‘A gross distortion’ is how Cleveland Police Authority Chair Councillor Dave McLuckie and Chief Constable Sean Price have described claims from a trade union that the possibility of involving a private sector partner in handling calls from the public could lead to people with no local knowledge handling 999 calls in a remote call centre.
The Authority and the Force have hit back at the campaign launched by the trade union Unison which they say is totally misrepresenting the true position and today they have made public a letter sent to the union’s regional officer challenging the claims—as well as issuing a point-by-point document refuting the union’s allegations.
In the letter to Unison regional officer Peter Chapman the Authority Chair and Chief Constable say that, whilst they recognise the right of the union to represent its members as it sees fit, they do not think it is acceptable to make claims which ‘bear no relation to the facts and can only serve to raise unwarranted concerns amongst both our staff and the public we serve.’
In a union News Release Mr Chapman claimed that ‘local people deserve to have emergency calls dealt with by someone who has local knowledge, not by someone in a call centre miles away who might send emergency services to the wrong address.’
In their response the Authority Chair and Chief Constable underline that they have made ‘crystal clear’ that there is no question of moving the Force Control Room and that it would remain within the Force headquarters, with the likelihood that staff currently handling calls would continue working in the Control Room under any new arrangement.
Said Councillor McLuckie “From the very start of this process we have made clear that the interests of our staff would be a top priority. If...and I stress if...we were to work with a private sector partner all existing staff would be guaranteed continuing employment under existing terms and conditions, together with a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies for a specified period of time—and protection of their pension rights.
“I have to say that I suspect many thousands of workers in this area currently facing the impact of the recession would love to have those sorts of guarantees.
“The kind of claims being made by Unison officials—and in their publicity—are totally misleading. For instance, it is clearly nonsense to suggest that 999 calls could be ‘privatised’ when the union is fully aware that the same staff would be handling calls, police officers would remain in the Control Room and the command arrangements for handling incidents would remain with the Force.
“We will only agree to involve a private sector partner in providing call handling and information technology services if we are convinced it will provide a better and more efficient service for the public.
“The union claims that there is no benefit in working with private sector partners, yet our experience in Cleveland demonstrates the opposite—for instance releasing more officers for front-line duties, providing some of the best buildings and facilities in the country—and putting the Force at the forefront of mobile technology for officers on the beat.
“If we work with a partner on call handling we will aim to provide a better service—for instance arranging times for officers to visit and organising ‘call backs’ to see if people are happy with the service they have received.
“We have sought to work with Unison in a constructive way in moving forward to project and improve services to the public—and protect the interests of our staff. It is shame that the response has been so negative and so misleading, but I hope that even now they will be prepared to reconsider in the interests of both their members and the public we all serve.”
Chief Constable of Cleveland Police Sean Price said: “This process has always been about improving the quality of service to the public and ensuring the interests of our staff. The move to two bidders is part of that process, and I would stress that a final decision has not yet been made.
“We are keeping our staff and their union representatives fully updated and they have been reassured that the Control Room and call taking functions, including the 999 service, would remain at Cleveland Police Headquarters under any of the proposed partnership schemes. They are also fully aware that all the proposed partnerships are conditional on existing staff continuing to be employed under their current terms and conditions. I would also wish to emphasise that all incidents will remain under the command and control of trained Cleveland Police officers.
“It has been wrongly suggested that involving a private sector partner is about putting profit before our people. I would reiterate that this has nothing to do with profits; it is about improving our service to members of the public and ensuring the interests of our staff.”
As well as making public the letter sent to Unison, the Authority has placed on its website information under the heading ‘Putting The Record Straight...’ refuting Unison’s claims.
Letter to Peter Chapman - Unison
Mr Peter Chapman
Regional Officer
UNISON Northern Region
140-150 Pilgrim Street
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE1 6TH
Dear Peter
We are writing to express our concerns over comments attributed to you and your national officer Ben Priestley in a News Release issued by Unison on October 15th and headed ‘Unison warning over privatisation of 999 calls.’
We want to make clear that we fully recognise the right of your union to represent the interests of your members as you see fit and understand that you may also wish to express your views over issues such as the potential involvement of private sector partners.
What we do not think is acceptable or helpful is for claims to be made which bear no relation to the facts and which can only serve to raise unwarranted concerns amongst both our staff and the public we serve.
We will begin by addressing the specific comment attributed to you in the News Release that “Local people deserve to have emergency calls dealt with by someone who has local knowledge, not by someone in a call centre miles away who might send emergency services to the wrong address.’
You must be aware that this is a gross distortion of the true position. We have made it crystal clear throughout this process that, if we do decide to involve a private sector partner, there is no question of moving the Control Room to ‘a call centre miles away.’ In fact it would remain within the Force headquarters.
In fact you may recall that, as an authority, we underlined the importance of maintaining control room operations at a local level and with local knowledge when we expressed concerns over the proposals from the North East Ambulance Service to relocate all their control functions to Tyneside.
Both in your comments and those of your colleague Ben Priestley there are repeated assertions to the effect that working a private sector partner would involve, as Mr Priestley alleges, ‘selling off 999 calls.’
Again you must be aware that this is a total distortion. We have repeatedly made clear that, as well as remaining within the Force headquarters, the Control Room would continue to have police officers working there—and the command function would remain with the Force. In reality, of course, it is likely to be the same staff as currently handle calls who would be working in the Control Room under any new arrangement.
Mr Priestley claims that ‘All the evidence shows that privatisation costs more for a poorer quality service.’
As you should be aware, the evidence from Cleveland demonstrates just the opposite in terms of working with private sector partners. For example, our decision to use the PFI approach has delivered our Force—and your members—some of the best facilities in the country, the arrangements for civilianising custody and medical services have delivered major improvements, and working with a private sector partner has put us at the forefront of developing mobile technology for our officers on the beat.
We wish to stress that we our fully committed to maintaining a constructive relationship with Unison as we move forward to face what will be without doubt a very challenging period for the police service in general and in Cleveland in particular. However we do hope that the relationship will be based on discussion about the facts rather than seeking to misrepresent our intentions and their consequences.
Yours sincerely
Dave McLuckie Mr Sean Price QPM
Chairman Chief Constable
Cc: Mr Ben Priestley, National Officer