

armed forces and prison officers are also at risk and commercial premises have been

attacked.

The level of DR threat and activity has remained significant throughout 2015. There have

been 15 DR attacks on national security targets as well as dozens of other serious incidents

including shootings, paramilitary shows of strength and munitions seizures (details of the

2015 national security attacks are detailed below). DR intent and capability remain high and

all groups are actively engaged in attack planning. Although pressure from the PSNI and

security partners is constraining the threat, and all DR groups are under pressure, some

attacks continue to get through as shown in Table 2 below.

Table 2 – Attacks on Police 2006/07 – 2015/16

25

37 7

2 35

1 0

73

7

13

23

14

2220

9 8

0

5

10

15

20

25

2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16*

Atta

cks o

n Po

lice

Shooting Incidents Bombing Incidents

* Data supplied covers the period 1st April 2015 to 31

st October 2015

Many DR attacks involve small relatively unsophisticated improvised explosive devices

(IEDs) such as pipe bombs and postal IEDs. However recent attacks involving under vehicle

UVIEDs containing military-grade high explosive, as well as attacks in 2014 involving

improvised anti-armour weapons, are a reminder of the lethality of the threat. Improvised

mortars, rockets, radio controlled and larger vehicle borne IEDs are also in the DR

repertoire. They have also conducted close quarter shooting attacks using automatic

weapons.

The terrorist threat picture in Northern Ireland (NI) is unlikely to change significantly in the

coming years. DRs retain the intent, arms, money and manpower to sustain their campaign

at current levels for the foreseeable future – the threat will remain SEVERE. DRs will

continue to be innovative and there will be a continued risk of police fatalities.

Security Funding

In 2011 the National Security Council (NSC) agreed to provide additional annual funding to

assist PSNI to tackle the increased terrorist threat in Northern Ireland. In June 2013, the UK

Government, through its spending review announced that an annual amount of £31m would

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be allocated to the PSNI. The DOJ funded an additional £30m per annum. Both funding

streams were to be specifically utilised in tackling the ongoing terrorist threat. This level of

funding continued to the end of the 2015-16 financial year. The PSNI submitted a bid

covering the financial years 2016 - 2021, requesting an additional £161m from HM

Government (HMG) and £164m from the NI Executive (approx. £65m per annum in each

financial year). Her Majesty’s Government (HMG) have recently announced approval of

£160m for that period.

The additional security funding is used to support and enhance a number of different

operational areas, these include:

• operational capability;

• technical support;

• close protection;

• station security;

• additional surveillance capability, and

• additional capability in regard to terrorist investigations.

As the PSNI are the only routinely armed police service in the United Kingdom this

additional funding will allow the PSNI to develop the capability to be used as a national

resource to provide assistance with terrorist incidents.

According to David Anderson Q.C. global terrorist casualties increased sharply in 2014.

There were no Islamist or extreme right wing attacks in the UK but numerous Northern

Ireland related incidents, some of them potentially deadly.

Northern Ireland’s progress towards a post-conflict society is unfortunately far from

complete. A real terrorist threat persists in parts of Northern Ireland, as the following facts

demonstrate:

in 2014/15 there were 3 security-related deaths, 73 shooting incidents and 36

bombing incidents, together with 58 casualties resulting from paramilitary-style

assaults. In the current financial year up to 31st October 2015 there was 1 security

related death, 23 shooting incidents, 28 bombing incidents and 31 casualties

resulting from paramilitary-style assaults.

there were 16 dissident republican attacks on national security targets during 2015,

ranging from rudimentary letter bombs to explosively formed projectiles (EFPs)

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demonstrating a developing armour-piercing capability. None caused injuries or

fatalities. The Director General of MI5 has said that “for every one of those attacks

we and our colleagues in the Police have stopped three or four others coming to

fruition.”

the threat level to Northern Ireland from Northern Ireland-related terrorism remains at

SEVERE (an attack is highly likely) while the threat to Great Britain is MODERATE

(an attack is possible but not likely).

Europol stated in its annual Overview of Terrorism in the EU that the 109 shooting and

bombing incidents reported in Northern Ireland during 2014 were the only terrorist attacks in

the United Kingdom, and “represent more than half of the total number of terrorist incidents

in the European Union (EU) for the reporting period”.

It is striking to note that more than three times as many people were arrested under the

Terrorism Act in Northern Ireland than in Great Britain. This is despite the fact that according

to the 2011 Census, Northern Ireland comprises only 2.9% of the population of the United

Kingdom.

In August 2014 the threat from International terrorism was increased to SEVERE indicating

that attacks were highly likely. This was followed by attacks in other Western countries and

the interruption of several life threatening terrorist operations in the UK.

The recent terrorist related incidents in Hanover and in Saint Denis, Paris have served as a

stark reminder of the unprecedented attack on the way of life, freedoms and the peace and

security of our nations. It is clear that Europeans now demand a police response that is

unlike anything ever seen in Europe before. These expectations must be matched by

commitments from European Governments to enable the police to provide safety for our

citizens. The security funding provided by HMG to the PSNI will go some way to ensure that

the PSNI makes a positive contribution to this overall effort.

Crime Funding

In 2015 the political talk’s processes in Northern Ireland considered the issue of investigating

Paramilitary Organised Crime Gangs. A PSNI proposal providing the minimum resource

levels required to deliver the NI Secretary of States vision was developed and submitted to

the value of £18m covering a four year period. The plans outlined a dedicated investigation

team whose work would seek to tackle the grip that paramilitary groups have within

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communities and encourage support for the relevant Criminal Justice Agencies. The

Secretary of State (SoS) for Northern Ireland has recently announced the approval of this

additional funding.

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CHAPTER 3 – ECONOMY AND EARNINGS

The Northern Ireland Economy

The recession has had a pronounced on-going effect in Northern Ireland, however,

according to the Executive, local economic conditions are slowly improving.

In the Spring 2015 report of the Ulster University Economic Policy Centre for Northern

Ireland (UUEPC) it has been highlighted that the NI economy enjoyed a relatively strong

2014. Increased employment levels have supported high levels of business and consumer

confidence. Furthermore, the positive shock of lower oil prices has created a boon for

consumers and businesses alike. As a consequence it is expected that 2015 will deliver

relatively strong economic growth. Stronger growth is forecast in manufacturing and private

sector more generally, but with job losses expected in the public sector.

The NI employment rate has consistently been below the UK average over the last 10 years.

The most recent NI employment rate for those aged 16-64 for the period July to September

2015 was estimated at 816,000 or 67.9%, which represented an increase of 2,000 over the

quarter and a decrease of 5,000 over the year.

The UUEPC forecast that there will be an employment growth of approximately 12,400 net

new jobs over the next 4 year period which contrasts with over 27,000 created between

2012 and 2014. The reduction in public sector employment explains the sharp fall in job

creation however almost 21,000 private sector jobs are expected to be created over the

forecast period.

The Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast the wage growth increasing from 1.5% in

2014 to 4% in 2019. This level of wage inflation assumes an economy approaching full

capacity and requires a willingness of firms to increase pay settlements at levels not seen

since before the financial crisis. The UUEPC consider that a more modest wage growth will

be seen due to the additional supply of labour from public sector job losses and the potential

from inward migration and the desire of firms to rebuild their margins.

The UUEPC have reported that austerity will be the new normal for the rest of this decade.

Northern Ireland is still catching up with the rest of the UK in terms of public sector job

losses. The forecast is for a loss of 8,400 jobs across the public sector over the next four

years as head count reductions, rather than changing pay and conditions, is the chosen

response to reduced public funding. In this environment the PSNI recognise that work force

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planning is important to ensure internal capability continues to meet critical service delivery

needs.

Earnings

Provisional results from the 2015 Northern Ireland Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings

(ASHE) were published on 18th November 2015 by the Northern Ireland Statistics and

Research Agency (NISRA). The key findings are that:

In April 2015 median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees were £485, up

5.4% from £460 in 2014. This represents the largest annual percentage increase in

earnings since 2004 and the first increase in inflation adjusted earnings since 2009.

In the UK, median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees were £528, an

increase of 1.8% since 2014 (£518). At 92%, the ratio of NI/UK full-time weekly

earnings is the highest since the ASHE time series began in 1997.

The increase in median gross weekly earnings was more marked in the private than

in the public sector. The full-time median gross weekly earnings in the private sector

increased by 6.7% to £429, compared to a 1.6% increase in the public sector, to

£577. This is the largest annual increase in private sector earnings since 2006.

However, NI private sector full-time weekly earnings were 86% of those in the UK.

Those in the lowest 25% of the full-time weekly earnings distribution experienced a

larger increase (6.4%) than those in the highest 25% (2.2%).

In 2015, median gross annual earnings for full-time employees in NI were £25,800, an

increase of 5.5% over the year. This was lower than the UK annual earnings of £27,600 (an

increase of 1.6% since 2014).

The average earnings of a police officer in the PSNI continue to be higher than the average

earning of a full time employee in Northern Ireland. This may be due to the difference in

remuneration of the number of hours that are worked and the conditions under which police

are required to perform.

Table 3 below shows details of the average earnings for a PSNI officer per rank excluding

and including overtime. Pay rates in Northern Ireland continue to be one of the lowest rates

of pay across the UK; however pay rates for officers would rank among the top end for all

pay sectors UK wide. Median gross weekly earnings for all employees in Northern Ireland at

April 2015 were £383, or 90% of the UK figure (£426). This gap partly reflects differences in

the composition and changing structures of the respective workforces, by full-/part-time

status, gender, industry and occupation structure.

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Table 3 –PSNI Average Earnings excluding and including overtime

Rank Average Earnings (Exc. OT)

Average Earnings (Inc. OT)

Chief Superintendent 90,241 90,241

Superintendent 79,619 79,619

Chief Inspector 61,623 61,623

Inspector 57,669 57,669

Sergeant 47,300 58,200

Constable 40,066 47,001

Student Officer 22,545 24,345

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CHAPTER 4 – GOVERNMENT PAY POLICY AND AFFORDABILITY

Pay Policy

The UK Government’s policy for public sector pay for 2016/17, as set out in the Chancellor’s

summer budget of 8th July 2015, is for an average pay award of 1%. The Chief Secretary to

the Treasury has emphasised that the Government’s approach to public sector pay expects

that pay awards should be applied in a targeted manner to support the delivery of public

services and to address recruitment and retention pressures. The Chief Secretary’s letter

has stated that this may mean that some staff could receive more that 1% while others could

receive less but there should not be an expectation that every employee will receive a 1%

pay award. The enforcement of pay growth limits is devolved to the Executive within the

overarching parameters set by HM Treasury.

The Northern Ireland Executive has endorsed the principle of adherence to the UK

Government’s public sector pay policies. The PSNI must comply with the Northern Ireland

Executive’s pay policy. Annual guidance on the application of public sector pay policy is

endorsed by the NI Executive and published each year by way of a Financial Director’s letter

(Appendix B). The Executive’s Pay Policy, and associated pay remit approval process,

applies to the staff costs of all NICS Departments, Agencies, Non-Departmental Public

Bodies (NDPB) and other public bodies.

The Minister for Finance and Personnel retains responsibility for monitoring; controlling and

approving pay remits for the above staff groupings. All public bodies, including NDPBs, are

required to submit a pay remit pro-forma and business case template (via their parent

department) to DFP Supply for Ministerial approval (Appendix C). This applies even if the

public body follows the NICS pay award or a nationally determined pay award.

Public bodies covered by the Executive’s Pay Policy are not permitted to enter into pay

commitments or implement pay awards, including contractual commitments, prior to the

appropriate approvals, including DFP Ministerial approval, having been secured.

The Executive’s control of public sector pay is based on the principle that a pay and reward

package should be offered to recruit, retain and motivate suitable staff. Public sector pay

should also reflect the circumstances specific to the local labour market.

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PSNI’s Pay Proposal

The PSNI submitted a request to the Northern Ireland Minister of Justice that the PRRB that

the PRRB considers the Service Executive Team’s recommendations for 2016/17 which are

as follows:


pay policy (up to 1% increase for staff in post):

retention of Northern Ireland Transitional Allowance with an increase of 1%; and

retention of the Dog Handler’s Allowance with an increase of 1%.

The Northern Ireland Minister of Justice then wrote to the PRRB on 20th October 2015 to

provide the specific remit for PSNI for 2016/17 (Appendix D). This stated that the Northern

Ireland Executive had not yet agreed the public sector pay policy applicable to Northern

Ireland for 2016/17. It was proposed that in the absence of a clear policy for Northern

Ireland, the Review body should operate within the parameters set out below whilst noting

that these might be subject to further restraint:

the application of any pay award for PSNI officers, effective from 1st September

2016;

whether any increase should be applied to Northern Ireland Transitional Allowance

(NITA) and whether to change its current non pensionable status;

whether any increase should be applied to the Competency Related Threshold

Payment (CRTP) and/or Dog Handlers Allowance;

a review of the operation of current On-Call arrangements for Federated and

Superintending ranks - including compensation levels and accessibility by those

ranks.

The Minister also suggested that the Review Body may wish to consider the full package of

remuneration paid to police officers in Northern Ireland and consider any specific challenges

that they face. Commitment to a review of the CRTP Scheme was also referred to along with

consideration of the ongoing reforms being taken forward by the College of Policing (CoP).

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Affordability

The PSNI appreciates that whilst it is imperative that police officers have the necessary skills

and expertise and are properly motivated, it is also vital that increases in public sector pay

are affordable within the limits determined by the Executive and represent value for money.

Every effort has been made to drive costs out of non-pay budgets to protect the frontline and

ensure the police continue to deliver on our purpose of Keeping People Safe. To support this

activity going forward the service has introduced Priority Based Resourcing (PBR). This is a

process that involves staff in delivering more effective and efficient services, fostering a

culture of improvement, innovation and cost control amongst key managers and leaders. In

doing so this will provide the PSNI with even more detailed information about where we

invest our money and the risks generated by reduced budgets.

PBR involves reviewing all of the services that PSNI currently delivers and then considering

why the service exists, what value it offers the public and, what objectives and public

demands it is achieving. A list of 92 services has been identified which includes:

• safeguarding individuals;

• people management;

• legal representation;

• forensic and special property exhibit management;

• intelligence gathering;

• custody management;

• transport affairs;

• payroll/pension services;

• vetting and protective security; and

• maintenance and support of IT operations.

A pilot application of PBR is currently underway in 15 Business Areas to test the concept.

The pilot process is focussed upon delivery of financial efficiencies in the 2015/16 year.

Proposals will be presented at the end of November/start of December 2015 to a PBR Panel

comprising the Deputy Chief Constable and members of the Service Executive Team (SET).

The PBR Panel will act as a sounding board for innovative ideas for method, volume and

service delivery changes that are proposed. They will also sign off on options that can be

utilised to balance the resources of the PSNI to the strategic model.

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Police forces in England and Wales were protected as part of the chancellors’ autumn

statement. The Finance Minister recently announced a draft Executive budget for 2016-17

and this states that the reduction to the PSNI budget will be limited to 2%.

Parity with England and Wales

The Minister of Justice in his remit letter to the PRRB stated that it was important that “no

barriers to movement are created between forces and so parity in key areas remains

desirable.”

The PSNI does not wish to operate independently from the rest of the UK. Indeed, officers

in the PSNI hold the ‘office of Constable’ as do other officers in England and Wales. The

budgetary constraints, within which the PSNI operates, require a need for Mutual Aid,

collaboration and interoperability in pay systems in policing.

Chief Constables in England and Wales, in managing their budgets, have at their disposal

financial facilities such as precept powers to raise revenue through local Council Tax and the

ability to build and carry forward reserves. They are also able to consider collaboration and

share services with neighbouring Forces to protect Service Delivery and save money.

The Chief Constable of the PSNI does not have the same financial tools as Chief

Constables in England and Wales with which to manage his Policing budget. Other police

forces have the discretion to pay regional allowances however, the Chief Constable of the

PSNI must work within the parameters of the Executive’s public sector pay policy. Informal

and formal collaboration with other forces is important, for example, to provide Mutual Aid for

large scale operations in order to bolster PSNI’s capability. It is accepted that a degree of

parity is required to ensure the exchange of skills, expertise and experience. Any

differences to terms and conditions between PSNI and other forces could lead to barriers in

interoperability, as is the case in the permanent transfer of officers between PSNI and An

Garda Síochána.

Differing pay structures may result in the loss of officers to police services with higher

salaries. Pay drift and an uncoordinated approach with other forces may also ensue. This is

an important factor as officers may no longer be willing to take part in Mutual Aid for forces

where the rate of pay is lower than their own. Officers may be aggrieved at having to perform

the same task for differing rates of pay. The environment in which the police service

operates in Northern Ireland and the particular financial pressures faced by the PSNI, have

required a slightly different approach to that of England and Wales.

22

CHAPTER 5 – THE PSNI POLICE OFFICER WORKFORCE

Police Officer Numbers

The Workforce Model, also referred to as the HR Distribution Plan (HRDP) defines the

allocation of police and police staff across the PSNI. This is the means by which non pay

budgets are set and distributed in the devolved environment and identifies the focus for

necessary actions to manage the allocation of resources.

The background within which the PSNI has developed an effective and affordable staffing

model has been complex due to:

• the removal of all Temporary Workers as of 31st December 2014;

• reduction in the Managed Service Contract;

• continued uncertainty regarding the 2015/16 budget settlement;

• the reconfiguration of the organisation to reflect changes in the operating model, and

• the new council areas.

The PSNI is committed to maintaining an operational capability against an Establishment

Model of 6963 police officers. All Police officer posts are funded from main grant funding as

per the table below with the exception of 309 where additional security funding has been

made available and 10 which are externally funded.

The Establishment Model reflects an overall reduction in numbers as the anticipated leavers

are in excess of the numbers to be recruited. In the face of decreasing levels of police

officers the PSNI Establishment Model was suspended for an anticipated period of one year

in April 2014. However as a consequence of major reshaping of District Policing following

the implementation of the Review of Public Administration (RPA) reintroduction of the

Establishment Model was further suspended until 1st October 2015.

When considering the re-introduction of the police officer Establishment Model the PSNI

have taken into account that there is a differentiation in costs of almost 50 posts based on

actual headcount and full time equivalencies. This is due to a number of regular police

officers on career breaks and a number of officers working reduced hours. Using the

headcount figure to set the police establishment provides a financial saving of £2.75m

(average of £55k per police officer) when contrasted against maintaining a Full Time

Equivalent (FTE) establishment of 6963 police officers, which equates to a headcount of

7013. Therefore given that the current Medium Term Resource Plan (MTRP) dated February

23

2015 projects a shortfall of £57.3m, financial prudence has determined that the 6963

establishment for police officers is based on attaining this figure as a headcount rather than

FTE number of posts.

Table 4 – Police Funded Posts

Department Area / District CC DCC ACC Ch Supt Supt Ch Insp Insp Sergt ConStudent

OfficerTotal

COMMAND 1 1 0 1 1 0 4 6 3 0 17

CORP COMMS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1

CRIME OPS 0 0 1 6 27 48 116.75 318.5 1448.25 0 1965.5

FIN & SUPPT 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 4

HR DEPT 0 0 1 2 0 3 9 34 115 0 164

OP SUPPORT 0 0 1 1 3 6 36 109.75 670.25 0 827

SERV IMPROVE 0 0 1 1 3 7 26.75 30 51.75 0 120.5

DIST POL COM 0 0 1 2 0 2 10 43 140.25 0 198.25

BELFAST AREA 0 0 0 1 2 2 9 53 132.5 0 199.5

A District Belfast City 0 0 0 0 1 4 18 55 590 0 668

0 0 0 1 3 6 27 108 722.5 0 867.5

NORTH AREA 0 0 0 1 1 1 8 25 85.5 0 121.5

H District Derry City & Strabane 0 0 0 0 1 3 9 33 263 0 309

J District Causeway Coast & Glens 0 0 0 0 1 2 7 30 156 0 196

K District Mid & East Antrim 0 0 0 0 1 2 7 24 148 0 182

L District Antrim & Newtownabbey 0 0 0 0 1 2 10 32 146 0 191

0 0 0 1 5 10 41 144 798.5 0 999.5

SOUTH AREA 0 0 0 1 1 1 8 34 112.75 0 157.75

B District Lisburn & Castlereagh City 0 0 0 0 1 2 7 23 155 0 188

C District Ards & North Down 0 0 0 0 1 2 7 22 112 0 144

D District Newry, Mourne & Down 0 0 0 0 1 2 9 31 252 0 295

E District Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon 0 0 0 0 1 2 8 40 263 0 314

F District Mid Ulster 0 0 0 0 1 2 8 29 161 0 201

G District Fermanagh & Omagh 0 0 0 0 1 2 8 33 176 0 220

0 0 0 1 7 13 55 212 1231.75 0 1519.75

SERVICE O/HD Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 44.25 183 229.25

1 1 5 16 49 95 325.5 1007.25 5230.5 183 6913.25

Police Funded Posts

BELFAST AREA

SOUTH AREA Total

Grand Total

NORTH AREA

SOUTH AREA

BELFAST AREA Total

NORTH AREA Total

24

Recruitment – Background

The PSNI is legislatively required to outsource the function for recruitment of regular police

officers. The specified aim of the outsourced arrangement is “to design and administer an

effective, efficient and fair recruitment and selection process for the PSNI”. This process

must produce a precise number of police trainees to an agreed standard at a predetermined

time. These trainees in turn will be responsible for delivering a high quality police service to

all the people of Northern Ireland.”

The PSNI outsourced the recruitment function for the provision of police trainees in 2001,

implementing the recommendations (117-121,124 and 128) relating to recruitment contained

in the Report of the Independent Commission on Policing in Northern Ireland, published in

1999.

These recommendations were primarily to address the historic compositional imbalance

within the Royal Ulster Constabulary, and therefore to create a Police Service which would

be more representative of, and more acceptable to, the community as a whole in Northern

Ireland.

As a result of the Patten recommendations, the PSNI recruitment processes from 2001 -

2010 did not include formal qualifications as an eligibility criteria. This was to create the

widest pool of eligible applicants, thereby maximizing the opportunity for applications from

the Catholic community, which was needed to make the 50/50 appointment process possible

in large numbers. Whilst there is no doubt that without this rule, the PSNI could not have

attracted the volume of applications necessary to address the historic compositional

imbalance and turn Patten’s vision into reality; it presented a variety of issues for the

Training College.

The external recruitment provider contract allowed for a number of recruitment deliverables

which took account of the following challenges:

positioning the PSNI as a credible employer of choice;

engaging the right candidate with the required level of qualifications;

overcoming potential issues regarding a career with the PSNI among particular

underrepresented audiences.

The PSNI reached the 30% target for appointments from the Catholic community in 2011,

corresponding with the withdrawal of the Government ‘50/50’ legislation, and the beginning

25

of the economic downturn. At this stage the PSNI had appointed over 4,200 student

officers.

As a result, no police recruitment processes ran between 2010 and 2013. Prior to

recruitment resuming in 2013, the PSNI reviewed the criteria and the Recruitment Project

Board agreed to implement a minimal educational standard of 5 GCSEs and a level 1

computer literacy qualification for the new campaign. The educational standards do not

appear to have had any significant impact on applicant numbers to date as shown in the

table below:

Table 5 - Competitions 1 – 18 under the 50/50 legislation

Applicants Date Advertised

Comp 1 7518 March 2001

Comp 2 4915 September 2001









Comp 11 7859 March 2006


Comp 13 7418 June 2007

Comp 14 8363 March 2008

Comp 15 9825 March 2009

Comp 16 8987 January 2010


Comp 18 5856 May 2014

Comp 19 September 2015

Total 120983

The applicant figures can be influenced by a number of external and/ or prevailing

circumstances, which include, but are not limited to:

26

uncertainty over sustainability of future job opportunities subsequent to budget cuts;

perception of impact of recruitment in the post Patten era;

prevailing security situation and threat levels;

absence of open support for the police recruitment process;

reduction in starting salary from Campaign 18 on;

some campaigns administered within a short timescale.

As at 3rd November 2015, the number of student officers appointed since the inception of the

PSNI in 2001 is 4,813, from a total applicant pool of 134,332.

The recruitment campaign has clearly targeted audiences and the set percentages for each

performance criteria (Table 6 below) have to be achieved over the period of the contract.

Table 6 – Recruitment Contract Performance Criteria

Contract

Requirement

Performance

Measure Metric

Performance in

Campaign 1

Performance in

Campaign 2

Outreach/ Advertising

Proportion of Roman Catholics applying

35% (average to be achieved over term of recruitment contract)

30.6% 29.3%

Proportion of women applying


35.2% 35.5%

Proportion of young people (aged 18-24) applying


47.1% 43.8%

Proportion of

applications from

F District area

>10% (average to be

achieved over term of

recruitment contract)

7.6% 6.6%

Proportion of

applications from

G District area

>10% (average to be

achieved over term of

recruitment contract)

8.9% 7.9%

* Recruitment from Competition 2 is ongoing. These are the latest figures up to 27th November 2015.

To date the young people and female targets have been achieved. The age bands of

successful applicants for competitions one and two (to date) are detailed in the tables below.

The largest percentage of applicants in both competitions is in the 25-29 age bands with

27

39.5% and 44.62% respectively. The proportion of young people applying (aged

between18-24) is 39.40% in Campaign 1 and 31.72% in Campaign 2 to date. This shows

progress towards achieving the 40% average in the 18-24 age categories over the term of

the recruitment contract.

Table 7 - Age Bands of Successful Applicants

Total

No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. %

Comp 1 1 0.25 25 6.23 133 33.17 157 39.15 53 13.22 24 5.99 5 1.25 3 0.75 0 0.00 401

Comp 2* 0 0.00 5 2.69 54 29.03 83 44.62 28 15.05 11 5.91 2 1.08 2 1.08 1 0.54 186

40-44 45-49 50-540-17 18-20 21-24 25-29 30-34 35-39

* Recruitment from Competition 2 is ongoing. These are the latest figures up to 27

th November 2015.

Table 8 – Comparison of Competitions one and two – Age of successful applicants

* Recruitment from Competition 2 is ongoing. These are the latest figures up to 27

th November 2015.

For the Catholic community and rural Districts, between 66 and 80% of the targets set have

been achieved.

The tables below show the educational standard of the applicants for Campaigns 1 and 2.

Over half of the applicants in both competitions have a degree level or higher qualification.

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Table 9 – Educational Qualifications of Successful Applicants

No. % No. %

1 "A" Level 5 1.25 5 2.69

2 or more "A" Levels - including GNVQ Advanced 84 20.95 33 17.74

5 or more GCSEs, including Maths and English (A*-C grades), including GNVQ Intermediate, NVQ

Level 2, "O" Level grades A-C CSE Grade 1 30 7.48 14 7.53

AS Level 9 2.24 5 2.69

BTEC (Higher), BEC (Higher), TEC (Higher), HNC, HND, and NVQ Level 4 36 8.98 11 5.91

BTEC (National), BEC (National), TEC (National), ONC, OND, and NVQ Level 3 27 6.73 9 4.84

Degree Level or Higher 202 50.37 104 55.91

Other 8 2.00 2 1.08

ROI Leaving Certificate - Pass 0 0.00 1 0.54

Scotland - Advanced Highers 0 0.00 1 0.54

Scotland - Highers 0 0.00 1 0.54

Total 401 186

Comp 1 Comp 2*Highest Educational Qualification of Successful Applicants


Table 10 – Number of applicants with educational qualifications


The following table shows analysis of the number of applicants for competitions one and two

by employment sector. For both competitions the highest percentage of applicants is from

the retail and retail management sector followed by the hospitality and leisure sector.

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Table 11 – Number of applicants by employment sector

* Recruitment from Competition 2 is ongoing. These are the latest figures up to 27th November 2015

Recruitment – Assessment of Need

The recommendation of the Report of the Independent Commission on Policing that the

Police should contract out the recruitment of police officers into the Police Service was

subsequently enshrined in legislation. The specified aim of the outsourced arrangement is

“to design and administer an effective, efficient and fair recruitment and selection process for

the Police Service of Northern Ireland”. This process must produce a precise number of

police trainees to an agreed standard at a predetermined time. These trainees in turn will be

responsible for delivering a high quality police service to all the people of Northern Ireland.”

The PSNI has tendered and awarded 3 separate contract terms for the provision of police

officer recruitment to date.

The external recruitment agent administers the recruitment process in two stages: an Initial

Selection Test (IST), which is a shortlisting mechanism using critical reasoning, and an

Assessment Centre, which is a range of interactive exercises (such as role plays).

Candidates who attain the required standard in the Assessment Centre are placed on a

merit list, which is then transferred to the PSNI. The PSNI are responsible for managing 5

further pre-appointment stages – these are medical, vetting, substance misuse, physical

competence and on-line learning. Candidates who pass all stages, and who are within the

30

appointable band corresponding to the number of places required, are offered an

appointment.

Based on experience gained from previous recruitment campaigns, the PSNI anticipate an

attrition rate of approximately 50% of successful candidates from the merit list supplied by

the external recruitment agent. This fall-out rate includes those who fail, or do not attend,

one or more of the 5 PSNI stages. The PSNI manages the risks in regard to the attrition rate

by securing a merit list of broadly double the number of appointments anticipated from a

competition, this figure being subject to affordability and sustainability in the face of

budgetary cuts.

Intakes of Student Officers currently take place every 5 weeks, and the training programme

is 22 weeks duration in total.

Recruitment – 2015 Campaign

In the summer of 2015 the PSNI suspended recruitment and police trainers from the PSNI

College were attached to operational units to ensure that the organisation had sufficient

surge capacity in what is typically a busy period for policing. This suspension of police

officer recruitment between June and August 2015, combined with slightly increased levels

of wastage has meant that the projected timescale for achieving a police officer headcount

of 6963 has now been revised from December 2015 to May 2016.

On 30th September 2015 the police recruitment campaign was advertised with a closing date

of 23rd October 2015. In this most recent competition Recruitment advertising was amplified

in rural Districts. Free radio interviews were conducted across the Q network stations

featuring recent recruits from the immediate area. In addition there were increased outdoor

advertisements in these areas and social media advertising was increased to target people

living in Mid Ulster, Fermanagh and Omagh.

Familiarisation Sessions took place in a number of geographical areas of under-

representation in advance of the campaign launch, with the aim of encouraging those who

would not normally consider a career in policing to find out more about the role and the

opportunity.

Running parallel to this was a layer of stakeholder engagement, including:

Northern Ireland Policing Board – through the Recruitment Working Group

31

Church Leaders

local politicians and community leaders – through local District Commanders.

PSNI continues to work with the external recruitment agent to evolve the media strategy to

amplify messaging to underrepresented groups. Testing will commence in November 2015,

and first appointments are expected around September 2016. Subject to affordability, this

competition should allow for up to 500 appointments during the next two financial years

(2016/17 – 2017/18). The final number of applications in Campaign 3 is 5,498. Of these,

65% were from the protestant community, 32% from the catholic community, and 3%

other. Just over a third (35%) were female.

Successful applicants will now be invited to complete the 22 weeks of intensive training

at the Police Training College, beginning summer 2016. This training will include

practical and operational policing skills, to ensure they are mentally and physically

equipped to perform the crucial role of a Police officer in Northern Ireland.

Mapping Demand to Resources

As discussed in Chapter 2, the PSNI have implemented significant structural changes to

match the implementation of the new district council boundaries in April 2015, to ensure that

co-terminus boundaries are retained. In progressing this restructuring the PSNI has rolled

out a new operational policing model to ensure that we continue to Keep People Safe and

provide the appropriate infra-structure to embed our Policing with the Community ethos.

The current HR Distribution Model was developed based on resources available for

distribution in January 2015. The PSNI is currently developing a process to allocate officers

as we move closer to the established headcount of 6963.

Police Promotion Process

A promotion process for all officer ranks within PSNI was implemented to substantively fill

resourcing gaps which had been filled by temporary promotion arrangements. A Strategic

Promotion and Examinations Board was established from key business areas, co-chaired by

2 ACCs, as oversight body to ensure that all promotion processes supported the following

approach:

defining and delivering standards;

32

promoting representativeness;

involving local management in decision making;

minimising operational impact, and

ensuring value for money.

The promotion competitions were established, invoking high levels of eligibility criteria which

included discipline, attendance and performance standards. The intention of the board, with

the endorsement of Service Executive Team, was to have an iterative promotion programme

for all ranks.

The Strategic Promotions and Examinations Board considered the projected wastage rates

for each year and the number of vacancies which would ensue. The current position on

anticipated vacancies to 31st March 2017 at each rank is as follows:

Table 12 – Anticipated Vacancies up to 31st March 2017

Rank Anticipated Vacancies

Chief Superintendent 4

Superintendent 10

Chief Inspector 13

Inspector 3

Sergeant 51

Defining the position on future officer numbers, against a reducing headcount, is

complicated by the current financial uncertainty.

PSNI has previously faced challenges, including Judicial Reviews, within the implementation

of promotion processes. It has therefore been essential to design and deliver robust

assessment processes which not only identified the best candidates but which could

withstand intense scrutiny and legal challenge.

Extensive research and analysis is performed to devise the assessment material and best

practice is adapted to brief and advise potential candidates of the assessment procedures

and corporate standards for the management roles going forward.

33

A Superintendent promotion process was launched on 30th September 2015 and invited

applications from cross channel forces and An Garda Síochána. The process is now

completed. It is anticipated that there will be postings for 13 Superintendents however this is

subject to the standard having been met and numbers confirmed against affordable and

sustainable posts.

It is intended that the iterative promotion programme for Chief Superintendent, Chief

Inspector, Inspector and Sergeant will commence in early 2016.

Wastage

The following table illustrates projected police officer recruitment and wastage to March

2017.

Table 13 – Wastage and Recruitment of police officers 2015 – 2017

Police Officers

Month Recruitment Wastage Headcount FTE

Apr-15 0 33 6823 6776

May-15 30 24 6829 6780

Jun-15 0 29 6800 6749

Jul-15 0 21 6779 6729

Aug-15 37 33 6783 6734

Sep-15 51 38 6796 6746

Oct-15 50 27 6819 6771

Nov-15 51 22 6848 6799

Dec-15 0 22 6826 6776

Jan-16 51 22 6855 6805

Feb-16 51 21 6885 6835

Mar-16 51 21 6915 6865

Apr-16 51 28 6938 6888

May-16 51 28 6961 6911

Jun-16 0 28 6933 6883

Jul-16 0 28 6905 6855

Aug-16 0 27 6878 6828

Sep-16 51 28 6901 6851

Oct-16 45 27 6919 6869

Nov-16 45 28 6936 6886

Dec-16 45 26 6955 6905

Jan-17 44 27 6972 6922

Feb-17 0 25 6947 6897

Mar-17 43 27 6963 6913

*The above table refers to all police officer ranks.

34

Table 14 – Comparison of recruitment against wastage – April 2015 March 2017

Exit Interviews

During the period 1st April 2012 to 31st March 2015 there were a total of 678 Police Officer

(Regular) leavers. 386 (57%) of whom retired, 139 (20.50%) who voluntarily resigned and

139 (22.5%) who left the PSNI for other reasons e.g. dismissal, medical retirement. Of those

who retired or voluntarily resigned, 51 (10%) completed an exit interview. Analysis of this

data is as below:

27 (53%) of those who completed an exit interview had less than 5 years’ service and

their primary reason for leaving was ‘self-improvement’ (11) followed by ‘domestic

reasons’ (9). The main factors in their decision to leave were ‘gaining new

employment’ (9) followed by ‘emotional wellbeing/stress’ (5).

9 (18%) of those who completed an exit interview had 5 – 10 years’ service and their

primary reason for leaving was ‘domestic reasons’ (5) followed by ‘self-improvement’

(4). The main factor in their decision to leave was ‘gaining new employment’ (5).

44 (86%) of those who completed an exit interview had less than 30 years’ service

and their primary reason for leaving was ‘self-improvement’ (17) followed by

‘domestic reasons’ (14). The main factors in their decision to leave were ‘gaining

new employment’ (16) followed by ‘emotional wellbeing/stress’ (7).

35

Table 15 - Reasons Cited* by Officers Leaving the PSNI with Length of Service

*More than one reason provided by some officers

Talent Management - Background

The Winsor Review of Policing in England and Wales recommended replacing the national

High Potential Development Scheme (HPDS) with an accelerated promotion scheme. The

new scheme was to be used to directly attract high calibre recruits, provide a means for

eligible staff to become police officers and to harness the high potential of serving

constables. The acceptance of this recommendation by government has resulted in the

winding up of the High Potential Development Scheme.

As the PSNI has successfully used the HPDS as a means of supporting talented and highly

motivated officers to achieve their potential within the PSNI, the removal of this scheme

nationally has consequently left a gap in this regard.

The National Position – Fast Track Inspectors Scheme

The HPDS scheme has now closed to new members. A range of new fast track

programmes that supports a National Policing Vision have been developed and are in the

process of being implemented. The new programmes support individual police services in

the development of talent management strategies.

The College of Policing (CoP) has implemented the new fast track schemes through a

phased approach and the roll out of the Direct Entry (DE) programmes is included in the first

36

phase. The Direct Entry Fast Track Inspector Scheme has a 3 year development time line.

Serving constables can enter the Direct Entry Fast Track Inspector Scheme cohort in year

two to form a joint cohort for the remaining two years of the Scheme.

To date two cohorts of the Direct Entry Fast Track Inspector Scheme have been launched.

A number of England and Wales services have participated in this programme. The benefits

of this approach are that the two different groups within the cohort can learn from each

other. The serving officers support technical skill development for new entrants and the new

entrants are helping the serving officers in terms of business skill development and

application of differing perspectives. A number of other services have opted not to make

any external appointments but to use the scheme to support serving officers.

The CoP are proactive in monitoring the progress of those on the scheme and the evidence

to date has highlighted that the timescale for the direct entry applicants from appointment to

Inspector may be too short. Plans for the next phase of the Direct Entry Fast Track

Inspector Scheme have therefore been placed in a short abeyance to allow for a more

detailed evaluation and review of the programme to be undertaken following the second

cohort.

Whilst this is taking place the CoP are continuing to progress the next tranche of the Direct

Entry Fast Track Inspector Scheme in respect of Constables who are to join the second

cohort in year 2. The CoP have acknowledged issues with the level of knowledge that direct

entrants need to amass during the programme. There has been no indication that the

serving officer cadre has been similarly problematic.

It should be noted that the PSNI did not implement this scheme.

The PSNI Position – Fast Track Inspectors Scheme

In recent times the PSNI has on an annual basis supported a pre-specified number of

applicants on the HPDS scheme. This approach had been introduced for a number of

reasons but primarily because:

historically there were 25 officers on various versions and cohorts of the scheme at

one time due to the lack of a corporate approach;

many of those on the schemes were not evidencing the high quality that would be

expected while being afforded such a significant development advantage; and

37

there was recognition that the scheme could be flooded by PSNI applicants as we

were heading into a period where there would be very limited promotion

opportunities.

In 2013, in recognition of the imminent closure of the Scheme the PSNI opted to support 3

Constables and 3 Sergeants if they were successful in securing a place on the scheme.

Only 1 individual at each rank managed to gain a place on the national scheme.

2014 saw the last intake onto the scheme within its current construct and the PSNI may not

have immediate access to the replacement scheme if Winsor is not implemented here at the

same pace as England & Wales. PSNI currently has 6 officers on the HPDS at the ranks of

Sergeant (1), Inspector (4) and Chief Inspector (1).

The PSNI did not participate in the first cohort of the Direct Entry Fast Track Inspector

Scheme tranche but has opened applications to serving constables for the national

assessment centre in April 2016. Initial discussions with the DOJ indicate that the enabling

legislation to promote any officer who is successful in securing a place on the scheme after

September 2016 should be deliverable.

Similarly the PSNI have not to date participated in the Direct Entry Superintendent

programme which seeks to draw from highly talented and proven leaders from other sectors.

The Current England & Wales Position – Fast Track Superintendents Scheme

Cohort One - 7 forces expressed their interest in participating in cohort one of the Direct

Entry programme. There were 867 applications, of which 46 (5.3%) were supported to

attend the National Assessment Centre.

The final 2014 cohort consisted of 9 superintendents (subsequently 1 superintendent

resigned from Avon & Somerset in April 2015). The cohort began their 18-month training

programme in November 2014.

Cohort Two - Again 7 forces expressed their interest in participating in the second Direct

Entry programme. There were 542 applications, of which 39 (13.8%) were supported to

attend the National Assessment Centre. The final 2015 cohort consisted of 6

superintendents. The cohort began their programme of training in October 2015.

38

The Current PSNI Position – Fast Track Superintendents Scheme

In evaluating the implementation of the recommendations in the Winsor Review the PSNI

decided that the Direct Entry Superintendent Scheme should not be implemented at that

time.

The DOJ have been consulted and have advised that to enable “direct entry” into the PSNI

at Superintendent level to take place, it will be necessary to amend regulations to allow

direct entry to the police service above trainee. PSNI have agreed to implementing this

scheme and thus achieve the required actions by 2017 subject to the necessary changes in

regulations being approved.

Following the implementation of the Policing Professional Framework on the 1st October

2015 the PSNI is currently developing wider talent management arrangements. This work is

at an early stage.

Crime and Leadership Training

The CoP is an excellent source for establishing what the current thinking on police training is

in England and Wales. Police Scotland provides another view. At the service level there are

benefits of having access to the wider national picture via the CoP.

The CoP provides training materials that are in line with Authorised Professional Practice

(APP) and Professionalising Investigation Programme (PIP). Additionally the CoP has laid

down procedures that must be followed to gain accreditation for courses delivered and to

enable the delivering service to obtain a licence to deliver their product.

Unfortunately for the PSNI some of the processes and procedures that the College require

do not conform to the current position within PSNI. For example, all detectives must

complete the National Investigators Exam and progress through the full range of courses

from Detective Constable to Detective Superintendent. This does not make best use of our

resources or meet our immediate needs. The Senior Executive Team has written to the

College proposing a pragmatic approach to overcoming this problem that will enable the

PSNI to remain within the spirit of PIP and APP but ensure that we deliver value for money

training. PSNI are seeking to concentrate on the outcome rather than the process when it

comes to training.

39

The training materials supplied by the CoP are generic in nature and the PSNI are required

to adapt them to NI legislation and local procedures. They are valuable in that they identify

issues and standards at a national level but again these must be adapted for the local

context.

Ideally the CoP would provide the research and development facility for training courses

that PSNI could then use as a base line for delivering potentially a mix of CoP and PSNI

material. Whilst there would be benefits in developing materials and topics specifically for the

PSNI it is appreciated that there would be cost implications involved.

The relationship needs to be a collaborative approach with PSNI adjusting materials

produced by the CoP. Development of the relationship further is dependent on the CoP

recognising the specific needs of the PSNI, who in turn can use their experience to

contribute to the wider debate about police training.

Going forward the PSNI must decide whether to follow APP as detailed by the CoP or use

APP as the starting point. If the latter option is adopted then agreement on a case by case

basis would need to be approved by the CoP. This approach may better fit the needs of

organisation.

Leadership Training has similar issues with generic courses being delivered by the CoP.

Recent experience has indicated that whilst there are elements that are relevant to the PSNI

we are required to adapt materials and provide other materials that relate to the context in

which we operate.

Whilst the Foundation Programmes and SOB training have a limited relationship with the

CoP, Combined Operational Training continues to develop their relationship with the CoP

which includes the Firearms licensing and governance process. The PSNI are currently

procuring a new Firearms Management System to improve our training information to better

meet the CoP licensing standards. The relationship with Cop is being further developed with

regard to our Search practices and Public Order as PSNI move towards standardising

equipment and tactics through several of the College working groups. Driver and Traffic

Training has increased its work with CoP due to the development of the Fatal SIO course.

There is scope to further develop the CoP relationship to include the PSNI current training

portfolio of foreign work to ensure best practice and costing information is shared across all

services.

40

The Learning Technologies Unit (LTU) currently manages the PSNI’s online and simulated

learning which includes the use of CoP’s NCALT e-learning service and Hydra Minerva

simulated learning system.

At a College level PSNI is represented at the Large Forces (Metropolitan Police Service,

Greater Manchester Police, West Midlands, Police Scotland, Northumbria, West Yorkshire,

PSNI) meetings which are facilitated by the CoP and these valuable benchmarking and best

practice sharing events are planned to increase in frequency and depth.

Absence Management - Background

The Policing Plan has set a target of reducing officer sickness by 25%. This is a challenging

target and a Sickness Gold Group was established chaired by an HR Strategic Lead.

Absence Management - Current Position

The Gold Group have identified that a key enabler in reducing absence is to ensure line

managers actively manage the absence and have the necessary tools to make an impact.

Four key strands of work have been undertaken and these are:

1. Policy Review

A review of the existing absence management process has recently been conducted

which has resulted in changes to our process. Under the existing process, line

management have discretion on whether the formal process for attendance

management is initiated. Under the new process this discretion is removed and all

cases, with the exception of statutory protected cases e.g. Pregnancy related, will be

progressed to an Attendance Management Panel.

2. Education and Empowerment

It is recognised that line management should be more actively involved in managing

and supporting those absent from work. The Gold Group issued a direction that all

officers off on long term absence (90+ days) should be visited by a member of their

Senior Management Team. The purpose of these meetings was to review any

actions taken to date and to review and implement any additional supportive

measures that could assist in a return to work. If there were no measures that could

be put in place to facilitate an early return to work, then an outline of how the matter

41

would be progressed should be provided. A toolkit and action plan was developed to

assist managers with the three stages of the meeting – pre, during and post meeting.

3. Welfare

The Absence Management Team have been actively engaging with Staff

Associations in order to obtain a better understanding of the reasons why people

report sick and to discuss and explore what support can be provided to assist

individuals in an early return to the workplace.

4. Maximise the use of IT

The Absence Management Team are in the process of implementing a paperless

process for the Attendance Management Panels and are also in consultation with

stakeholders with a view to improving and updating the Management Information

provided to Commanders and Branch Heads.

The indications are that the overall absence situation is improving with a 13%

reduction in the figure for September 2015 as illustrated in the table below.

Table 16 – Average Working Days Lost 2014/15 to 2015/16 Comparison

The October 2015 figure (not included in the table) shows a 17% reduction. To achieve the

overall target of 10.64 Average Working Days Lost (AWDL) will require a further sustained

and significant reduction in the remaining 5 months of the 2015/16 financial year.

42

CHAPTER 6 – PAY PROPOSALS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR 2016/17

Impact of Implementation of Winsor Recommendations

This submission provides an update on the implementation of Winsor recommendations in

respect of those relevant to the PRRB. PSNI has undergone some minor pay reforms during

the last 18 month period reflecting some of the issues as highlighted by the Winsor review.

The first of these reforms took effect from the 1 April 2014. Table 17 below shows the

financial impact of the reforms.

Table 17 – Financial impact of Winsor reforms

*Costs shown in red font

Estimate Actual Estimate Actual YTD

Winsor Reference Description

Apr 14-

Mar 15

£m

Apr 14-

Mar 15

£m

Apr 15- Mar

16 £m

Apr 15- Mar

16 £m

All Ranks Maternity Entitlement (0.5) (0.3) (0.5) (0.2)

Federated

New recruit trainees start

at £19k salary. Move to

point 1 on payscale when

attested 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.1

Federated

Abolition of Special

Priority Payments 4.8 4.8 4.8 4.8

Federated

Introduction of revised

payscales 0.0 0.0 (0.7) (0.5)

Federated

Retain CTRP as is - link

to IPR process. (0.4) (0.2) (0.8) (0.2)

Federated

Overtime- reduce the

notice period to 3 days

for double time 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.1

Federated

On call allowances- move

to £15 flat rate, with £23

for public holidays

effective 01/09/2014 (0.4) (0.5) (1.1) (0.6)

Superintending

Removal of Post related

Allowance 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.1

Superintending

Migrate onto new

payscales (0.05) (0.05) (0.01) (0.01)

Superintending

Abolish double

increments 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Superintending

Abolition of bonus

scheme 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.1

All Ranks

Motor Vehicle Rates-

align to NICS 0.4 0.6 0.6 0.5

Total Saving/(Costs) 4.2 4.5 3.3 4.2

43

Some of the recommendations have been implemented unchanged whilst others were

adapted or rejected as part of the consultation and negotiation process. It is recognised that

some recommendations may take some time to embed however, the PSNI has taken

cognizance of the pressures it now faces and this has influenced the need for a review of all

pay and allowances over the next 5 years.

It is important that the overall reward package for police officers attracts the best candidates

for the roles and ensures that sufficient numbers are retained to maintain resilience. In doing

so, budgetary pressures being placed on policing and the public sector finances must be

taken into consideration.

In terms of police pay the Winsor recommendations included shortening of the police pay

scales for all ranks with a reduced starting salary for constables. Transitional arrangements

were put into place to ensure that new entrants to the service did not leap frog existing

officers. This has resulted in some officers moving between pay points either with less than

or more than one year’s reckonable service. Unlike England and Wales, the PSNI did not

introduce the two year pay freeze which had the effect of slowing down many officers

progress up the pay scales.

A recent PFNI survey of officers has indicated that amendments to the remuneration

following the Winsor Review along with the change from a final salary to a career average

pension and pay uplifts that are below inflation have resulted in a significant reduction in

officer remuneration packages.

Pension Reforms

Wide ranging pension’s reforms were introduced in April 2015 across the whole of the public

sector. Career Average Revalued Earnings (CARE) schemes were introduced with officers

transferring from old final salary schemes, with the exception of those within 10 years of

retirement who will remain on their schemes or those close to Full Protection who will

receive Tapered Protection. For PSNI the officer workforce was split with around a third of

officers falling into each of these categories.

The reforms have to date not impacted on the scheme membership with no opt outs

received to date. These reforms have also led to an increase in pension contributions being

paid by officers in their respective schemes. As part of the Government’s reform of Public

Service Pensions, the contribution rates for existing Police Pension Scheme Members

44

increased annually from April 2013-April 2014 with the introduction of tiered contribution

rates, based on a member’s salary.

The current level of PSNI employee contributions, as set out below, is higher than most

other public sector schemes.

Table 18 – Officer Pension contributions by scheme

1987 Scheme 2006 Scheme

2015 Scheme

(CARE)

Tier 1

Salary under £27,000 n/a 11.00%

12.44%

Tier 2

Salary £27,001 - £60,000 14.25% 12.05% 13.44%

Tier 3

Salary over £60,001 15.05% 12.75% 13.78%

The change from a final salary pension scheme to a career average scheme (Career

Average Revalued Earnings - CARE) means that officer’s pensions will be worth

considerably less in the future and so their lifetime remuneration package is significantly

reduced. Whilst the impact of this will not be felt on their take home salary in the immediate

future, officers are concerned about the overall loss over the longer term.

Basic Pay - Uplift Scenarios

Table 19 below shows the costs of various uplift scenarios for federated and superintending

ranks. The provision of a 1% uplift to all pay points and incremental progression as per the

PSNI’s pay submission creates an increase of just over 1% to the overall pay bill. This is

based on the current wastage and recruitment patterns assuming that the PSNI reaches and

maintains 6,963 officers.

45

Table 19 – Cost of uplift scenarios

Proposal % Increase/ for

staff in post

% Increase/ for staff in post (inc Recyc)

Pay freeze 0.00% 0.00%

Incremental progression with no change to scales or NCB 0.71% 0.11%

Incremental progression & 1% NITA uplift only 0.77% 0.17%

1% increase in pay scales with no progression 0.90% 0.30%

1% increase in pay scales & NITA- no progression 0.96% 0.36%

Incremental progression with 1% NCB 1.27% 0.67%

Incremental progression with 1% NCB & 1% on NITA 1.34% 0.74%

1% increase in pay scales with incremental progression 1.58% 0.98%

1% increase in pay scales & NITA & progression 1.64% 1.04%

Officers who are in receipt of an incremental uplift will receive more than the overall uplift

cap. The table below shows that the average uplift for incremental progression is 4.72% for

constables; this is higher than the other ranks due to the collapsing of pay-points during the

pay period. The percentage uplift for Superintendent is also high at 5.1% due to the

reduction in salary point from five to four.

Table 20 – Average percentage uplift by rank

Rank Average % uplift

Chief Superintendent 2.71

Superintendent 5.71

Chief Inspector 2.04

Inspector 2.75

Sergeant 2.81

Constable 4.72

The PSNI owing to recruitment patterns in recent years has a significant number of officers

currently at the maximum of the pay scales with over half of all officers at the max point for

their rank.

The table below shows the percentage of police officers on the maximum of their pay scale

at the start of the 2016/17 pay remit period:

46

Table 21 – Officers at the scale maximum by rank

Rank % at scale max

Chief Superintendent 56.25%

Superintendent 68.75%

Chief Inspector 78.13%

Inspector 66.57%

Sergeant 73.30%

Constable 55.92%

Allowances

With the exception of the Special Priority Payment none of the main allowances for PSNI

were impacted by the reforms. The main allowances paid by PSNI are as follows:

Table 22 – Main PSNI Allowances

Allowance Number in Receipt of Allowance

Total Cost ( Inc.

pensions and ERNI

costs)

£k

NI Transitional Allowance1 6,741 24,2571

CRTP 3,249 £5,523

Rent/Housing Allowance 2,066 £7,799

Compensatory Grant 415 £875

Inspectors Allowance 153 £764 1 All officers in post receive the NI Transitional Allowance, currently £3,162

Northern Ireland Transitional Allowance (NITA)

A claim for NITA was lodged by the Police Staff Associations in 1972 at the height of the

troubles in Northern Ireland for the payment of an allowance to police officers for the

dangers to which they were exposed. This claim was not successful but the matter was

reconsidered in 1974 when it was agreed that a Special Duty Allowance be paid for all ranks

up to and including Chief Superintendent.

In December 2005 a review of the allowance (now named the Northern Ireland Transitional

Allowance – NITA) was initiated. The review was undertaken by Mark Baker and his report

concluded:

47

“The successful completion of the current programme of security normalisation and

participation by all major political parties in the NIPB are necessary pre–conditions

of any further reduction in the NITA. However, such a reduction would need to be

justified by significant reductions in attacks and threats against the police.”

Whilst the overall threat from Northern Ireland Related Terrorism remains SEVERE and an

attack is likely at any time, the pre-conditions set out in the Baker Report for a reduction in

NITA do not currently exist.

The SEVERE level of threat that police officers face from violent dissident republicans is

likely to continue. It is likely that a number of the many attacks planned will continue to

materialise but the police, working closely with the Garda, will exert every effort to disrupt

this violent criminal activity to keep people safe and prosecute those responsible.

The additional security funding for 2016 – 2021 is to be used specifically to support and

enhance a number of operational areas to tackle the ongoing terrorist threat.

With effect from 1 September 2015 NITA has been paid as a special allowance at the rate of

£3162 per annum to officers in recognition of the extraordinary circumstances under which

they serve in Northern Ireland.

The table below shows that there are 6,741 officers currently in receipt of NITA at an annual

cost of £24,257k. This allowance is non pensionable. The PSNI has requested that the

PRRB consider the retention of NITA with an increase of 1%. This is affordable within the

public pay limits determined by the Executive.

Table 23 – Officers in receipt of NITA by rank

Rank NI Transitional Allowance

Chief Superintendent 15

Superintendent 48

Chief Inspector 96

Inspector 335

Sergeant 1,015

Constable 5,149

Student officers 83

Grand Total 6,741

48

Dog Handlers Allowance

Dog Handlers allowance is payable to officers who keep and care for a dog owned by the

Policing Board at their home. The allowance is provided for the care provided to the dog

during the officer’s rest days, non-working days and public holidays. The rate of payment is

£2196 with effect from 1st September 2015. This rate is increased by 25% for each

additional dog being cared for by an individual officer.

There are currently 28 officers in receipt of Dog Handlers allowance at a total annual cost of

£81,844 including ERNI.

Competency Related Threshold Payment

The Police Arbitration Tribunal recommended that Competency Related Threshold

Payments (CRTP) be phased out over 3 years from April 2013 to April 2016. Police services

in England and Wales have implemented a phased withdrawal of the allowance over three

years to be abolished in 2016 as follows:

From 1 April 2013 £900 per annum



From 1 April 2016 £0.00.

As part of the Winsor reforms the PSNI froze the value of CRTP but agreed that officers

could still apply when they reached the maximum of their scale point and met the criteria.

The PSNI has committed to conduct a review of the payment of the allowance with a view to

commencement in January 2016. The amount of CRTP paid to an officer who meets the

eligibility criteria is £1,224 per annum (with effect from 1st September 2013). The cost of

CRTP to the PSNI in the last year was £5,523k (including pensions and ERNI costs). The

total cost of CRTP has increased by £200k since last year and is due to increase further as

large numbers of constables will reach the maximum of their pay scale in the coming 24

months.

This expenditure is broken down by rank in the table below:

49

Table 24 – Number of Officers in receipt of CRTP by rank

Rank Annual CRTP

Chief Inspector 39

Inspector 199

Sergeant 683

Constable 2,328

Grand Total 3,249

In order to assist officers with a change to their pay it is proposed that CRTP in PSNI will be

phased out as in England and Wales rather than implement an immediate withdrawal which

would place considerable hardship on individual officers.

Transitional Rent/Housing Allowance

New recruits who joined the PSNI after 1st September 1994 are not entitled to receive a

Replacement Allowance referred to as a rent/housing allowance. Housing is capped at

£3,500 for federated ranks and the transitional rent allowance maximum is £3,621.60. The

transitional rent allowance attracts a compensatory grant payment every year to account for

the tax paid. The allowances for rent/housing will naturally phase out as officers retire but it

is likely to take another 10 years before this is achieved. The tables below show the number

of officers by rank in receipt of rent/housing allowance/compensatory grant along with the

service profile. It is currently anticipated that a saving of £500k will be generated in 2016/17

though natural wastage.

Table 25 – Number of officers by rank in receipt of Rent/Housing

Allowance/Compensatory/Grant

Rank Annual Rent/Housing Allowance Compensatory Grant

Chief Superintendent 15 7

Superintendent 38 8

Chief Inspector 71 11

Inspector 230 51

Sergeant 506 101

Constable 1,206 237

Grand Total 2,066 415

50

Table 26 – Service profile

Service Profile

Number in Receipt

of Allowance

<20 363

20-25 774

25 118

26 147

27 136

28 146

29 111

30 86

On-Call Allowance

PSNI require a number of functions and authorisations are available to be carried out on a

24/7/365 basis. To achieve this availability of resource ‘on call’ rotas exist for a number of

functions. Most of these functions are not rank specific and are covered by appropriately

trained and qualified officers. Some of these officers will include but are not exclusively

Superintendent ranks and would cover the following roles:

Strategic and Tactical Firearms Commander (Strategic Firearms Command (SFC) in

PSNI is only performed at Superintendent/Chief Superintendent rank);

Specialist Operations Strategic and Tactical Firearms Commander;

Post Incident Manager (firearms);

Public Order Gold and Silver Commander;

Crime Senior Investigating Officer (SIO), branches within Crime Operations will

each have separate Duty officers which will include Superintendents on a rota);

RIPA Cadre Authorisations officer (in PSNI only performed by Detective

Superintendent and above).

The Senior Executive Team requires Departments, Districts and Area Command Units to

make Senior Managers available for duty officer’s on-call rotas. These rotas will therefore

include Superintendents and Chief Superintendents.

The resources committed to provide these roles on a rotational basis can result in 10 or

more duty officers across different Departments and functions.

51

The only legally mandated areas where Superintendent ranks can only perform the required

duties relate to two custody functions:

PACE – custody extension of detention and authorisations for sample reviews; and

Serious Crime Suite (SCS) duties – where similar functions are performed under

terrorist powers legislation.

Both of these functions must be provided 365 days per year at Superintendent rank.

Currently 3 separate rotas exist in PACE, and one for SCS, which cover the geographical

spread of custody suites. It is proposed to review and reduce the total numbers of ‘on call’

requirements across the PSNI estate.

With regard to the provision of on-call for custody duties it is proposed that the number of

Superintendents required is reduced to one for both the PACE and SCS functions. This is

based on analysis of available data as detailed below:

NICHE data for the financial year 2014/15 re PACE and SCS Superintendent

Authorities show that there were a total of indicate of 257 Custody Record entries

relating to Superintendents;

authorisations for the whole year indicate that 212 of these were Extensions of

Detention, however only 63 occurred between Friday PM and Monday AM;

furthermore 5 of the 63 occurred at 2 locations, Musgrave and Antrim Serious Crime

Suite. From September these 2 functions will be at one site – Musgrave.

An anecdotal survey was conducted of PACE Superintendents whose PACE weekend fell

within the last three months. Of the 11 respondents only 2 indicated that they had been

required to attend a Custody Suite to conduct a review over their on call weekend.

The requirement to provide 24/7/365 Superintendent availability for the on-call functions will

incur the following commitments:

Custody and SCS – 730 days;

Strategic Firearms Command – 365 days;

RIPA Cadre – 365 days.

52

These figures will be substantively enhanced to take into account Superintendents on-call

requirements which are dependent on their qualifications rather than their rank.

Temporary Supplement for Inspectors and Chief Inspectors

In 1994 the Police Negotiating Board agreed the payment of a temporary supplement for

Inspectors and Chief Inspectors given that the “unique policing circumstances of Northern

Ireland warranted separate consideration in view of the average additional hours worked

which were far in excess of those in Great Britain.” A non-pensionable supplement is paid to

certain Inspectors and Chief Inspectors who held such ranks substantively on or prior to 15th

May 2006. Chief Inspectors or Inspectors transferring into the PSNI from other Police

Services after 15th May 2006 are not eligible for payment. The current rate of Temporary

Supplement is £4,389 per annum.

Table 27 – PSNI officers in receipt of Inspectors/Chief Inspectors Temporary

Supplement

Rank Inspectors Allowance

Chief Inspector 54

Inspector 99

Grand Total 153

It is estimated that in 6 years’ time there will be 40 officers in receipt of this allowance taking

into account natural wastage, attrition and promotions resulting in a loss of the allowance, it

is expected that it will take 8 years to phase out payment. It is anticipated that costs should

reduce by approximately £80k per annum until the allowance is phased out at the end of

year 8.

Recommendations for 2016/17

The PSNI would wish to make the following recommendations to the PRRB:


pay policy up to an increase of 1% for staff in post;

53

retention of NITA with an increase of 1% and non-pensionable status of the

allowance to remain unchanged;

retention of Dog Handlers allowance with an increase of 1%;

the value of CRTP to remain at its current rate of £1,224 per annum and PSNI to

commence a review of the payment of the allowance in January 2016; and

a programme of allowances to be developed by PSNI for review in subsequent years.

Way Forward

The PSNI’s Service Executive Board have approved the creation of a programme of

allowances, including those listed below, to be reviewed in subsequent years by the PRRB.

In the majority of cases, an Equality Impact Assessment will have to be conducted along

with a review of numbers and age profile of officers in receipt of payment. Where an

allowance will be phased out through natural wastage, this has also been shown below (list

not exhaustive).

Table 28 – Allowances for Review by PSNI

Allowance

Pensionable

Yes/No

EQIA Required

Yes/No

Will allowance be

phased out over time?

Compensatory Related Threshold Payment* Yes Yes

Northern Ireland Transitional Allowance No No

Dog Handler’s Allowance No Yes

Temporary Supplement for Inspectors and Chief Inspectors No Yes Yes

Telephone Rental Allowance No Yes

Instructor’s Allowance No Yes

Housing Allowance No Yes Yes

Motor Vehicle Allowance No Yes

On-Call, Standby and Hardship Allowance No Yes

Detached Duty Allowance No Yes

*already scheduled for review to commence in January 2016

54

Chapter 7 – Appendices

Appendix A – Northern Ireland Policing Board and the Police Service of

Northern Ireland - Policing Plan 2015-2016

Appendix B – Pay Remit Approval Process/Contractual Legal Entitlement to

Pay Awards

Appendix C – Pay Remit Approval Process and Guidance

Appendix D – Minister of Justice’s letter to PRRB

Appendix E – Chief Secretary to the Treasury’s letter to PRRB

55

Appendix A

56

57

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

71

72

73

74

75

76

77

78

79

Public Spending Directorate

Head of Supply Division

Rathgael House,

Balloo Road BANGOR, BT19 7NA

Tel No: 028 91 858166 (or Ext 68166)

email: [email protected]

FROM: EMER MORELLI

DATE: 9 SEPTEMBER 2015

TO: FINANCE DIRECTORS

PAY REMIT APPROVAL PROCESS: CONTRACTUAL / LEGAL ENTITLEMENT TO PAY

AWARDS

1. Following Ministerial correspondence between the Department of Education and the Department of Finance and Personnel, new arrangements have now been agreed by the Finance Minister in respect of contractual / legal entitlements to pay awards.

2. As you will be aware, arrangements for temporary approval in relation to incremental progression payments were put into place in 20141. The arrangements set out below extend this to all elements of the pay award.

3. This new approach only applies to staff groups where there is a clear contractual / legal entitlement to implementation of a pay award at a certain point in the year and where the completion of pay remit documentation significantly delays payment beyond this particular date. Crucially, all requests for early implementation of a pay award must be supported by clear and categorical DSO advice that a contractual / legal obligation to implement the award at a certain date exists2. The relevant department must also provide evidence that completion of the required pay remit will substantially delay implementation of the pay award beyond the contractual / legal implementation date. This evidence should include time taken for the department to complete the pay remit documentation in the past, the reasons for any delay in compiling the required

1 Paragraph 17 of FD (DFP) 08/14 Pay Remit Approval Process and Guidance (2014-15) refers.

2 If clear DSO advice cannot be provided the pay award will simply be back-dated in line with the

current approach.

Appendix B

80

data and any steps the department has taken, or is considering taking, to speed up this process.

4. The new approach involves the provision of temporary cover to allow payments to be made pending the subsequent submission and formal Finance Minister approval of pay remits. Further detail on this new approach is set out below:

Where the situation described in paragraph 2 arises, a department may submit a request for temporary cover to DFP Supply in advance of the pay award payments falling due. It is the department’s responsibility to submit this request in a timely manner to ensure that temporary cover can be granted to allow payments on the implementation date deemed a contractual obligation. In submitting the request for temporary cover, departments will therefore need to factor in sufficient time for DFP Supply scrutiny3 and resolution of any queries.

The submission must include clear DSO advice and evidence that the pay remit cannot be completed in time, as per paragraph 2.

Also included should be a table showing the estimated number of staff involved, the estimated cost of the contractual pay award, an estimate of the Increase For Staff in Post (ISP) arising from the implementation of this pay award and an ISP estimate arising from any other contractual elements (e.g. incremental pay).

An indication of when the formal pay remit submission will be submitted to DFP Supply should also be included with the temporary cover request.

5. DFP Supply, liaising with SPD as appropriate, will then consider whether the submission is sufficient for DFP Supply to approve the request for temporary cover. Any temporary cover granted may include a tolerance percentage to reflect the indicative nature of the figure work submitted.

6. The final approval decision in respect of the pay remit will still rest with the Finance Minister and the indicative figure work submitted at temporary cover stage will be tested on receipt of a pay remit. Should the pay remit data differ significantly from that submitted with the temporary cover request, the temporary cover could be withdrawn (resulting in irregular expenditure). It therefore remains in the department’s interest to submit a formal pay remit as soon as possible to minimise the risk (and potential amount) of irregular spend in a situation where Finance Minister approval is not secured.

7. These arrangements only apply to staff groups where completion of a pay remit is not possible in a timely manner to ensure payment of the contractual / legal

3 DFP Supply continues to operate a 15 working day turn around target.

81

entitlement to a pay award on the required date. It will be important, where possible, to coordinate any request for temporary cover in respect of all elements of the pay award to simplify the process.

8. These arrangements will be reflected in the 2015-16 Pay Remit Approval Process and Guidance once the approach to public sector pay in 2015-16 has been agreed by the Executive.

EMER MORELLI

Copy Distribution List

David Sterling

Mike Brennan

Colin Sullivan

Tony Simpson

William Dickson

Chris Gardner

Supply G7s and DPs

82

Dr Colin Sullivan

Strategic Policy and Reform Director

2nd Floor West

Clare House, Airport Road West

BELFAST, BT3 9ED

Tel No: 028 91 858240 email: [email protected]

FROM: COLIN SULLIVAN Copy Distribution List Below: DATE: 27 AUGUST 2014

TO: FINANCE DIRECTORS FD (DFP)

08/14

PAY REMIT APPROVAL PROCESS AND GUIDANCE (2014-15)

Purpose

1. The purpose of this Finance Director (FD) letter is to provide departments with revised guidance on the application of public sector pay policy in Northern Ireland. This letter explains the implications of the 2014-15 HM Treasury Pay Guidance on the pay remits approval process in Northern Ireland.

Appendix C

mailto:[email protected]

83

2. This FD letter replaces the previous guidance on the pay remit approval process (FD letter issued on 10 September 2013). An updated Single Year Remit pro forma template is attached separately.

Scope

3. The pay remit approval process must be applied to the staff costs of public bodies whose expenditure scores against the Northern Ireland DEL, including all Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) departments, agencies, Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs) and other public bodies.

4. The pay remit process applies to all staff in such organisations irrespective of seniority. When staff working within the same organisation are subject to different pay agreements or pay determination processes, a separate pay remit pro forma and business case template must be submitted for each group. For example, within the NICS the pay award for staff below SCS is determined separately from that for the SCS.

5. Staff groups currently not covered by the pay remit process include:

o Staff employed by Public Corporations; o Staff employed in Higher Education4; o Staff employed by District Councils; and o Ministerial appointments5. o North South Bodies6

Roles and Responsibilities

6. Enforcement of pay growth limits is devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive. With the Executive’s endorsement, the Minister for Finance and Personnel is responsible for the approval of pay remits for most of the staff groups in bodies within the wider public sector in Northern Ireland within the broad parameters of public sector pay policy 7.

7. As with all aspects of public expenditure, responsibility for value for money and all regularity issues associated with pay remits sits with the relevant departmental Accounting Officer. In practical terms, this must be evidenced by all proposed remits (and supporting evidence) being approved by the Departmental Finance Directorate before being formally submitted to DFP Supply. This includes ensuring that the calculations and information supporting the pay remits are accurate and complete. DFP expects that pay remits that breach pay parameters as outlined in paragraphs

4 This includes staff employed in Stranmillis University College and St. Mary’s University College.

5 Ministerial appointments are excluded from the process on the grounds that the Minister agreed their

specific remuneration package upon appointment. However, contractual conditions of all new appointments should still include adherence to the principles of public sector pay policy.

6 Most North South Bodies adopt the Civil Service pay agreements of the jurisdiction in which staff

work. Increases (or otherwise) for Northern Ireland staff are approved by the Department of Finance and Personnel.

7 Although some select cases may be referred to HM Treasury where they raise significant

‘repercussion’ issues.

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27 and 28 of this FD letter would be approved by the departmental Minister prior to submission to DFP Supply8.

8. It is DFP’s responsibility to provide advice on pay policy and information requirements as well as to challenge departments when we believe the policy has not been implemented properly. Technical quality assurance of the pay remit business case and pro forma will be provided by DFP Strategic Policy Division (SPD), which is responsible for monitoring the application of public sector pay policy. SPD also provides advice and liaises (where required and with the agreement of the Finance Minister) with HM Treasury/Cabinet Office. DFP Supply will have responsibility for liaising with Departments on pay approvals, acting upon the advice of and in co-operation with DFP SPD. Supply will also consider whether pay remits raise associated issues in relation to the control of public expenditure, affordability, departmental delegations and the need for wider Supply approvals.

Background

9. The effective management of public sector pay and workforce issues is crucial to the delivery of high quality public services, the achievement of departmental objectives and targets, and the management of the overall public expenditure position. While it is imperative that public sector workers have the necessary skills and expertise and are properly motivated, it is also vital that increases in public sector pay are affordable within the limits determined by the Executive and represent value for money.

10. HM Treasury publishes pay guidance to aid the implementation of the pay remit process9. The Executive has previously agreed that the HMT guidance be adopted by the Executive as the framework for the management of the public sector pay position in Northern Ireland.

11. In the 2011 Autumn Statement, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that public sector pay awards will average at one per cent for the two years following the pay freeze. By 2014-15 all public bodies should have exited the pay freeze and are expected to follow the guidance and pay parameters included in this FD letter.

NI Executive Pay Policy

12. The Executive’s control of public sector pay will be based on the principle that the public sector should offer a pay and reward package that allows it to recruit, retain and motivate suitable staff. Public sector pay should also reflect the circumstances specific to the local labour market.

13. Since the 2004 pay round, HM Treasury has imposed an Increase for Staff in Post (formerly known as ‘earnings growth’) limit that public bodies must not breach, unless there are very sound reasons to do so. The Executive has agreed to adhere to these

8 For instance, if the Increase for Staff in Post exceeds the 1% limit and where there is no clear

legal/contractual entitlement to this.

9 The latest HM Treasury pay guidance can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-pay-guidance-2014-15/civil-service-pay-guidance-2014-15

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limits and all pay remits must be submitted to DFP for approval at DFP Ministerial level to ensure compliance.

Approval Process

14. All public bodies are required to submit a business case to their parent departments showing clearly the pay proposals for each pay round. This applies even if the public body follows the NICS pay award or a nationally determined pay settlement10. In the vast majority of cases completion of the pay remit pro forma and the business case template is sufficient. However, where the proposed pay remit exceeds the current pay limit and the proposals are potentially repercussive or otherwise controversial, a full business case may be required. Detailed guidance on how to complete the pay remit pro forma and the business case template is set out in Annex A and Annex B respectively.

15. Departments must ensure that pay commitments are not entered into prior to the appropriate approvals having been secured. Once Departments have assessed the business case, and ensured that the pay increase is justified and affordable, it must be submitted to DFP Supply for approval. DFP Supply will, if content to proceed, seek the approval of the DFP Minister. If the case raises significant or contentious issues the DFP Minister may decide to refer the matter to the Executive for discussion. As is the case for all expenditure, the commitment to, or execution of, a pay award without the appropriate approvals will be deemed to be irregular expenditure and will be treated as such.

16. Public bodies should normally only submit one pay remit per year. For example a public body must not split its submission of pay remits with one pay remit for incremental progression and another for revalorisation11.

17. In instances where a public body has a contractual and/or statutory right to incremental progression on a specific date, and where this date falls prior to the settlement of any relevant pay negotiations, a submission should be made to DFP Supply requesting temporary approval for incremental progression only. This submission should be made in time to allow for DFP Supply approval before the progression falls due and must include: clear legal advice categorically stating a contractual and/or statutory obligation to pay progression on a specific date; the quantum of the progression increments and how many staff this will apply to; a brief update on the current position of pay settlement negotiations; and an indication of when a full pay remit is likely to be submitted for DFP Ministerial approval. DFP Supply will then consider providing temporary approval (note that there is no requirement for DFP Ministerial approval at this stage). This approach enables departments to meet contractual and/or statutory obligations whilst regularising

10

E.g. National Joint Council or a Pay Review Body as currently applied to health sector staff.

11 This means that if public bodies follow a nationally determined pay settlement, they must wait until

that determination is made before submitting complete pay remit documentation.

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expenditure. A full remit, including progression and revalorisation12, should be submitted as soon as possible, at which point normal approval processes apply. Note that any temporary cover provided could be withdrawn at this point if there are found to be significant differences between the information provided for temporary cover and the full remit documentation.

18. It should be noted that, in all cases, if there are any significant deviations from the approved proposals, the pay remit documentation (including a robust justification for the revisions) must be resubmitted through the normal channels before any commitments on the revised proposals are given. If there is any uncertainty as to what constitutes a significant difference, advice should be sought from SPD (points of contact are provided at the end of this letter).

Breach Of Approved Pay Remit

19. A pay remit is sanctioned in the expectation that the organisation will not exceed the approved Increase for Staff in Post. However, since the calculations are based on estimates, there may be occasions where the actual Increase for Staff in Post exceeds (or falls below) that approved.

20. The pro forma is designed to allow the organisation to explain why the previous year’s pay remit has been exceeded. Explanations could be due to significant changes in the number of staff employed by the organisation or changes to the grade structure. In cases where the remit has been exceeded significantly and there is no adequate explanation, DFP may require additional detailed evidence to assess whether the current year’s pay remit is accurate and also request more information regarding the previous year’s remit to investigate the circumstances.

Job Evaluations

21. When public bodies intend to carry out job-evaluation exercises, it is crucial that they consider the full pay policy implications at an early stage. It is not acceptable to initiate job evaluations unless they are properly justified and have the appropriate approvals. It should also be noted that it is not acceptable to justify a breach of the approved pay remit in terms of the outcome of a job evaluation exercise. This is because the full pay policy implications of any job evaluation exercise must be considered prior to the remit being submitted.

12

As noted in Annex A, when applying the increase for staff in post, revalorisation should be applied first followed by progression. This will marginally increase the progression rise between the temporary cover and full remit. Note the quantum of progression should not be significantly different.

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Implications For Wider DFP Approvals

22. It is important that all Departments take proper account of the Executive’s approach to public sector pay when considering the establishment of new public bodies, or when negotiating salaries or contracts of employment for new staff in existing public bodies. Departments should only put forward terms and conditions of employment that are appropriate in light of the labour market circumstances and the nature of post and organisation in question. For example, in a case where a public body intends to mirror SCS pay agreements, it should take into account that this may not be appropriate if numbers in the staff group within the organisation are not adequate to carry out a meaningful annual performance assessment against peers.

23. In particular, public bodies must not enter into agreements that may result in future pay pressures that could lead to a breach of the current Increase for Staff in Post pay limit unless there is a legal requirement to do so. Departments must ensure that the terms and conditions offered to new staff in public bodies are not so rigid that they are incapable of adapting to existing and future pay controls set by the Executive.

24. When reviewing and agreeing Management Statements and Financial Memoranda with sponsored public bodies, departments should draw particular attention in the documents to the Body’s responsibilities in regard to Public Sector Pay and especially to the content of this note.

25. In advance of approving posts DFP Supply will expect to be provided with benchmarking evidence that the level of remuneration being proposed is reasonable within the context of public and private sector comparators in Northern Ireland and, where necessary and appropriate, in comparison with similar posts in GB/RoI. A critical factor here is that evidence is provided that benchmarks are truly comparable in terms of roles and responsibilities as well as scale of the organisation. In addition, when comparing with posts outside Northern Ireland, the appropriate adjustments need to be made when benchmarking in terms of local labour market conditions or differences in the cost of living in the cases where it can be proven that a UK wide labour market applies.

26. Departments are reminded that any cases that potentially set a precedent, are repercussive or contentious must always come to DFP Supply for approval under Managing Public Money Northern Ireland (MPMNI) 2.1.7.

Pay Parameters

27. By 2014-15 all public bodies in Northern Ireland should have exited the pay freeze. Therefore, in 2014-15, a one per cent Increase for Staff in Post limit will apply to staff groups within public bodies.

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Progression Pay

28. Increases arising from contractual progression pay increments will continue to be paid where such increments are a legal entitlement. Public bodies are encouraged to include contractual progression increments to which there is a legal entitlement as part of the one per cent award. DSO advice should be provided to confirm that the increases are a legal entitlement.

29. Public bodies will have noted the 2013 Spending Round announcement of further action by 2015-16 to ensure that public sector workers do not receive an automatic pay increase purely as a result of time in post. In advance of this, the 2014-15 guidance requires public bodies to confirm in their business case that progression pay increments are not awarded for time served in the organisation (e.g. through confirmation that progression is performance based (as is the case in the NICS)).

30. If public bodies are only entitled to automatic time-served progression pay, then progression payments must be included as part of the one per cent award. In addition, before submitting its 2015-16 pay remit documentation, the public body must put forward proposals to end automatic time-served progression pay, supported by a robust and fully costed business case that offers clear value for money for the taxpayer and includes the removal of legally binding progression arrangements.

Flexibility for removal of automatic time-served progression pay arrangements

31. DFP welcomes proposals that include plans to remove automatic time-served progression pay arrangements in particular cases where this may be appropriate and there will be some flexibility in relation to the one per cent limit in 2014-15 for these cases. Public bodies will need to submit a robust and fully costed business case for their proposals that offers clear value for money and includes the removal of legally binding progression arrangements. More detail on factors that should be taken into account when preparing such a business case are included in Annex E of the 2014-15 HM Treasury pay guidance.

Non-consolidated bonuses

32. No staff in public bodies should be awarded performance bonuses (unless they have a clear contractual entitlement). Any proposal to award a performance related bonus must be supported by DSO advice. In particular, clear advice must be provided to support the quantum of bonus being proposed.

Workforce Groups (including Specialists)

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33. The Northern Ireland public sector is made up of many different workforce groups and these may be contained within a particular grade or responsibility level. It is recognised that each public body has a mixture of relatively higher-paid and lower-paid workforce groups, with possible variation by specialism or function and responsibility level.

34. The pay remit process provides scope for public bodies to reward workforce groups differently. This may include specific specialist roles, for example, where there is a shortage of specialist skilled staff. If such a case is made, it must be supported by a robust evidence-based business case.

Equal Pay/Age Discrimination

35. The NI Executive is committed to ensuring that pay systems in the public sector are fair and non-discriminatory, reflecting the contribution of the individual.

36. It is important that organisations review their pay systems on an annual basis following implementation of pay awards as this helps inform departmental / public body reward proposals and ensures appropriate targeting of resources. Departments / public bodies are reminded that conducting equal pay reviews of their reward policies and practices regularly is a requirement. The frequency and thoroughness of such reviews should be commensurate with the size and complexity of the staff group. When equality proofing reward policies, departments / public bodies should be wary of arguments that five years must be the appropriate length for any pay range - for some jobs this may be too short, for others it may be too long. There is no substitute for a proper assessment of the pay arrangements for different groups/roles within each responsibility level.

37. Where departments / public bodies have identified a potential pay inequality to address they will need to provide evidence of the extent of this inequality and propose ways of tackling this in a cost-effective manner, subject to affordability constraints. Departments / public bodies may need to prioritise within the constraints of the remit and strike an appropriate balance between general pay increases for staff and addressing issues arising from equal pay/age discrimination legislation.

38. A full risk assessment, including an assessment of the likelihood of claims and the extent of potential liability as well as the costs of dealing with the issue, should accompany any business case based at least partly on addressing equal pay risks. Departments / public bodies should also specify what proportion of their pay remit, if any, they plan to devote to addressing issues associated with equality issues.

New Appointments / Legal Commitments

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39. All new legally binding commitments (for example, honoraria payments) should take into consideration affordability and financial constraints in current and future years. Departments and public bodies are advised to take legal advice on the drafting of any pay commitments to ensure that these are affordable and consistent with the pay remit process.

40. Approval of pay remits is on the basis that an organisation does not enter into any legally binding contractual agreements that effectively commits it to automatic costs in the future.

Pension Reform

41. From 1 April 2012 the contributions paid by most members of the PCSPS(NI) now varies depending on the amount of the employee’s annual pensionable earnings. This means that the employee contributions of members of the PCSPS(NI) and the NILGOSC pension schemes will now vary depending on their salary band.

42. DFP is aware that a number of public bodies have arrangements in place to ensure that their staff are not disadvantaged as a result of paying what were historically higher employee contributions to the NILGOSC pension scheme than other public sector employees who are members of the PCSPS(NI).

43. This adjustment can no longer be assumed to be a fixed amount. Departments must ensure that any of their public bodies that are in this situation review the position for each individual member of staff on an annual basis to ensure that any adjustment to their salary maintains the principle that staff who are on terms analogous to those of the NICS are no better off, and no worse off, as a result of the pension scheme to which they contribute.

44. Any resulting adjustment to salaries must be included as appropriate when submitting pay remits to DFP for approval.

45. This principle of “no better off, and no worse off”, overrides the detail which may historically have been contained in a Management Statement/Financial Memorandum (MS/FM) which predates the changes to public sector pension schemes. Departments should therefore also review the MS/FMs in place with their public bodies to bring them up to date in this regard.

Summary Of Key Points

46. The key points for departments are summarised below:

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The Executive meeting of 24 May 2007 endorsed the principle of adherence to public sector pay policy. These will apply to virtually all public bodies and staff groups whose expenditure scores against the Northern Ireland DEL.

The DFP Minister is responsible for monitoring, controlling and approving pay remits for staff groupings subject to the Executive’s Pay Policy. He may refer any potentially difficult or controversial remits to the Executive for discussion.

All public bodies are required to submit a pay remit pro forma and business case template (via their parent department) to DFP Supply for Ministerial approval.

The Departmental Finance Directorates must approve all pay remits. It is expected that pay remits that breach pay parameters as outlined in paragraphs 27 and 28 of this FD letter have been approved by the departmental Minister before it is formally submitted to DFP.

In 2014-15, a one per cent Increase for Staff in Post limit will apply to staff groups within public bodies. Contractual pay increases, such as progression pay increments, should continue to be proposed where such payments are a legal entitlement and DSO advice should be provided to confirm that the increases are a legal entitlement. Public bodies are encouraged to include contractual progression increments to which there is a legal entitlement as part of the one per cent award.

No public bodies covered by the Executive’s authority must enter into pay commitments prior to the appropriate approvals having been secured. The commitment to, or execution of, a pay award without the appropriate approvals will be deemed to be irregular expenditure.

Public bodies with a contractual and/or statutory right to incremental progression on a specific date should seek temporary DFP approval before the progression falls due.

Pay remits which are approved and subsequently revised should be resubmitted (with robust justification) to the Departmental Finance Directorate and DFP for approval before any commitments are entered into on the revised basis.

It is imperative that all departments take proper account of the Executive’s pay policy when considering the establishment of new public bodies, when negotiating salaries or contracts of employment for new staff in existing public bodies or when initiating job evaluation exercises.

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Action

47. To note the contents of this letter, the requirements to obtain prior Ministerial approval and to take whatever action is necessary to ensure compliance with the Executive’s agreed position on public sector pay control. Furthermore, to circulate to all finance officers and other relevant staff, including those in NDPBs and other relevant public bodies.

Points Of Contact

48. Enquiries about this FD letter should be addressed to William Dickson, telephone 91858088 (x68088) or email [email protected], or Chris Gardner, telephone 91858142 (x68142) or email [email protected].

Date From Which The Letter Is Effective

49. This letter is effective from the 1 April 2014.

Colin Sullivan Copy Distribution List:

David Sterling

Colin Lewis

Michael Brennan

Mark Bailey

Joanne McBurney

John McKibbin

Tony Simpson

William Dickson

Chris Gardner

Michelle Adams

Patrick McKeown



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Appendix D

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Appendix E

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Documents

The Police Service for Northern Ireland Submission to the ... · Exit Interviews 34 Talent Management ... police officers in the Police Service of Northern Ireland ... Chief Superintendent