Promotions of Sergeants

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.030570

I note you seek access to the following information:

In relation to the May 2023 posting panel for Sergeant promotions from Specialist Crime to BCU, I would like to know the following based on information available to you from April 2022 when the promotion process started, to date of completion of this request:

1) How many Specialist Officers were posted to BCU in the May 2023 posting panel - breakdown male to female?

2) Of these officers posted on promotion, please provide a breakdown of how many had placed BCU preferences and how many had not. Breakdown male to female.

3) How many officers have appealed this posting? Breakdown Male to Female

4) How many appeals have been upheld and allowed to remain in Specialist posting at Sergeant level? Breakdown male to female.

5) How many appeals have been upheld but the officer must remain at Constable level in specialist posting? Breakdown male/female.

6) Upon what grounds have appeals been upheld?

7) Are appeals independently assessed or subject to blanket rule?

8) What policy/standards apply to appeals?

9) Please provide details of when 13 April 2023 cut off date for Specialist job offers was made - include minutes of meetings, dates and rank/units present and how this was communicated to candidates, hiring managers, HR units and Federation.

10) What have the MPS put in place to ensure equality, fairness and inclusivity is applied in this process post Casey Review?

11) What policy applies to the decision to prohibit application for promotion by one year?

12) In relation to the “random” selection of officers for posting to BCU, please confirm how this process was approached.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

Q1 - How many Specialist Officers were posted to BCU in the May 2023 posting panel - breakdown male to female?

According to published results – assumed initial May postings on promotion:
Sergeant: 115 (Male -75, Female – 39)
Inspector: 22 (Male – 21 Female – 1)

Q2 - Of these officers posted on promotion, please provide a breakdown of how many had placed BCU preferences and how many had not. Breakdown male to female.

Officers voluntarily submit preferences for future postings depending on their individual circumstances and are advised that they should include a BCU in their preferences.
From officers based in a specialist OCU who were posted on promotion to Sergeant:

PCs with a BCU in their preferences – 12 (Male - 9, Female – 3)
PCs without a BCU in their preferences – 9 (Male - 9, Female – 0)

DCs with a BCU in their preferences – 14 (Male – 10, Female – 4)
DCs without a BCU in their preferences – 3 (Male – 0, Female -3)

Q3 - How many officers have appealed this posting? Breakdown Male to Female

From officers employed in a specialist OCU, who were posted on promotion to Sergeant and submitted their posting appeal:
PC – 9 (Male -9, Female -0), DC -46 (Male -26, Female -20)

Q4 - How many appeals have been upheld and allowed to remain in Specialist posting at Sergeant level? Breakdown male to female.

From officers employed in a specialist OCU, who were posted on promotion to Sergeant and submitted their posting appeal:

PC – 1 (Male –1, Female –0) and DC – 7 (Male –3, Female –4)

Of those PC/DC on the select list to Sergeant none will be in substantive sergeant roles; the option to retain officers in acting up roles would be a local decision.

Q5 - How many appeals have been upheld but the officer must remain at Constable level in specialist posting? Breakdown male/female.

No officer had an appeal upheld and was made to remain at Constable level in a specialist OCU.

Q6 - Upon what grounds have appeals been upheld?

The majority of upheld appeals have related to where individuals were selected and offered a role within a specialist command the deadline published.
Others related to welfare reason where the posting has been varied to an alternative B/OCU.

Q7 - Are appeals independently assessed or subject to blanket rule?

As published on HR knowledge management and available to all MPS employees:
An Officer may appeal against a local decision to be redeployed on the grounds of a perverse decision and/or abuse of process. Appeals are reviewed by the Head of the Unit

There is also an appeals route against a corporate decision. You may make representations to Workforce Planning and Deployment (WPD) against a compulsory posting if you feel the posting is not reasonable on the grounds of a perverse decision and/or abuse of process. Appeals are reviewed by Hd of Service Delivery (Cmdr equivalent)

An OCU Commander / Head of Unit may make representations to WPD against an imposed posting decision if they feel that such a posting is not in the interests of the Met, the OCU or the individual.

Q8 - What policy/standards apply to appeals?

A Posting Panel is convened monthly to consider voluntary and compulsory transfer requests, promotions and individuals selected via an advertised recruitment process; they determine whether a transfer can be approved, and set a transfer date.
A transfer is the process through which an individual gets moved from one post to another; a posting is where we allocate you to a new post.

Appeals can be made by an individual officer against either a local or corporate posting decision. This would be on the grounds that their posting was not reasonable on the grounds of a perverse decision and/or abuse of process.

Q9 - Please provide details of when 13 April 2023 cut-off date for Specialist job offers was made - include minutes of meetings, dates and rank/units present and how this was communicated to candidates, hiring managers, HR units and Federation.

For the Sergeant promotion list the PS/DS select list was published on 13 Dec 23.
In January officers were provided instructions to submit preferences to secure future roles.

Another request for preferences to be re-submitted was published on 12 Apr 23. It explained that the Corporate Workforce Planning Board (DAC/Dir level Board) had given direction to proceed with promotion postings and postings would be in a 3 stage process.

It also gave guidance that officers with already arranged posting dates (prior to the date of the notification) to specialist OCUs would still be posted.
Officers were asked to submit (if not already done so) posting preference by 23 Apr 23. To note the normal cut off for submissions is Working Day 15 which for Apr 23 would have been 21 Apr 23.

Communication was provided directly to those affect (on the select list) by WPD. It is expected that DAC/Dirs on the Board will have cascaded this information through their Business Groups through their normal communication channels.

Q10 - What have the MPS put in place to ensure equality, fairness and inclusivity is applied in this process post Casey Review?

There has been no requirement to review or change to the posting processes post the Casey Review in relation to any concerns on equality, fairness or inclusivity.
The principles for posting panels as published on HR knowledge management and available to all MPS employees include:
• The operational needs of the Met in relation to officers and skills will be the main consideration.
• Each case will be considered individually and travelling distance to work will be taken into account. However, the Commissioner reserves the right to post an officer anywhere in the Met. It must be clearly understood that officers will not be automatically moved to a location closer to their home address because they move home.
• The preferences of officers required to transfer on a compulsory basis will be considered before those from officers making voluntary applications. If no preferences for a compulsory move are provided it may be assumed that they are willing to be posted anywhere within MPS.
• In the case of voluntary transfers, applicants may be offered an alternative posting or an opportunity to withdraw, if their preferences cannot be met.
• The panel can’t guarantee specific posting locations, shift patterns or flexible working arrangements. These will need to be agreed with the receiving (B)OCU / Unit
• Informal agreements for transfers must not be made before consideration by the panel.
• From time-to-time it may be necessary to select police officers for compulsory transfer. The requirement for such transfers is likely to be driven by the wider needs of the MPS, the local community or issues relevant to an individual officer. For compulsory transfers, the panel may provide a provisional posting where the officer has an outstanding application for an advertised position. Should the officer's application be unsuccessful, the officer will transfer to the posting allocated.

Q11 - What policy applies to the decision to prohibit application for promotion by one year?

When an officer withdraws from the promotion process, they are advised that they will no longer be held on the relevant select list eligible for promotion in the current promotion year for that rank. They will need to re-apply to in a future promotion process to be eligible for promotion.

There is no timescale in which they cannot re-apply i.e. they can apply in the next available promotion process.

Q12 - In relation to the “random” selection of officers for posting to BCU, please confirm how this process was approached.

Officer are posted to BCUs through the normal posting processes – either through selection from the promotion select list, or via the voluntary transfer process. There is no random selection outside of the posting process.