Governance, roles and responsibilities

Roles

Police forces that have mature benefits management arrangements nominate chief officers or equivalents as force leads on benefits, efficiency or productivity to provide strategic focus. Other roles include the following.

Senior responsible owner (SRO)

Projects and programmes should have an SRO, who is active in project and/or programme governance. The SRO is accountable for realising all the benefits identified from the work they are sponsoring. 

The SRO should be the most appropriate person, not the most senior person, and they must be able to commit time and energy to the work. In national programmes, the SRO may hand this accountability to police force lead chief officers.

Project or programme manager

The project or programme manager will be responsible for the day-to-day delivery of outputs and for keeping the project or programme on track in relation to agreed plans. 

Benefit owner

The benefit owner is typically the business lead for the area that the change is having the greatest effect on. They ensure that benefits are tracked and realised. This includes identifying baselines (reference points against which progress can be measured, monitored and controlled) and how a benefit will be measured under benefits profiling. They ensure that benefits are reported on a regular basis to the project and/or programme board.

Business change manager (BCM)

BCMs provide advice and guidance to ensure that the change is delivered smoothly and the benefits are realised. Not all forces use BCMs.

Benefits manager

Benefits managers work with portfolio, programme and project teams to facilitate the production of benefits-related documents. They also work with the project team to ensure that benefits reporting meets the needs of project and programme boards and SROs. Not all forces use dedicated benefits managers.

Governance

Police force governance structures should ensure that benefits are identified, tracked and reported on. Typically, benefits will be reported through project and programme governance. Whichever governance structure you choose, success relies on clear ownership and accountability.

Change, efficiency or benefits boards

Many police forces have change, efficiency or benefits boards that are chaired by a chief officer. These monitor the progress of change projects and ensure that benefits are tracked, reported and realised. Programme boards will report into these. 

The change, efficiency or benefits board can then agree whether:

• the benefits of a change project have been fully realised
• further change is required

Triage panels

Some police forces use triage panels to assess change projects. They can be made up of representatives from finance, organisational change and information technology services. They will assess the viability of a project and the force’s ability to deliver it. They can confirm that measurable benefits have been identified, and can be tracked, before a project is submitted for approval. 

Strategies, frameworks and plans

A benefits strategy for the force can set expectations, encourage adoption and align with strategic goals. It defines the approach to realising benefits on a particular project or programme.

A benefits framework can provide detail on policies, standards, processes and templates.

Benefits realisation plans can explain how benefits will be actively managed through to the point where they are realised. These documents provide the framework and detail. They can then be tracked through governance. Further information can be found in the resources section.