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WQ.318/2019
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS BY DEPUTY M.R. LE HEGARAT OF ST. HELIER
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 16th JULY 2019
Question
Will the Minister advise –
- who initiated and implemented Project Horizon' (regarding a new operational model for the States of Jersey Police);
- how much the project has cost;
- what consultation was undertaken with staff at all levels within the Police prior to its implementation; and
- how long the project was in operation?
Answer a)
Project Horizon was initiated by States of Jersey Police's (SOJP) former Acting Deputy Chief Officer who was the most senior serving officer at the time. The review was recommended and supported by the Force's Senior Management Team. It came at a time when SOJP recognised it was not well placed to meet its 2019 budget and that more fundamental changes would be required to do so.
The total cost of Project Horizon was £268,301. Of this, £157,241 was for external technical (consultancy) support and the remainder comprised recharges for internal police officers, staff who worked on the project and some minor purchases.
A plan for workforce communication and engagement was developed and implemented. This enabled officers and staff to understand, comment and contribute to the proposed changes. Given the limited time available to implement the changes and therefore meet its 2019 budget, key decisions around the design, methodology and delivery of the new operating model were taken by the former Acting Deputy Chief Officer and the Senior Management Team.
The project was divided into two parts; design and implementation.
The design stage of the project started in February 2018 and concluded in July 2018. Workforce modelling (including developing new shift patterns) were developed from July to September 2018. Project Horizon recommendations were formally adopted by the Force's Senior Management Board in September 2018.
Implementation started in late September 2018 and was temporarily paused in May 2019. It was paused because there were insufficient police officers available to fulfil core operational response functions. This was due to a combination of the reduced establishment of 190 FTE police officers, sickness rates, officers otherwise not fit for frontline duties, and other abstractions such as annual leave, time off in lieu (TOIL) and training. The impact of these shortages was affecting officer well-being, morale and retention. The decision to pause implementation has subsequently been supported and validated by the independent report from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC). The Force will need to review its resources, plans and introduce new training before the implementation can be re-started.