Staffing levels

Question

Following discussion of the attached paper at the last Resources Committee meeting, members have requested further information specifically regarding TP’s to Sergeant, as follows: 

• What impact has this had on staffing levels at lower ranks, especially in light of the freeze on recruitment? 
• What are the Travel & Subsistence costs as a result of these TP’s? 
• Can you provide community & gender breakdown for these TP’s 

Answer

1. What impact has this had on staffing levels at lower ranks, especially in light of the freeze on recruitment? 

It is difficult to assess the impact as there is no means of backfilling for the temporary Sergeants other than accepting there would be less Constables performing the role. Whilst we acknowledgement there is no further recruitment at this time we have attached below the numbers of new appointments for this financial year along with the number of student officers attesting during the period. This shows 147 Constables either appointed or attested during the period whilst 251 Constables were promoted to temporary Sergeant. 

2. What are the Travel & Subsistence costs as a result of these TP’s?

123 of those who were temporary promoted from Constable to Sergeant made at least 1 travel and subsistence claim during the period 1/4/23 to 31/8/23. The total cost of these claims was £16,986. It is not possible, without manually checking each individual claim, to identify if the Travel and Subsistence was claimed due specifically to the temporary promotion or would have also been claimed at the Constable rank, for example mileage claims for attendance at mandatory training courses. 

Student Officers 01/04/2023 - 31/08/2023

3. Can you provide community & gender breakdown for these TP’s

Please see below equality analysis of community background and gender of the 251 temporary promoted Sergeants. We have also included the equality analysis of Constables for comparison purposes.