Police Officer promotion process

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.039835

I note you seek access to the following information:

Please, can I make a Freedom of Information request for the following detail, which are questions relating to your Police Officer Promotion Process. I would like to specifically know about: i) PC to Sgt, ii) Sgt to Insp and iii) Insp to Chief Insp. If the time constraints on FOI work start to be a factor, then please concentrate on information relating to Sgt to Insp processes.

1. What reasonable adjustment do you offer for officers that might suffer cognitive impairment through disability, who would be disadvantaged in comparison with their peers in assessment or test formats, be it through ability to retain or process information?
2. It is noted that preparation for interviews and assessments within the Police is highly competitive with much preparatory work at home often required. What reasonable adjustments do you offer for those officers that might be incapable to prepare for tests outside of working hours, either due to health or caring responsibilities?
3. Do you offer a bespoke reasonable adjustment where candidates exhibiting the issues detailed in point 2 are given a reduced area to have to prepare/research for, i.e. provided a more restrictive scope of questions prior to the assessment or given an approximate of crime types, if a crime scenario is reviewed – being told a question relates to Group 2 Crimes, rather than the officer have to try and revise all crime areas (the result being the candidate has less areas to revise in comparison with peers without the disadvantage faced)?
4. Do you offer assessment of ability through observation in role, i.e. a candidate acts or temps within a rank and a judgement is made on whether they are competent to be promoted?
5. Would you consider use of the above (promotion through assessment of ability through observation in role) as a bespoke reasonable adjustment?
6. Does your Force utilise the NPPF, whereby officers who pass a selection sift have a temporary promotion (12 months) and a work-based assessment leading to a professional qualification in police management – with promotion taking place after this 4 step?
7. Where you have an Assessment Centre as part of your Promotion Process, what criteria governs scenarios or question setting?
8. Would you set a question within an Assessment Centre where a course would be required to answer it to a competent standard, i.e. a question on Public Order Tactics or Child Interviewing? If not, please confirm the reasons why, i.e. lack of fairness to other candidates or financial implications on training workforce in the course, etc. If yes, please explain under what circumstances this would be deemed proportionate, i.e. majority of staff would have undertaken the course, etc.

Decision

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

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

Q1 - What reasonable adjustment do you offer for officers that might suffer cognitive impairment through disability, who would be disadvantaged in comparison with their peers in assessment or test formats, be it through ability to retain or process information?

Each of the Promotion Processes (all our recruitment processes) give candidates the opportunity to request a Reasonable Adjustment (RA) for the Assessment Phase. When the candidates apply, they can state that they want an RA and the reason why, they are also asked to attach any supporting evidence.

They can also state what RA’s may have been agreed in the past.

Depending on the nature of the request (the candidates specific health or neuro diverse condition) the requests are reviewed by either our Medical Team or the Occupational Psychologists (SSCL). They would then work with the candidate to determine what RA is suitable/acceptable.

Once agreed, the Assessment Delivery Team would then ensure that they are implemented at the relevant stage of the process. The PC to SGT process is slightly different as these Assessments are delivered locally (on Borough and not through the Assessment Centre Team), so the RA’s for these candidates are provided to local SPOCs to implement.

Therefore, each RA is solely based on that individuals specific requirements and impairment and would be dealt with on a case by case basis.

Q2 - It is noted that preparation for interviews and assessments within the Police is highly competitive with much preparatory work at home often required. What reasonable adjustments do you offer for those officers that might be incapable to prepare for tests outside of working hours, either due to health or caring responsibilities?

Q3 - Do you offer a bespoke reasonable adjustment where candidates exhibiting the issues detailed in point 2 are given a reduced area to have to prepare/research for, i.e. provided a more restrictive scope of questions prior to the assessment or given an approximate of crime types, if a crime scenario is reviewed – being told a question relates to Group 2 Crimes, rather than the officer have to try and revise all crime areas (the result being the candidate has less areas to revise in comparison with peers without the disadvantage faced)?

No information held.

Q4 - Do you offer assessment of ability through observation in role, i.e. a candidate acts or temps within a rank and a judgement is made on whether they are competent to be promoted?

Assessment of ability currently requires all candidates applying for promotion to have a supported application which meet the minimum acceptable standard defined following the moderation of applications. Successful candidates are then invited to attend an assessment centre. The assessment centre is designed to measure the key skills and behaviours which are required for that rank, based on the Competency Value Framework (CVF) and Met values.

For ranks PC to Sergeant and Sergeant to Inspector, the assessment centre would be Step Three under the National Police Promotion Framework (NPPF).

The NPPF is a four-step promotion process for all officers in England and Wales seeking promotion to the rank of sergeant or inspector. At Step Three, forces are responsible for assessing candidates’ potential to perform at the next rank against relevant competencies and values (CVF).

The NPPF is a four-step promotion process for police officers seeking promotion to the rank of sergeant or inspector.

Step 1 – achieving competence in current rank.
Step 2 – examination of law and procedure.
Step 3 – local selection process and matching to vacancies.
Step 4 – temporary promotion (12 months) and a work based assessment leading to a professional qualification in police management.

Promotion is only attained once an officer has successfully completed all four steps.

Q5 - Would you consider use of the above (promotion through assessment of ability through observation in role) as a bespoke reasonable adjustment?

Reasonable adjustments are considered on a case by case basis. Typically, any reasonable adjustments are made accordingly to the current assessment process.

Q6 - Does your Force utilise the NPPF, whereby officers who pass a selection sift have a temporary promotion (12 months) and a work-based assessment leading to a professional qualification in police management – with promotion taking place after this 4 step?

Yes, please see response above to question 4.

Q7 - Where you have an Assessment Centre as part of your Promotion Process, what criteria governs scenarios or question setting?

The Competency Values Framework (CVF) and Met Values underpin the assessment criteria. Candidates performance is assessed against these competencies and values. The assessment exercises will all be set against the demands and expectations of the rank applied for

Q8 - Would you set a question within an Assessment Centre where a course would be required to answer it to a competent standard, i.e. a question on Public Order Tactics or Child Interviewing? If not, please confirm the reasons why, i.e. lack of fairness to other candidates or financial implications on training workforce in the course, etc. If yes, please explain under what circumstances this would be deemed proportionate, i.e. majority of staff would have undertaken the course, etc.

To ensure a fair and equitable assessment process promotions assessments are designed to assess competency at the rank. Any specialist skills or knowledge are considered at posting and are not specifically assessed via the promotion process.