Final Report of the Morris Inquiry: The Case for Change

BUILDING CAPACITY
9.128 It has been suggested to us that the MPS should set up a central resource to
act as a clearing house to find purposeful employment for officers with disabilities
and to “make the reasonable adjustments quickly.”
(Evidence of Alan Robinson, Disabled Staff Association.)
9.129 Mr Robinson told us that there are delays in getting officers with disabilities
into suitable jobs. He told us he had three welfare cases, with one officer having
waited for over two years to be redeployed. In another case “we were looking for
personnel who are on restricted duties, because it is – basically, we are taking crimes over the
Internet and over the telephone, ideal for someone who needs office work. So we have said
we want him, his department have said they want rid of him, and yet it is taking some five to
six weeks to actually do it, when at the stroke of a pen, it could be done.”
9.130 The MPS has commented that the Workforce Planning and Employment
Unit has responsibility for posting officers, taking into account all aspects of need,
including welfare. We are told that the Unit has recently revised its policy, partly in
response to the DDA.
9.131 We see great merit in Mr Robinson’s suggestion of a dedicated resource and
we are not clear that the Workforce Planning and Employment Unit currently
provides the kind of resource we and Mr Robinson are recommending.
We recommend that the MPS sets up a central resource to match officers and
staff with disabilities to suitable vacancies and to ensure that any necessary
adjustments are made speedily.
9.132 Both this resource and the resource for matching requests for flexible
working to available posts are functions to be absorbed within the existing
structure of the HR directorate.
Cross-fertilisation between the MPS, the private sector and other
public bodies
9.133 We have already commented on the strong organisational culture in the
MPS. This has many benefits, such as a strong sense of public service. However, on
occasions we have also sensed that, if an idea or way of doing things was ‘not
invented here’, it is not thought worthy of consideration.
9.134 For the reasons set out earlier, we believe that, if the MPS adopts such an
approach, it will lose valuable expertise and, as a result, will not be able to serve
London as effectively as it could.
9.135 One way of bringing about changes in the policies, procedures and practices
of the MPS which would benefit the people who work for and are served by the
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