Neighbourhood and safer neighbourhood performance and development team (NHP&DT)

The aim of the team is to create initiatives that drive performance and develop understanding of the workforce, to deliver proactive and preventative policing for the public and businesses in Lancashire. 

• Increase workforce understanding of their purpose and how they contribute to objectives in neighbourhood policing.
• Increase workforce skills, knowledge, and professionalism in neighbourhood policing to provide more effective policing for the public.

Before the Neighbourhood and Safer Neighbourhood Performance and Development Team (NHP&DT), Lancashire Constabulary relied on the dissemination of performance and development through a chain of command with a variety of other impactive responsibilities which led to a number of inconsistencies. This resulted in a lack of clarity and focus on the purpose of neighbourhood policing.

As a result, Lancashire Constabulary created the NHP&DT in late 2020. The team comprises of an existing local policing subject matter expert, a specialist in both engagement and development, and a serving police officer on restricted duties with experience in neighbourhood policing. The team's first objective was to cement the clarity and focus of the workforce to ensure they understood their contribution to the Lancashire Constabulary’s objectives.

Engagement, targeted activity and problem-solving formed the core duties of every neighbourhood policing officer. This was achieved through a variety of methods, but possibly most important was the numerous discussions between the neighbourhood teams and the Learning and Development team (separate and unrelated to the NHP&DT). This ensured a consistent approach, reflecting the core activities within each stage of the induction and continued professional development (CPD) of the new and existing workforce.

Attendance at the various local, regional, and national strategic boards, meetings and events has always been a priority, ensuring best practice is understood and adopted where practical. 

Lancashire Constabulary have sought to be early adopters of national best practice, including the adoption of the National Performance Framework. The framework led to the creation of several governance boards to ensure Lancashire's performance could be measured across its range of metrics.

Projects

Projects implemented by the NHP&DT include the following.

• Annual skills development survey – the team developed an annual survey to enable the force to assess workforce training needs and subsequently implement training that improves the efficacy of the teams.
• Police community support officer (PCSCO) and police constable (PC) coaches – the team developed the role of PCSO coach and police constable PC coach to cover all 14 districts. These roles provide content for the regular training days for each district. Each coach receives four continued professional development (CPD) days per year to enhance their existing skills, while providing the NHP&DT with an opportunity to address issues directly with coaches.
• New recruit tutor – the team developed the role of a new recruit tutor which is supplementary to the role of a coach. Tutors are on hand to welcome new recruits into the organisation, providing advice and guidance for each recruit, developing their knowledge, and supporting them to achieve independent patrol status. Each Tutor is provided with a two-day course to build on their interpersonal and subject matter expertise.

The NHP&DT provide audit advice on governance documents that contribute to the successful planning and recording of neighbourhood policing related activity. The team also create and deliver the content for a variety of focus groups. The content covers a range of practice across the NHP teams to encourage best practice.

The team go beyond their original aims to create structure, clarity, and skill development for the public-facing workforce. They create initiatives that have driven performance and developed understanding of the workforce, to deliver proactive and preventative policing for the people and businesses of Lancashire.

An evaluation is ongoing and being led by Lancashire Constabulary. The measures used in the evaluation include the following.

• The team provide management information on the performance of Neighbourhood Alert and Lancashire Talking. This includes number of members, registrations, surveys and alerts. Performance also includes officers and staff demonstrating outstanding performance, and those who need to be monitored. This information is fed to relevant ranks and roles from constables to assistant chief constable (ACC).
• The number and frequency of training courses, (accredited and non-accredited) and the number of officers/staff attending and completing training.
• Audit activities that are reported monthly on the performance of the neighbourhood policing teams, in line with the Neighbourhood Policing Framework. This includes planned neighbourhood policing activity, for example patrol plans.
• His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) PEEL Inspection audit.

A process evaluation is also ongoing which looks at how the practices of the team have been implemented and how, why and for whom it works or doesn’t work. 

• Early findings from the evaluation indicate the intervention is having a positive impact.
• Due to the training of neighbourhood officers and staff, there has been an increased understanding of their purpose and wider neighbourhood policing knowledge and skills. This has improved the performance of neighbourhood officers and staff. There has been an increase in public sign-ups for Neighbourhood Alert, increase survey responses, internal audits and focus groups with members of the public.
• The work of the NHP&DT has been recognised by HMICFRS as contributing to the rating of “outstanding” for the question set on preventing crime. The team were specifically mentioned under a section title "Promising Practice".

• Senior leadership support was crucial for the development and implementation of the NHP&DT. They enabled the team to set direction of how they would support the frontline. Senior leadership support continued throughout the implementation of the team, who now provide performance updates of the frontline to senior leaders.
• The NHP&DT was developed by a neighbourhood policing subject matter expert (SME) and an officer who also had extensive neighbourhood policing experience. This helped identify the needs of the frontline, the purpose of the team, and how they would best support the frontline.
• The NHP&DT is a service to the frontline, but due to funding challenges and budget constraints, CPD funding has reduced. This has been a challenge for the team, but the training continues to be delivered by internal staff who are SMEs. The NHP&DT have also increased partnership working with universities and other agencies to try and compliment the learning.
• Strong partnership working across different teams and departments is especially key for the delivery of high-quality training for neighbourhood officers and staff. Due to these close relationships, members of other teams deliver inputs as part of the training, allowing officers and staff to learn from specialists working in a particular area. Members of other department/teams are also very engaged with the NHP&DT and regularly attend meetings. There has also been increased partnership working with external agencies, such as universities, that have also helped to deliver high quality training to frontline officers and staff.
• The purpose and role of the NHP&DT has evolved over time, from skill development and governance, to also include providing expertise to ensure the workforce works towards the main objectives of neighbourhood policing.